Once again, the domestic terror group Antifa has embarked on acts of political violence in Seattle and liberal politicians are again too afraid to stand up and condemn the Leftist activists’ aggression. This lack of political courage has police department leaders concerned that this will encourage more political violence and lead more officers to leave the Seattle Police Department.

It was five years ago this week when George Floyd died at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, which led to protests across the country. In the Pacific Northwest, where the extremist terror group Antifa has a stronghold, the protests quickly became violent, with cars and buildings set afire, continuous assaults on police officers, and even a mass murder attempt by setting fire to the East Precinct while sealing the doors with cement.

Reaction to the 2020 political violence was startling.

• Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s comments became a national joke as she defended the violent rioters by saying they were enjoying their “summer of love.”
• A majority of Seattle City Councilmembers took selfies near the riots like it was a fun evening out to a concert instead of night where millions of dollars of damage was being done to the city they took an oath to protect.
• Councilmember Kshama Sawant illegally unlocked the doors to Seattle City Hall during the COVID lockdown allowing protestors free reign through the building.
• King County Executive Dow Constantine handed out free masks to the rioters and tweeted about this after multiple fires were set in Downtown Seattle.
• Governor Jay Inslee doodled and pretended he hadn’t heard about the violence when he was asked about it during a news conference. (This followed an embarrassing moment for Inslee a few months earlier, when as a presidential candidate, he had no idea about Antifa despite its many PNW acts of violence.)
• Worst of all, then-Attorney General Bob Ferguson, Washington’s top law enforcement officer, was silent as his progressive supporters physically assaulted police officers. He never once, then or in the following five years, stood by the police officers who were viciously attacked.

Instead of condemning the violence, Democrat and liberal politicians caved into rioters’ demands by passing a series of police reform measures at the local and state levels.  This resulted in skyrocketing crime rates. Ironically, these “equity measures” hurt lower-income and minority residents the hardest.

In the past couple of weeks, liberal activists donning the Antifa “uniform” of masks and all-black clothing, have continued their violence on local residents as liberal politicians again refuse to condemn their actions.

On May 5, criminals dressed in all-black threatened staff and students as they stormed the University of Washington Engineering Building before causing over a million dollars in damages by setting fires, breaking windows, and destroying furniture.

Thus far, Mayor Bruce Harrell has been silent about the extremists’ violence which occurred in his city at his alma mater. Bob Ferguson, now governor, did not issue a statement on the violence. A couple of days later the governor was cornered by a couple of reporters at an event and then proceeded to dodge questions about Left-wing political extremism and then stated that  as a former three-term AG he doesn’t know the definition of “domestic terrorism.”

On May 25, black-clad thugs disrupted a Christian rally at Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park, the center of the 2020 CHAZ/CHOP protests. The Spokane based-evangelical church received a permit from the city to hold the event. 23 people were arrested.

The next day, Mayor Harrell’s staff released a politically divisive statement condemning the Christian group, even though 1) his Parks Department issued them a permit to hold a rally, and 2) there is plenty of visual evidence they were not the ones who caused the disruption. Then, after Mayor Harrell was criticized by many for his actions, he used the “race card” as if a politician who is the city’s “second Black and first bi-racial mayor” is above public criticism.

These are two of the recent incidents which have police leadership concerned about the absence of condemning Left-wing violence and about the impact this will have on police morale and recruitment. 

After the 2020 riots, over 700 well-trained and culturally diverse officers left the Seattle Police Department and police union officials fear this could happen again unless elected officials take stronger “action against ANTIFA criminals.”

In a May 25 media release, the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) criticized the city’s response to the 2020 rioters, stating that “people died as the result” of city leaders caving into the extremists’ demands. After seeing politicians’ reactions to recent Left-wing violence, SPOG leadership is concerned that the same lack of backbone will cause a similar result.

Currently Seattle has only 847 deployable officers (out of 1500 needed for a city the size of Seattle) and SPOG states that 284 are eligible for retirement. The guild fears many will leave since elected leaders “lack the political will to allow police to use the necessary tools to hold back criminal mobs to protect life and property.’

Thus, after finally receiving more interests from police recruits (albeit some due to lowering standards), all of the signing bonuses and new incentives passed by the council will go to waste unless politicians are willing to condemn ALL POLITICAL VIOLENCE, including that from their supporters.

Because of new policies to remove repeat criminals from the street, allow police to pursue suspected criminals, passing new drug possession laws, and installing anti-drug and anti-prostitution zones, criminal activity is finally going down in Seattle. Look for it to shoot right back up if our political leaders do not have the courage to condemn all political extremism and political violence.