Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan lamented the condition of the United States after President Trump deployed federal officials to cities dealing with violent protests.
“The fabric of America is being shredded before our eyes,” the Democrat said last week during an appearance on CNN with host Chris Cuomo.
“[Y]ou have seen the introduction of a significant number of federal agents who, night after night after night, have escalated violence and have had a fight, a running fight, on Portland that has created there a public safety risk,” she said.
Federal officers were deployed to Seattle over the weekend, and Durkan said she and the police chief would not collaborate with the officers to protect federal buildings because they did not ask the president for assistance.
Durkan added during the interview that she believes the president is “targeting cities led by Democratic mayors.”
“He is leveraging his power, just as you said before, for his own purposes,” she said. Instead of giving the city the help it needs, “he wants to send in federal forces and federal agents to escalate tensions. Not only do cities not need it, America doesn’t need it. This is one of the most dangerous escalations.”
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan: “The fabric of America is being shredded before our eyes.” pic.twitter.com/Q4DQ07ptap
— The Hill (@thehill) July 25, 2020
“I’ve never seen anything like this in my career, where federal agents are sent in, not even not with the cooperation of local law enforcement, but over their objection,” she said. “It’s unprecedented, and it’s the wrong way to go. The fabric of America is being shredded before our eyes, Chris, and it worries me greatly.”
Durkan made headlines earlier this year for saying the autonomous zone in her city, which she later dismantled, could be the start of a “summer of love.”
More than 40 people were arrested in Seattle on Saturday after protests turned into riots. Twenty-one police officers were reported injured.
