The murder rate in Seattle has soared to its highest level in a decade – as the city council approved cutting the police budget by nearly 20 per cent..Council members voted overwhelmingly to cut funds for police training and overtime and to eliminate dozens of vacant positions within the Seattle Police Department after months of contentious talks..The cut will amount to 18 per cent..That falls well short of the 50 per cent local activists demanded amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice..Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis protesters burned down a police precinct building and set up the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone, which sought to operate on Marxist-Leninist principles..At least 31 people were arrested at the CHAZ zone and crime rose by more than 500 per cent in just over three weeks. .Thousands of protesters – many hailing from the far-left ANTIFA terrorist organization – took over the six-square block area of Seattle, where no police officers were allowed..The commune quickly run out of food, putting out a plea for “vegan meat alternatives” and other soy-based food donations..They had a list of demands, including the “abolition” of the Seattle Police Department and its attached court system, free college for all people in the state, as well as “the abolition of imprisonment, generally speaking, but especially the abolition of both youth prisons and privately-owned, for-profit prisons.”.The streets were controlled by a hip hop artist-turned-warlord by the name of Raz Simone, who established an armed private police force that does did hesitate to dole out beatings to communal scofflaws..U.S. President Donald Trump and Seattle’s Mayor Jenny Durkan engaged in a war of words over the Zone..“Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will,” Trump warned Durkan and Washington state governor Jay Inslee – both Democrats – in a tweet, calling the protesters “domestic terrorists” who have taken over Seattle..“This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped (sic) IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST,” he said in another tweet.. Defying crackdown, hundreds march against lockdowns in Calgary .Durkan replied, telling Trump to “go back to his bunker” a reference to when Trump sheltered in the White House bunker after D.C protests and riots got too close..Inslee tweeted: “A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state’s business. ‘Stoop’ tweeting.”.Two people – including a 16-year-old boy – were shot and killed around CHAZ – with police finally moving in on July 1st and cleared up the area..Seattle’s city council also decided to transfer parking enforcement officers, mental health workers and 911 dispatchers out of the police department..“I believe we are laying the groundwork to make systemic and lasting changes to policing,” Mayor Jenney Durkan said in a statement..Durkan will sign the police cut order this week..“We have rightly put forward a plan that seeks to ensure SPD has enough officers to meet 911 response and investigative needs throughout the city, while acknowledging and addressing the disproportionate impacts policing has had on communities of colour, particularly Black communities,” she said..“I applaud the City Council for taking a more deliberate and measured approach to the 2021 Seattle Police Department budget than occurred this summer which led to the resignation of former SPD Chief Carmen Best.”. Seattle approves massive cut to police as murder figures soarFormer Seattle police chief Carmen Best .The budget will spend up to $100 million for projects in communities of colour and the hiring of 100 police officers in 2021..The budget moves come as the Seattle marked the 55th murder of the year Monday..The city had 28 homicide victims last year and 32 in 2018..Burglaries are also up. There have been 8,418 burglary incidents, compared to 7,634 in 2019..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
The murder rate in Seattle has soared to its highest level in a decade – as the city council approved cutting the police budget by nearly 20 per cent..Council members voted overwhelmingly to cut funds for police training and overtime and to eliminate dozens of vacant positions within the Seattle Police Department after months of contentious talks..The cut will amount to 18 per cent..That falls well short of the 50 per cent local activists demanded amid nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice..Following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis protesters burned down a police precinct building and set up the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone, which sought to operate on Marxist-Leninist principles..At least 31 people were arrested at the CHAZ zone and crime rose by more than 500 per cent in just over three weeks. .Thousands of protesters – many hailing from the far-left ANTIFA terrorist organization – took over the six-square block area of Seattle, where no police officers were allowed..The commune quickly run out of food, putting out a plea for “vegan meat alternatives” and other soy-based food donations..They had a list of demands, including the “abolition” of the Seattle Police Department and its attached court system, free college for all people in the state, as well as “the abolition of imprisonment, generally speaking, but especially the abolition of both youth prisons and privately-owned, for-profit prisons.”.The streets were controlled by a hip hop artist-turned-warlord by the name of Raz Simone, who established an armed private police force that does did hesitate to dole out beatings to communal scofflaws..U.S. President Donald Trump and Seattle’s Mayor Jenny Durkan engaged in a war of words over the Zone..“Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will,” Trump warned Durkan and Washington state governor Jay Inslee – both Democrats – in a tweet, calling the protesters “domestic terrorists” who have taken over Seattle..“This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped (sic) IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST,” he said in another tweet.. Defying crackdown, hundreds march against lockdowns in Calgary .Durkan replied, telling Trump to “go back to his bunker” a reference to when Trump sheltered in the White House bunker after D.C protests and riots got too close..Inslee tweeted: “A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state’s business. ‘Stoop’ tweeting.”.Two people – including a 16-year-old boy – were shot and killed around CHAZ – with police finally moving in on July 1st and cleared up the area..Seattle’s city council also decided to transfer parking enforcement officers, mental health workers and 911 dispatchers out of the police department..“I believe we are laying the groundwork to make systemic and lasting changes to policing,” Mayor Jenney Durkan said in a statement..Durkan will sign the police cut order this week..“We have rightly put forward a plan that seeks to ensure SPD has enough officers to meet 911 response and investigative needs throughout the city, while acknowledging and addressing the disproportionate impacts policing has had on communities of colour, particularly Black communities,” she said..“I applaud the City Council for taking a more deliberate and measured approach to the 2021 Seattle Police Department budget than occurred this summer which led to the resignation of former SPD Chief Carmen Best.”. Seattle approves massive cut to police as murder figures soarFormer Seattle police chief Carmen Best .The budget will spend up to $100 million for projects in communities of colour and the hiring of 100 police officers in 2021..The budget moves come as the Seattle marked the 55th murder of the year Monday..The city had 28 homicide victims last year and 32 in 2018..Burglaries are also up. There have been 8,418 burglary incidents, compared to 7,634 in 2019..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com.Twitter.com/nobby7694
