No Seattle Official Will Take “Credit” for Leaving Downtown to Anarchists

In one of the most embarrassing moments in modern American history, the Democrats who “run” Seattle have allowed far-left agitators, armed activists, and Black Lives Matter members to take over several city blocks in downtown, which the rebels have renamed the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone. This experiment in police-free, socialized living has been endorsed by everyone from the Seattle City Council to the New York Times, but for as much praise as Democrats might like to heap on this lawless rebellion, the people willing to take credit for helping it emerge are nowhere to be found.

The CHAZ came about when Seattle Police abandoned a department precinct in the area, but Police Chief Carmen Best couldn’t explain to reporters on Thursday how that decision came…or even where it came from.

“We were asked to do an operational plan in case we needed to leave,” Best said. “The decision was made. We’re still evaluating about how that change came about but it didn’t come from me.”

Best said it was inaccurate to refer to the citizens of the new country as “domestic terrorists.”

“It’s simply not true. Lawfully gathering and expressing first amendment rights, demanding we do better as a society, and providing true equity for communities of color is not terrorism. It’s patriotism,” she said.

According to a local paper, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has also denied calling for police to abandon the precinct. She, too, has come down on the side of the invaders, telling President Trump to back off his threats in a tweet that included the #BlackLivesMatter hashtag.

“The protest,” she said, “is a peaceful expression of our community’s collective grief and their desire to build a better world.”

Of course it is. Whatever you say.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, President Trump said that if the leadership in Seattle couldn’t handle the insurrection, he would send federal authorities into the zone to do it for them. Insisting that his administration is “not going to let Seattle be occupied by anarchists,” Trump laid the warning out straight.

“If there were more toughness, you wouldn’t have the kind of devastation that you had in Minneapolis and in Seattle. I mean, let’s see what’s going on in Seattle,” Trump said. “I will tell you, if they don’t straighten that situation out, we’re going to straighten it out.”

The sooner, the better, because if left-wing radicals around the country realize that they can usurp territory in cities run by limp-wristed Democrats, we’re going to be in for a rough summer.