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On 8 June, after a number of increasingly dangerous clashes between protesters and law enforcement, police officers in a popular area of downtown Seattle abandoned their precinct. **SNIP** Crucially, Chaz had the official backing of socialist councilmember Kshama Sawant. "The idea of occupation isn't a new one, and it's an immensely powerful idea as a part of protest movements," Ms Sawant told the BBC. "Not only social movements on the streets, but also in workplace actions through history." **SNIP** Then, there were the shootings. There were four shootings at the Chop in a 10-day period towards the end of June,...

A judge ruled Friday that a petition to recall Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan can move forward as there was enough evidence for one of seven allegations against her, accusing the mayor of violating her oath of office. That allegation pertained to the police use of chemical weapons, and specifically how Durkan acted after learning police used tear gas on protesters during the pandemic. The charge reads: Charge B alleges that Mayor Durkan failed to institute new policies and safety measures for SPD to prohibit the use of tear gas and other chemical crowd control agents by SPD when such use...

Most of the budget cuts that Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has proposed for the Police Department were identified in response to the coronavirus pandemic - before Black Lives Matter protests surged in the city - rather than in response to police defunding demands made by protesters. But City Council members will meet Wednesday to continue dissecting the Police Department’s budget and discussing additional cuts they could make. Durkan proposed about $20 million in cuts to the Police Department last month, among other changes to Seattle’s 2020 budget that she said would address unexpected city spending related to COVID-19, account for...

A woman struck by a vehicle that drove onto a closed Seattle freeway early Saturday and plowed into a crowd of protesters has died, while a second woman remains in serious condition, officials said.

Mayor Jenny Durkan defends the foolish and dangerous decision to protest on a freeway in the middle of the night. But when you protest in front of her house, she throws a fit. **SNIP** I certainly agree that “no one should risk their life” during a protest. That is why it’s troubling that the Washington State Patrol chief allows protests on the freeway without legal consequence. They could do the smart and safe thing, which is arrest people who walk on the freeway. But that would be too hard. They might earn the Twitter ire of keyboard warriors. What’s remarkable...

SEATTLE - Hundreds of protesters gathered in Magnuson Park Friday night before making their way to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s neighborhood. The crowd that marched to the mayor’s home was large enough to fill an entire city block, with an estimated two thousand in attendance. **SNIP** The crowd of protesters loudly marched into her neighborhood, chanting about their demands to defund Seattle police and reform justice, and demanding that she resign. The protesters also brought with them a large sound system, noisemakers, cowbells and music. After an hourlong rally, demonstrators paraded past the mayor’s gate where KIRO 7 was told...

**SNIP** The petition accuses the mayor of: “Malfeasance and violation of oath of office.” It also said Durkan, “Led a militant police force against citizens peacefully protesting,” when officers used tools like tear gas and flash bang grenades to disperse crowds. Attorneys for the mayor called the allegations “legally insufficient,” and pointed to what they called a lack of any evidence, which “fails to provide any applicable rule, law or standard that was violated.” “We respectfully request the court to dismiss this petition,” said Ryan Groshong, the attorney for the mayor. The other petition that was filed had further accusations...

SEATTLE - As suddenly as it appeared, the Capitol Hill Occupation Protest was gone. **SNIP** Durkan’s destruction of the CHOP was a reversal of her previous position. On June 12, when Trump accused her of letting anarchists take over the city, Durkan responded, “Seattle is fine. Don’t be so afraid of democracy.” But over the last few weeks, the CHOP had become increasingly controversial. While the daytime scene resembled a music festival or cultural event, the nights became more violent. Six shootings, two of them fatal, occurred in or near the zone in the last two weeks of June, a...

Seattle police officers on Thursday continued to gradually reclaim the streets from the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) as video shows cops dive-tackling a group of demonstrators at a downtown intersection where 10 people were arrested. The arrests took place hours after police claimed that demonstrators in the area pelted them with bottles and rocks and shot fireworks in their direction from the same intersection. A group of police officers on bicycles rode toward a line of demonstrators who appeared to be squatting in the middle of the intersection of Broadway and Pine Street at around 5:30pm on Thursday. The...

