In the last week, protesters in Minneapolis began putting up barricades to create checkpoints that bar federal immigration officers from entering certain neighborhoods. It is all too familiar to those of us who remember what the mayor in 2020 called “the Summer of Love” in Seattle and the establishment of an autonomous area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP). Ironically, these barricades are being set up after a jury ruled against the City of Seattle for negligence after the killing of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. in CHOP.
The self-declared anarchist enclave was originally called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) but was later renamed the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP).
In 2020, we discussed the prospect of tortious liability for the city, which abandoned the Seattle Police Department (SPD) East Precinct to the mob and stood by as CHOP declared itself the sole authority in its seized area. As I noted in the column, “If Seattle gets chopped in court, it will be due not to a failure of government but to a failure to govern.”
Seattle-based ice cream company, Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream, and other businesses sued the city.
While first supporting the autonomous zone as part of a “summer of love,” Democratic politicians like then-Mayor Jenny Durkan later distanced themselves from the massive damage and crime in the zone.
The Mays lawsuit included not only the city but former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best and Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins.
The jury awarded the Mays family more than $30 million in damages — $4 million to the estate of Mays Jr. and $26 million to Mays Sr., according to The Seattle Times.
Mays Jr. was visiting Seattle from San Diego when he went to the area to join the protests. He was later shot and the police failed to respond for five hours due to the limits on entry into CHOP. At that point, the crime scene was hopelessly corrupted.
Here is the complaint: Complaint Antonio Mays, Jr.
The only thing that bothers me about this lawsuit is that he was there voluntarily and joining in the protests.
Simple answer here – BEARCAT VEHICLES and TEAR GAS. Follow up with riot batons. The Karens and St Alex’s of Minnesomolia will RUN!!!
Sounds more like the barrios of Brazil than America. I wish ICE were able to handle these undesirables like Brazil Police do.
It is hard to name another profession where you can risk everyone else’s money, drive communities into debt, make decisions that affect lives and livelihoods, and face almost no personal consequence when it fails. In government, the worst outcome is usually political. Someone else gets elected. That is treated as accountability.
Meanwhile, the rewards are enormous. High salaries, generous pensions, lifetime benefits, top-tier healthcare, legal protection, and personal security. At higher levels, officials make decisions that shape entire markets and can legally turn insider access into personal wealth. Power this vast, paired with consequences this thin, is an open invitation to recklessness. Voting someone out after the damage is done is not accountability.
Great description of the warped system we have in this country. Spot on about the abuse of OPM while not having a bit of liability for one’s actions. Where else can someone who has never worked a day in the real world get elected to office (e.g., the presidency) and end up a multimillionaire? We have two significant examples in the last 35 years. The real insanity is that voters like those in Seattle, Portland, NYC, Chicago, and LA–failed cities–continue to vote such people into office.
You’re right Mary. Places like California reveal how durable the scheme really is.
Extraordinary natural beauty, climate, and opportunity create a powerful incentive to stay, even as governance deteriorates. That stickiness gives the system room to operate without immediate consequences.
Then the cycle runs predictably. Tax aggressively, soak the productive, and redistribute just enough to build and protect a permanent majority of middle and lower income voters. The resources mask the damage, the base sustains the power, and the politicians remain insulated. It is not brilliance. It is exploitation layered on top of abundance.
“Mays Jr. was visiting Seattle from San Diego when he went to the area to join the protests.” Is there not a question here of “assumption of risk”? More facts about the actions and knowledge of Mays are needed. We don’t want to reach the point where someone who makes a bomb can claim to be a victim of the bomb.
I believe we are already there. Burglars who get shot or injured breaking into other people’s homes have been successful with their tort claims. That began long ago, in Texas if I recall.
Seattle’s strategy? Appeal, delay, countersue, until we take back Washington, DC. Then, the judgment will be quietly dismissed. After all, we are the party of wisdom, intellectualism, and honesty, and have done no wrong.
City governments have no money other than what they can extract from the citizens in taxes. The citizens of Seattle will pay the bill. Of course there will be liability insurance payouts, increasing the cost of not only Seattle’s liability coverage but because of reinsurance the criminal negligence of Seattle will be costing us all in increased taxes to pay the increased premiums.
Pity they can’t write exclusions into those policies to prevent such “murder-and-inherit” results.
Many of the Seattle cops have retired or left. Now they have a shortage.
Our new Mayor will only make it worse.
Sure dustoff, whatever you say. And you’re an honorary Seattle cop. As well as a “retarded” firefighter as you so often brag.
Is it true the mayor asks for your advice too?
Do you live in the Seattle area Ano?
Or you just love making dumb remarks.
Yes and no. Dustoff you’re a pathological liar.
Agree. What a truly bizarre comment. Trolls usually do a little better. Wonder when Prof. T. will change this comment section such that each time someone posts they can simply change the name and email. At least make it a little challenging for the trolls. This anonymous posting stuff is caca.
What’s the difference between Mary and a troll? Nothing. She’s resort to swears and threats. Apparently you know how to override the comment section.
Seattle has had a police shortage since the 90’s. It’s not due to the protests in 2020. It has been an issue in Seattle for a while now. Bad cops, retirements, attrition, etc. all contribute to the poor numbers, Seattle can only deploy around 910 police officers at any time when they should be 1,400. Bonuses and higher pay have not helped much. The problem is finding quality cops. It’s hard to find well educated and competent cops everywhere. That is why there are so many problems with policing these days and why DHS also has problems. They had to lower standards and physical requirements to meet hiring goals and that presents them with the added problem is poorly trained and badly vetted recruits who then make things worse for the departments.
This is a nationwide problem. Poor training produces more misconduct. Police departments around the country have the same problem. Poor quality recruits and a very small pool to hire from. High school diplomas as the bare minimum to become a cop should be raised to having a 4 year degree. The majority of developed nations require higher education standards for police forces than we do. Perhaps we should start by raising standards instead of lowering them and offering $10,000-$30,000 bonuses to entice poorly qualified recruits.
Oh oh, its george again. Got proof? Answer: nope.
Dustoff, you’ve got a Seattle handle on this, what message, if any, does this Seattle jury verdict send to the city- and Olympia? It doesn’t look like how we perceive Seattle votes.
Dustoff has a handle? Now that’s ripe. Pal, search google for some degree of truth. Dustoff is a habitual liar.
Sanity is holding people accountable for their behavior. In addition to government officials, the actual funders and participants in establishing CHOP should be held personally accountable.
Why, what did they all do that was “personally accountable”? Do recall that he city government approved the action. State too.
How’s about some joint and several liability? If it could be proven that someone was funding CHOP, (which no doubt they were), like George $.’s organization, seems attorneys (and the city’s insurance carriers) would look for more deep pockets to pick.
Insurrection