The “Summer of Love” is finally drawing to a close in Seattle.
Arson, robberies, a few rapes and a couple murders were all it took to bring the experiment to a close.
As reported by our friends at Fox News:
Several Republicans on Wednesday voiced their support for the end of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) as the Seattle Police Department, at the order of Mayor Jenny Durkan, rolled through the area that saw five shootings and two deaths in the three weeks it had been declared “police free” by its occupants. An executive order from Durkan issued ahead of the clearing authorized police to move into the area which Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best called “lawless and brutal” in a statement. By 9:25 a.m. PST, according to the police department, officers had made 31 arrests including one person who “was in possession of a large metal pipe and kitchen knife when he was taken into custody.” The Seattle Police Department also discovered homemade spike strips meant to prevent cars from entering the CHOP area.
“Finally,” tweeted Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. “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.”
“Boy, nation-states seem to be lasting shorter & shorter,” he said in one tweet.
“Is it still the Summer of Love? #NowThatCHAZIsGone,” Cruz said in another.Cruz’s “Summer of Love” tweet referenced a quote from Durkan during the early stages of the CHOP zone as she initially seemed uninterested in reclaiming the six-block area of her city that included a police precinct, which officers were forced to abandon, and several businesses, which business-owners could not get to.”
While the very existence of CHOP in Seattle, a putrid microcosm of what lefists want for the rest of the country, boggles the mind, more troubling is why it took so long to be rid of in the first place.
Local KIRO7 in Washington state, details the recent murder of a teenager within the area, the second fatal shooting in as many weeks, which may have been the last straw for the doomed occupied zone:
A teenager is dead, a second injured and their jeep is riddled with bullets inside the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone, aka CHOP zone.
The latest shooting at the CHOP zone claimed the life of a 16-year-old male, and left a 14-year-old critically injured.
Tonight, the father of another teenager shot and killed there last week says the CHOP zone must go.
Tensions rose when the victim's father spoke out because he is saying things the people here do not want to hear.
But now two teenagers, both black, have been killed here. And at least three others have been wounded.
"I ain't been sleeping,. You see my eyes. I've been crying. I'm trying not to cry on TV."
Horace Lorenzo Anderson stood in the embrace of Andre Taylor, a leader in the local anti-police violence movement.
Anderson was there to shine a light on the murder of his 19-year-old son and namesake, who was shot and killed inside the CHOP zone last weekend.
He says the zone should go.
"This doesn't look like a protest to me no more," said Anderson. "That just looks like they just took over and said we can take over whenever we want to."
USA Today, further details the operation, as police continue to restore order to the area throughout the day:
Police Chief Carmen Best said she supports peaceful protests, but "enough is enough. The CHOP has become lawless and brutal."Police said on Twitter they had made at least 31 arrests, and officers were equipped with "additional protective gear" as suspects in recent crimes may be in the area and others may be armed.
Police in riot gear and on bikes formed lines along the streets and marched through the area, pushing back demonstrators. Officers tore down fences, cleared trash and poked around bushes.
Most protesters left several hours after police began clearing the area around 5 a.m. Wednesday. A loud bang around 6:15 a.m. was followed by a cloud of smoke, though there were no signs of major clashes between police and protesters.
Attorney General William Barr praised Best and the department in a statement Wednesday, saying the protest area had "became a haven for violent crime."
"The message of today’s action is simple but significant: The Constitution protects the right to speak and assemble freely, but it provides no right to commit violence or defy the law," Barr said."
So why the change of heart, Mayor Jenny??
Was it the crushing guilt of your political stunt failed when you accepted these criminals with open arms?
Was it the rape that got to you, or the murders?
While I would like to think some semblance of a conscience moved her to act, some aren't so sure:
The quick retaking of the area today by police, is an exclamation mark on Mayor Jenny's criminal incompetence.
Had she the integrity of a true leader, CHOP would have never gained root in the city, lives wouldn't have been destroyed, young men would still be alive.
Maybe once the police finish up on Capitol Hill, they can take a ride over to City Hall.
But I can dream...
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