President threatens federal action to ‘take back’ Seattle

Protesters take over portion of city after police abandon precinct.

After days of clashes with protesters outside the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct, authorities backed down Monday, removing barricades and boarding up the building. Since then, protesters have moved in, proclaiming the area the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” where the police are forbidden, food is free and documentaries are screened at night.

To some protesters, it’s a first step toward their demands to defund the police and end racial injustice.

But President Donald Trump suggested another term for the demonstrators late Wednesday: “Domestic Terrorists.” Trump blasted Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, D, and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, D, on Twitter, threatening federal action if local leaders don’t “take back” the city.

“Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before,” Trump tweeted. “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped (sic) IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!”

Durkan and Inslee swiftly hit back at Trump.

“A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state’s business. ‘Stoop’ tweeting,” Inslee wrote on Twitter, mocking Trump for a misspelling in his tweet.

Durkan added: “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker,” referring to when Trump was rushed to a safe room in the White House last month during protests over the death of George Floyd.

Trump’s tweets echo his earlier threats to use military force to quell unrest as thousands took to the streets nationwide to decry police brutality.

Although Trump’s tweets didn’t specifically name the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, nicknamed CHAZ, his comments appeared directed at the movement, which was a major topic Wednesday on conservative-friendly media.

Tucker Carlson’s Fox News show Wednesday night included an alarming report on CHAZ, describing a “complete takeover of a seven-block area of a Seattle neighborhood,” and alleging that armed protesters are patrolling the area.

Soon after moving in Tuesday, the protesters hung a banner on the police precinct proclaiming, “THIS SPACE IS NOW PROPERTY OF THE SEATTLE PEOPLE,” the Seattle Times reported. Protesters later screened Ava DuVernay’s documentary “13th,” which highlights racial inequities in the justice system. At least one man with a long gun was seen in the area, the Times reported, despite a weapons ban on Capitol Hill, but the scene has been peaceful since police left the area.

Inside the zone, the protesters have held long “town halls” to discuss their plans and hash out a strategy. Speakers on Wednesday took turns on a stage with loudspeakers, sharing their visions for change with an attentive crowd seated in a wide semicircle.