Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said protesters who have overrun one section of the city are neither “anarchists” nor “domestic terrorists” as President Donald Trump has called them, but citizens embracing “patriotism.”
Earlier this week, protesters in Seattle created what they have dubbed the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” claiming that in the area they occupy, they will make their own rules.
Trump has lashed out at the occupation on Twitter:
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. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2020
TRENDING: Black leader unleashes on media at White House: ‘Quit lying’ about Trump
Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle, run by Radical Left Democrats, of course. LAW & ORDER!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 11, 2020
In a string of tweets Thursday, Durkan suggested the protesters are heroes.
“It’s clear @realDonaldTrump doesn’t understand what’s happening on five square blocks of our City. Cal Anderson and Capitol Hill has for decades been a place for free speech, community, and self expression,” the Democratic mayor tweeted.
“Lawfully gathering and expressing first amendment rights, demanding we do better as a society and provide true equity for communities of color is not terrorism — it is patriotism,” she added.
Lawfully gathering and expressing first amendment rights, demanding we do better as a society and provide true equity for communities of color is not terrorism – it is patriotism.
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020
“The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone #CHAZ is not a lawless wasteland of anarchist insurrection – it is a peaceful expression of our community’s collective grief and their desire to build a better world. Given his track record, it’s not hard to believe that Trump is wrong, yet again,” Durkan tweeted, painting a picture of the occupied part of her city as an idyllic spot.
For the thousands of individuals who have been on Capitol Hill, I think you’ve seen what I’ve seen: The painting of Black Lives Matter along Pine Street, food trucks, spaghetti potlucks, teach-ins, and movies.
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020
Durkan also said Trump is part of the problem.
“One of the things the President will never understand, is that listening to community is not a weakness, it is a strength,” she tweeted.
“A real leader would see nation-wide protests — borne from hundreds of years of immense grief of our Black community, communities of color, and so many others — and the call to become an anti-racist society, as an opportunity to build a better nation.”
A real leader would see nation-wide protests – borne from hundreds of years of immense grief of our Black community, communities of color, and so many others – and the call to become an anti-racist society, as an opportunity to build a better nation.
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020
She said Trump will not intervene, tweeting that “it is unconstitutional and illegal to send the military to Seattle. We will not allow this to happen.”
Durkan said the situation in Seattle can help society change for the better.
We will not let this president be a distraction.
Centuries of slavery and systemic racism won’t be dismantled overnight, but I believe that Seattle can be a model for our country. We must work to make progress together, and it is clear that Seattle is ready to act.
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020
“Centuries of slavery and systemic racism won’t be dismantled overnight, but I believe that Seattle can be a model for our country. We must work to make progress together, and it is clear that Seattle is ready to act,” she wrote.
This will build off our existing work to provide childcare and free college to every public high school student, provide jobs for youth, and institute criminal justice reforms, including vacating convictions for marijuana use.
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020
“This will build off our existing work to provide childcare and free college to every public high school student, provide jobs for youth, and institute criminal justice reforms, including vacating convictions for marijuana use.”
Durkan’s tweets received a hostile reception on social media:
WHAT? “Lawfully gathering” in front of the Nordstrom flag-ship store last week❓with a burned-out, abandoned #SPD SUV with no police presence to halt the looting for what, two plus hours ⁉️ pic.twitter.com/1fDXWMNd26
— Pro1stAmendment+🇺🇸💙 (@Pro1stAmendment) June 12, 2020
No, it’s really just some psychos who you allowed to take over 6 blocks of your city, plant a hilarious ‘garden’ on the lawn and sit around shooting up and pooping everywhere. Let’s not exaggerate.
— Rachel 🐶💙🇺🇸 (@RaychelTania) June 12, 2020
It is terrorism. You can’t sugarcoat this. They are armed thugs and death will happen. It will be on your hands.
— Just another test (@gjwriter) June 12, 2020
This is LAWFUL??? Can we come to YOUR mansion and do what they have done to that part of the city? Yeah, I didn’t think so, Your Royal Highness. I DARE you to go spend a day in CHAZ W/O police protection.
— Anne Lee (@AnneLee70704918) June 12, 2020
As protesters took over the part of the city they now claim operates outside of city laws, police withdrew from the East Precinct building that is now in the occupied zone.
Durkan said there is no plan for them to return, according to the Seattle Times.
“We don’t want to introduce additional flashpoints,” she said Thursday, claiming that the absence of police de-escalated the situation.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
