President Donald Trump erupted on social media Thursday over the news of the “Seattle Autonomous Zone,” a four-block section of the city, which includes a police precinct, now controlled by “anarchists,” who have issued a list of demands to the city, including abolishing police and making higher education free.
Targeting the mayor of Seattle and the governor of Washington directly, Trump blasted the “domestic terrorists” who’ve moved into the city and called on the individuals in charge to take control of what is increasingly an out-of-control situation in the middle of one of America’s major cities.
“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,” Trump tweeted. “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped (sic) IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!”
Although the “Seattle Autonomous Zone,” or the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” as it’s known on social media, has a visible presence on Twitter and elsewhere, Seattle’s mayor and Washington’s governor seemed unperturbed in interviews Wednesday night.
Governor Jay Inslee, Jason Rantz reports, battled Seattle residents by suggesting, in a press briefing, that a reporter’s question was the first he’d heard of the Zone.
“Well that’s news to me so I’ll have to reserve any comment about that,” Inslee said with what Rantz called a “nervous chuckle.” “I have not heard anything about that, from any credible source. Not that you’re not credible, just before I espouse an opinion I should know of which I speak.”
The response shocked even reporters.
“Speechless. Washington @GovInslee claims he’s unaware that protesters have taken over nearly 6 city blocks in Seattle and dubbed it an autonomous zone, rendering an entire @SeattlePD precinct useless. It’s been trending nationwide on Twitter. It’s been more than 24 hours,” tweeted one member of the media.
Seattle’s mayor, ignoring the Zone, blasted back at President Trump, poking fun at the president for being ushered to a secure bunker under the White House as rioters moved in on the landmark last week.
“Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker. #BlackLivesMatter,” Mayor Jenny Durkan tweeted.
She quickly found herself being crushed by responses.
“Narrator: meanwhile, the people she was pandering to stormed City Hall and called for her to step down,” pointed out one social media user.
“You have a warlord running a section of your city. Maybe you shouldn’t be sitting this one out,” said another.
Indeed, the Zone, known as “CHAZ” (short for Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone”) is already posing problems. On Wednesday, a “warlord,” brandishing a weapon, began seizing control of the Zone, threatening violence. The Zone is also, reportedly, out of food, and has stationed armed guards at entrances to repel “incursions” from city services, including Seattle Department of Transportation workers looking to clean and empty portable toilets the city placed out for protesters.
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