The Seattle City Council won’t fulfill Mayor Jenny Durkan’s request to investigate and potentially expel Councilmember Kshama Sawant for alleged bad behavior, Council President M. Lorena González said Wednesday. González said she wants the council to concentrate on other work. On Tuesday, Durkan released a letter to González asking the council to investigate Sawant for taking part in a Black Lives Matter protest march to Durkan’s home and for several other actions, such as opening City Hall to protesters on the evening of June 9. The mayor accused Sawant “and her followers” of displaying “reckless disregard of the safety of...

The destructive behavior characterizing Seattle’s “autonomous zone” – otherwise known as the CHOP and formerly known as the CHAZ – is surely viewed through different lenses by the people occupying and doing the damage and those that legally live in the area and have been inconvenienced and menaced over the last month. That distinction has been highlighted recently by lawsuits filed against city leaders who, residents say, have failed to protect the lives, liberty, and property of the people living near the CHAZ/CHOP. As a result of that, and the mendacity of Mayor Jenny Durkan, things seem to have turned...

It finally happened. Seattle Mayor Jenny Derpkan has ordered police to clear out CHAZ/CHOP. All it took was for the protesters to show up at her house and inconvenience her life for action to be taken. Not so much the lives and inconvenience of the plebeians Mayor Derpkan lords over. Or, like, the multiple homicides. But I guess better late than never. The summer of love is no more. Seattle police have retaken the East Precinct after clearing out the protest area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP, making more than a dozen arrests after Mayor Jenny...

...The Seattle Police Department moved into the "Capitol Hill Organized Protest" zone early Wednesday morning.

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) moved into the "Capitol Hill Organized Protest" (CHOP) zone and returned to the department's East Precinct early Wednesday morning. The precinct was evacuated on June 11. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued a 48-hour executive order for protestors to vacate the area due to the ongoing violence and public safety issues in the area of the East Precinct and Cal Anderson Park. Mayor Durkan's order declared the gathering as an “unlawful assembly” that required immediate action. Police moved into the CHOP just before 5 a.m. and issued a dispersal order to any protestors in the area....

Seattle law enforcement officials launched an effort early Wednesday morning to retake the Capital Hill neighborhood that fringe activists occupied for weeks. The law enforcement action comes after multiple people were shot and two teenagers killed.

Seattle police on Wednesday moved in to reclaim their precinct in the city's 'occupied' protest zone after the city's mayor issued a 2am executive order to vacate the area. More than a dozen people were arrested at the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone which has seen two deadly shootings in three weeks, Q13Fox reports. Calling the gathering at the East Precinct and Cal Anderson Park an 'unlawful assembly' Mayor Jenny Durkan had demanded all barriers be removed after a 525 per cent spike in violent crimes in the area.

A play by play from a loser in Seattle.  Anyhow, if you need a litte morning entertainment. Most of the communist street bums, leaches and criminals are still sleeping.  Two tried to resisit, got maced and manhandled very quickly.   https://twitter.com/disclosetv/status/1278300495761768448   

Due to ongoing violence and public safety issues in the East Precinct/Cal Anderson Park area. Mayor Jenny Durkan has issued an executive order to vacate the area. Seattle police will be in the area this morning enforcing the Mayor’s order.

SEATTLE (AP) - Seattle city crews used heavy equipment Tuesday to remove makeshift barriers around the city’s “occupied” protest zone following two fatal shootings in the area. Demonstrators dragged couches and other items to replace the structures. But those were largely gone later Tuesday. **SNIP** Seattle police Assistant Chief Adrian Diaz said the large, makeshift barriers would be removed in incremental steps to allow traffic to move through portions of a road that had been closed off. “So far, you know, everything is peaceful this morning, so that’s a good sign,” Diaz told The Seattle Times. Cement barricades that remained...

SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on Tuesday called on City Council President Lorena González to take action against Councilmember Kshama Sawant for a series of recent events that the mayor suggested broke the law and threatened the safety of others. In a scathing two-page letter, Durkan said Sawant was essentially playing political games in order to boost the council member's standing. "Disagreements on policy contribute to a robust public debate," Durkan said. "However, policy disagreements do not justify a Councilmember who potentially uses their position in violation of law or who recklessly undermines the safety of others, all for...