Today, when people across America think of Seattle, it is marred by the image of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) and a lengthy year’s worth of rioting only overshadowed by the likes of Portland. They think of sidewalks obstructed by tents, trash, needles, and random violent assaults.

These negative associations with Seattle have been largely limited to downtown Seattle, on the south side of the Ship Canal Bridge; the other shore of Lake Union.

The north end of Seattle is a suburb of its downtown counterpart and has seen few of the problems downtown has, of which activity tends to be isolated along Highway 99. Yet, it is governed by the same Mayor and City Council as downtown Seattle, and those problems are now surfacing in communities who thought they had adequate distance from these problems.

The Bitter Lake Community of Seattle is on the most northern edge of North Seattle, only a handful of traffic lights shy of exiting city limits entirely. It’s a much more quiet single family home community, nestled in side streets between the main drags of Greenwood and Aurora avenues.

During the pandemic when students shifted to remote learning at home, a homeless encampment formed on school property at Broadview-Thompson Elementary School in the Bitter Lake Community. Parents were apathetic at first, adopting an ‘out of sight out of mind’ position, and assumed that the situation would be handled by the time students returned to the classroom on school grounds. 

The encampment started in July of 2020, and the city promised it would be removed that September. Yet the encampment has not been removed, and has only grown larger.

As time drew closer to the beginning of in-school learning, the Seattle School Board asked the city not to remove these camps, including the one at Bitter Lake, barely within the city’s grasp. Parents began to worry about their children’s safety returning to school.

As children returned to school to finish the remaining school year, the encampment continues to grow. Weapons have been found in the encampment on school property, and the school was placed into lockdown over a pellet gun spotted in the camp.

Now, King County has brought their needle exchange program to the elementary school, handing out needles and syringes to members of the encampment right in front of children on school grounds.

From local Seattle ABC affiliate KOMO:

“‘To see them (public health) disperse the needles right on your frontage in plain sight for everybody to see was an outrageous moment,’ said Paul Riemann whose home looks directly into the encampment.

Neighbors said the criminal activity is mounting.

In the last two weeks, police have been called to the camp several times, a large sword was seen outside a tent and last Tuesday the school had to ‘shelter in place’ when a camper was seen with a pellet gun.”

The school district runs a unique model where they are only accountable to public opinion (where they’re currently catering to the Wokes) rather than being accountable to the students whom they teach, and the parents of the students. They don’t actually have an incentive to do right by whom they should be accountable to. 

Perhaps voting for School Board Members should be a privatized vote reserved for people who actually have school aged children in the district, rather than everyone who is eligible to vote who have no skin in the game. But this is pie in the sky, as it makes way too much sense to actually come to fruition. 

Not everyone can afford private school, especially if they have several school aged children. With two income households, not everyone can find time to homeschool; though with all children learning from home and having to make time to accommodate this, I hope many can give this a second thought. Do it if you can.

What can really make a difference however, is School Choice. This is a system where the student is funded rather than the school, and can choose which public school they want to attend. This would force schools and districts which have become comfortable with zoning and not having to act in the best interest of their students, to immediately be forced to do so. The alternative is that students leave, and therefore funding also leaves. If a school consciously continues to underperform or not provide a safe environment, the conclusion will finally, for once, be as it should. The school will rightfully close, and not look good on a future resumé.

This would make a world of difference for students in the Bitter Lake Community, who are currently zoned into Seattle Public Schools without a choice, to be given the option to attend Shoreline Public Schools just a few traffic lights away. 

Also, if you are a parent who believes schools should serve students and not the mob, consider running for School Board.

The post School Choice Needed as Seattle Allows Homeless Camp, Drugs on School Property appeared first on The Libertarian Republic.

Actually, they love Cops.

Seattle is the site of the CHAZ/CHOP zone, where protesters took over several city blocks of Capitol Hill, widely known as the Gay District—and during Pride Month nonetheless. Many Seattleites on the Left have been supportive of this movement, with Seattle’s Mayor Jenny Durkan defending it from Trump’s Twitter ire, where she referred to it as a “Summer of Love.”

