Seattle, Washington police chief Carmen Best apologized to her police officers for abandoning the city’s East Precinct located inside the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in the Capitol Hill neighborhood that was taken over by Antifa anarchists.
Protesters chased the police out of the East Precinct and caused some damage to the building during their occupation of a 6-block area of Seattle. An order was given to police to abandon the precinct. But Chief Best said that order did not come from her.
“You should know, leaving the police precinct was not my decision,” the somber police chief said during a 3-minute message to her police officers. “It seems like an insult to you,” she said, before adding that city leaders “had other plans for the building.”
She noted that “armed people” are patrolling the neighborhood and police response times for major crimes such as murder and rape have tripled to an average of 18 minutes.
“This is very concerning, especially because we don’t know who these people are,” she added.
The protesters said they will continue to occupy CHAZ until their demands are met. Those demands include releasing inmates and abolishing police and the courts system.
Capitol Hill residents complain that Mayor Jenny Durkan and Governor Jay Inslee are protecting the protesters and not taking the city’s occupation seriously.
Earlier this week, Gov. Inslee made light of the situation, saying he knew nothing about an Antifa takeover in his state.
Durkan referred to her city’s takeover as “patriotism” and she compared the rallies inside the autonomous zone to a “gay pride parade.”
President Trump called on Washington lawmakers to put an end to the occupation of the Capitol Hill neighborhood, or else.
Trump said the city or the state has to do something about it, or he will step in and do something about it.
All three major networks have ignored Antifa’s occupation of Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.
