A Seattle police union chief slammed the city’s lack of “leadership” following the shooting in the autonomous zone established by protesters in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
One person was killed and another was injured due to a shooting Saturday morning in the city’s so-called autonomous zone known as CHOP.
Police Officers Guild President Michael Solan joined Fox & Friends on Saturday and said it’s “no longer the summer of love” as Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said, but the “summer of chaos.”
“Early this morning, that violence was raw and real where one of our community members lost their life, and police are still not allowed into that area and were prevented to providing that police service to the area to locate victims and/or render aid. [It’s] very troubling what’s going on,” Solan said on Fox News.
He also criticized the leadership in the city.
“And again, we’re left wondering, what’s next?” he asked. “And, now our elected officials have removed our ability to have less lethal chemical munitions that are effective for us to disburse unruly, violent crowds to protect those police facilities, let alone ourselves.”
“So, we’re in a very, very troubling time in Seattle, and it’s deeply concerning that everybody across this country needs to be aware of what’s going on in Seattle,” he said.
Protesters took over a six-block area in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle on June 8, which includes a police precinct that was abandoned by police. The protesters have also issued a list of demands to government officials, including the abolition of police.
President Trump has repeatedly said it will be the responsibility of local government leaders to take command of the situation.
“So, they take over a big chunk of a city called Seattle. We are not talking about some little place. We’re talking about Seattle. Have you ever been to Seattle?” Trump said during his rally Saturday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. “They took over a big chunk. And the governor who is radical left — all of these places I talk about are Democrat. You know that. Every one of them.”
“Any time you want, we’ll come in. We’ll straighten it out in one hour or less. Now, I may be wrong, but it’s probably better for us to just to watch that disaster,” Trump added.
The city’s mayor denied the area is dangerous.
“We’ve got four blocks in Seattle that you just saw pictures of that is more like a block party atmosphere,” Durkan said on CNN Thursday night. “It’s not an armed takeover. It’s not a military junta. We will make sure that we can restore this. But we have block parties and the like in this part of Seattle all the time. It’s known for that.”
Still, there have been reports of armed guards, claims of extortion, destruction of property, and now a fatal shooting within the area.
“So, we need leadership now more than ever,” Solan said Saturday. “And, I find it ironic that the same public officials that are creating these decisions that put everybody’s public safety at risk are now calling out for defunding the police. And those two aren’t compatible.”
