Seattle’s Democratic Mayor Just Gave Trump Exactly What He Wanted
SEATTLE — As suddenly as it appeared, the Capitol Hill Occupation Protest was gone.
Around 5 a.m. Wednesday, Seattle police arrived at the roughly two-block area and began removing roadblocks, tents, protest signs and all other evidence of the site’s 23-day existence. The night before, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Democrat, issued an executive order characterizing the area, also known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, as “unlawful assembly” and ordering city agencies to close it to the public.
Almost immediately, Republican officials celebrated the move. “I am pleased to inform everyone that Seattle has been liberated,” White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany declared at her Wednesday afternoon media briefing. Characterizing the zone as a “failed four-week Democrat experiment by the radical left,” McEnany criticized Durkan’s for responding less aggressively to protests in her own city than President Donald Trump had in Washington.
“Law and order must prevail to preserve peace,” McEnany said, echoing what has become her boss’ mantra in response to the nation’s wave of mostly peaceful protests against racial injustices and police brutality.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) produced a campaign ad featuring footage of the zone, and tweeted, “The rule of law must not fade in and out with the fashions of the radical Left.”
Finally. Twenty-some days and several deaths too late. The rule of law must not fade in and out with the fashions of the radical left. https://t.co/P9iF0GGoBG
— Leader McConnell (@senatemajldr) July 1, 2020
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) opted fro sarcasm, commenting, “Boy, nation-states seem to be lasting shorter & shorter.”
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...
