The New York Times surprisingly demolished the mainstream media’s previous narrative that Seattle's police-free “Autonomous Zone” was a peaceful area with a block party atmosphere by speaking with local business owners who are now suing the city over the damage caused.
Liberal news outlets largely downplayed the six-block downtown area, first dubbed the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) and later Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), because of its location in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood. CNN largely dismissed the chaos, while The New York Times itself celebrated the area as “a homeland for racial justice.”
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Townhall senior reporter Julio Rosas, who was on the ground in Seattle at the height of the chaos, told Fox News that the media was downplaying the story.
“I think the biggest misperception in the media is that only good things are happening in and around the autonomous zone,” Rosas said in June.
Two months later, New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles hit Seattle to decide for herself. The result was a report headlined, “Abolish the Police? Those Who Survived the Chaos in Seattle Aren’t So Sure,” in which business owners described the “harrowing experience of calling for help and being left all alone” that contradicts the media’s previous narrative.
The Times spoke with a local business owner who had heard the area had a “block party atmosphere,” which Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan famously said on CNN.
“But that was not what he saw through the windows of his Seattle coffee shop. He saw encampments overtaking the sidewalks. He saw roving bands of masked protesters smashing windows and looting,” the Times reported, noting the man saw “young white men wielding guns.”
The area was celebrated by liberal lawmakers and pundits until it turned deadly, even though President Trump and pundits on the right had declared the area unsafe from the beginning. The protest coincided with nationwide calls to “defund the police,” but local business owners don’t seem to think that’s a good idea any longer.
“Business crashed as the Seattle police refused to respond to calls to the area. Officers did not retake the region until July 1, after four shootings, including two fatal ones,” the Times reported, noting that local businesses owners are now suing the city.
“The lawsuit claims that ‘Seattle’s unprecedented decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood, leaving it unchecked by the police, unserved by fire and emergency health services, and inaccessible to the public’ resulted in enormous property damage and lost revenue,” the Times reported.
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The impact of the occupation on Cafe Argento, whose owner is a part of the lawsuit, has been “devastating,” according to the Times.
“Very few people braved the barricades set up by the armed occupiers to come in for his coffee and breakfast sandwiches. Cars coming to pick up food orders would turn around. At two points, he and his workers felt scared and called 911,” the Times reported.
“It was lawless,” the business owner told the Times.
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The Times report now paints the area as a graffiti-filled mess complete with shattered glass, broken street lights and gun-toting private security guards. A Black Lives Matter community guard told the Times he “was appalled by the violent tactics and rhetoric he witnessed during the occupation.”
The Times went a different route in June, embracing the area with a glowing feature, “Free Food, Free Speech and Free of Police: Inside Seattle’s ‘Autonomous Zone.’”