They are not Peaceful Protestors. They are Criminals.

“I WANT MY CITY BACK”

by Linda Jordan, ©2020

(Jul. 5, 2020) — There was a horrific scene on I-5 in Seattle yesterday morning. Two women, unlawful BLM et al protestors, were hit by a car while blocking the freeway. Sadly one died today, Summer Taylor; the other is in critical condition.

Who is responsible for this completely avoidable tragedy? While awaiting the outcome of an official investigation into the driver, who is black, and the incident I can name four.

1. BLM et al, the lawless protestors, for blocking the freeway.

“The First Amendment does not protect speech that is combined with the violation of established laws such as trespassing, disobeying or interfering with a lawful order by a police officer.”  (the ACLU)   Why does BLM et al think they have the right to block streets, highways and freeways?  I would really like to know. Who taught them that? Their Marxist founders? Obama community organizers? Their free legal aid lawyers?

It is always illegal to block a freeway yet yesterday morning BLM et al used three cars and their bodies to set up a blockade on I-5. They put drivers and themselves in danger. Around 1:40 a.m. two women suffered critical injuries as a result. One has died. When you block roads you are not a peaceful protestor. You are disturbing the peace. You are violating State, Federal and local laws. You are engaging in disorderly conduct. You are violating the constitutional rights of people to freely travel. You are interfering with interstate commerce.  You are disrupting the lives of innocent people and holding them captive. Hostages imprisoned on your barricaded road.

BLM et al occupy streets and freeways to disrupt the lives of as many people as possible, to disrupt businesses, to force a violent confrontation with law enforcement and to make citizens angry enough to attack them. Hopefully white racists. But that’s redundant. They could gather at any number of open spaces or get a permit to march in the street, but that would be a peaceful assembly, a peaceful protest, and that is not what they want. So they use lawlessness and violence to force their political agenda on the rest of us. They want a revolution, a war, and barricading streets is their primary weapon.

2. Washington State Patrol (WSP) for failing to uphold the law.

On June 27, 2020 WSP Chief John R. Batiste released a press statement explaining why the WSP had been closing down the freeway every day for the better part of 19 days to accommodate unlawful protestors who wanted to occupy it. Commuters were mad and demanded an answer.

Batiste said that it is not only the duty of the WSP to “keep people driving on the freeway safe but also those who peacefully use the freeway for making public statements.”  Chief Batiste, 7/27/20

Is your jaw still dropped? People can “peacefully use the freeway for making public statements.” I was not aware of that.  I wondered, could I use the freeway like that? Would there be an equal non-application of the law if I tried it? Would they shut it down for me? So I wrote to the Chief the next day. First I encouraged him to uphold the law but, absent that, I said, I have a public statement to make:

“I am letting the Washington State Patrol know that I will be blocking I-5, as a protestor. I want to peacefully use the freeway to make a public statement, to show my rightful indignation for the police officers murdered during the BLM et al riots, for the police officers injured during the BLM et al riots, for the innocent victims beaten during the BLM et al riots, for the thousands of businesses burned down during the BLM et al riots, for the historic statues, monuments, buildings defaced or torn down during the BLM et al riots, for the people who lost their jobs because they said, “All lives matter” during the hysteria known as the BLM et al riots, for the people who lost their jobs because they said they did not agree with the goals of BLM, to create a Marxist country, where police departments, courts and prisons are abolished and replaced with…?….I will also be protesting the effort by the City of Seattle to defund the Seattle Police Department…I would like to schedule this freeway closure with your office for my peaceful protest…This is a serious request, I expect to be treated equally with the BLM et al protestors and I look forward to your immediate response.”  Never heard back from them.

Update: After the sad death of BLM et al Summer Taylor today and the critical injury of another, the WSP announced, after 19 days of allowing protestors to occupy the freeway, that they “will not be allowing protesters to enter I-5. For the safety of all citizens including protesters and motorists, pedestrians walking on the freeway will be arrested.”

3. The City of Seattle for failing to uphold the law. When these unlawful protests have not been outright violent they have been designed to disrupt, agitate and provoke violence, to create an atmosphere where violence can flourish.

Their primary weapon for creating unrest? The streets.  “Whose streets? Our streets!”  No, they are not. They belong to every citizen and they are not made for pedestrians. It is illegal to block a street in Seattle without a permit for obvious public safety reasons, whether it be for a 4^th of July parade or a free speech protest. The City could have enforced the laws prohibiting streets from being barricaded but it did not. I contacted the City and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) many times and implored them to uphold the law.  Never got a response. BLM et al have never had a permit and have blocked streets all over this city for 35 days and counting.

It is clear by their actions that the City and SPD are reticent to enforce the laws or just don’t know how to. And when you don’t enforce the laws all h*** tends to break loose. SPD has failed to employ a simple “Ask, Tell, Make” tactic adding “negotiate,” “capitulate” and “we give up” in to the mix. One SPD officer actually wore a patch on his uniform that said “Stop Screaming. I’m scared too.”  How has that worked for you? Are they minding you better now that they know you’re scared, too?

Mayor Jenny Durkan says the few protestors they have arrested for blocking streets will not be charged. They might begin to think they can violate the law with impunity. And what does that say to cops? Take on the risk to remove and arrest a protestor who is refusing to disperse, only to be told they won’t be charged. I think the SPD is just giving up. In fact, following the lead of the WSP, they have now decided to further aid and abet this lawlessness and assured one of the protestors yesterday that SPD can close down an intersection on Capitol Hill, again, should the lawless protestors want to occupy it.

4. The individual people who made the choice to stand on the freeway. You made the decision to use the freeway as your soapbox. Your safety cannot be guaranteed and you are placing others in grave danger.

Closing.  I want my city back. I want my country back.

A pox on you, BLM et al, for the lawlessness and violence you have inflicted upon us, on the country, and on your own people over the last 35 days. The staggering level of selfish, narcissistic, law-breaking, ignorant, racist and infantile behavior you have engaged in is jaw-dropping. Your absolute lack of concern for violating the constitutional rights of fellow citizens is astounding.  I am no fan of the Seattle mayor, but to take 3,000 people to her home, to her “rich white” neighborhood, day after day to hound her, to yell and scream at her, to call her a b**** and worse, is not peaceful. It is vicious and mean-spirited. It shows a great disdain for the lives of so many people. You are a hateful mob, not peaceful protestors. The violent result of your unlawful “taking it to the streets” so far, at least the ones we know about, has resulted in businesses destroyed, arson, assaults on police officers and citizens, seven black men shot in your occupied city of CHAZ. Two dead, two critical, a 19-, 16- and 14-year-old among them.  Two unlawful protestors were hit by a car on a freeway you were blocking, 32 and 24 years old; one has died, one remains in critical condition. You are responsible for that.

A pox on you, City of Seattle, for failing to uphold the law and for aiding and abetting the lawlessness.

A pox on you, Washington State Patrol, for refusing to uphold the law, for aiding and abetting lawlessness and for allowing children to play on the freeway.

To all those charged with upholding the law. There are consequences when you don’t enforce them. People start to think they can do anything. They become emboldened; they show disrespect for authority. In Seattle we have young adults who actually believe that it is their First Amendment “right” to take over the freeway and occupy streets and that the job of law enforcement is to protect them while they violate the law. They earnestly believe that.

Stop calling them peaceful protestors. BLM et al are criminals engaged in criminal behavior. Take the streets and their weapon of choice away from them. Disarm them. Reclaim Seattle for all citizens and restore law and order to this city.