During this takeover, protesters took over the Seattle East Police Precinct, forcing the police out. This zone appears to have developed a Jekyll and Hyde disorder, with a relatively calm and festive demeanor during the day, but violence by night. Mayor Durkan has now announced her intentions for the police to take back the East Precinct following three separate overnight shootings in less than a week. 

Protesters kept the police out of their zone following these shootings, and in each case ultimately transported the victims to Harborview Medical Center down the street by private vehicle. Yet, these protesters have remained upset that the medics would not come into CHAZ/CHOP to treat and transport the victim. Of course, it shouldn’t take a whole lot of forward thinking to understand why medics require police protection when going into a violent crime scene where a shooter is still on the loose and there’s no guarantee more shooting won’t erupt. But, here we are.

I couldn’t help but notice some striking similarities as well as differences between CHAZ/CHOP and the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge in Oregon by Ammon Bundy. 

It was similar because it was a protest of perceived unfairness in regard to criminal justice. It began when rancher Dwight Hammond started prescribed burns (a common practice of spurring new and fresh grass growth) on his own ranch land. It spread to the neighboring land owned by the Federal Government and managed by the Bureau of Land Management, who manage 2 pieces of land on either side of Hammond. While Hammond extinguished it, it’s also highly arguable that the Government benefited from it as their neighboring grazing land was likely in the same condition. 

Yet, the Federal Government prosecuted Hammond, and he was sent to prison. But that’s not what spurred Malheur. 

After Hammond was released, the Federal Government appealed his sentencing, claiming he hadn’t served enough time. The appeals judge sided with the Government, and Hammond was rearrested and sent to jail again, to serve a longer sentence for the same crime. That was the catalyst for Malheur. It was largely believed that the Bureau of Land Management wanted his land that sat between their 2 pieces, and was hoping to force him to sell.

Yet, it was different as the Malheur refuge was public property as opposed to private property, and never interfered with anyone’s livelihoods, homes or businesses.

It was similar as guns were involved along the perimeter, and law enforcement was to be kept out.

Yet, it was different as the Left called them treasonous and hoped for them to be massacred. They applauded the execution of LaVoy Finicum, who was run off the road and shot dead by the Feds while enroute in good faith to a meeting with local government.

Yes, they loved this. They love Cops.

Year after year, these same Leftists in Seattle who have promoted the ACAB phrase, have also voted for tougher gun laws. Every year like clockwork they cry,” we have to do something,” —as if they didn’t just do that the year before, and the year before. Banning streamlined private sales, enacting Red Flag Laws, and scapegoating the mentally ill who generally aren’t all that violent to begin with, Leftists love police enforcement.

In Snohomish County in Washington State, one county north of Seattle’s King County, Leftists have started a recall effort against Sheriff Adam Fortney, who refused to enforce the closing of businesses. They’re upset that police weren’t using heavy hands. These are also the same people who turned in businesses and neighbors to the state’s snitch site, which eventually was made public.

This week Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee issued an emergency directive requiring the use of masks in public in situations where six feet of social distancing cannot be maintained. Washington’s ACAB Leftists applauded this, which made non compliance a misdemeanor offense. To be enforced by police.

The Leftists who have latched onto the “All Cops Are Bastards” line are the same ones who continually create and pass new initiatives that require more police enforcement. They expect these to be enforced. They love it when these are enforced. They hate police who refuse to enforce what their causes are against people they don’t like, but they sure love it when police execute the people they don’t like.

I’m a fan of less policing, especially of non-violent crimes, but government social workers aren’t going to fill that void where violent crimes exist. Defunding the police would require a culture change of non-violence and a respect for private property. Leftists appear to be doubling down on a culture war that works counter to that. 

Ultimately, their only desire is for Cops to enforce their side upon those they dislike. If it weren’t for double standards, the Left wouldn’t have standards at all

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