Washington's Wild Week

The state's in the headlines for the wrong reasons

(Note: Videos are linked to Rumble today, the editor is freaking out trying to embed them like normal.)

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It’s been quite a week for the Evergreen State. Last Saturday, Seattle made headlines as Antifa members clashed with police and Christian activists at Cal Anderson Park — an area with a history of hosting left-wing protests. (Indeed, Cal Anderson Park was part of the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” during the summer of 2020.) But it turns out there’s a little more to the story than the typical Northwest Protest fare…..

Let’s set the stage. On one side is Antifa — we already know who they are and what they represent. On the other side is MayDay USA, a religious group with a heavy emphasis on “saving kids from gender indoctrination.” Digging through the group’s media files, I think this slide gets the point across the best:

And while this message seems like pretty standard fare for Christian groups in America, you can guess how well it will go over in the “home base” of Seattle’s political protestors. (Here was THEIR sign for the weekend:)

Click to enlarge

Although police attempted to keep the two groups apart, Antifa protestors lobbed urine-filled water balloons into the concert-watching crowd and attempted to break through police lines. This prompted the predicted response, as caught by KOMO News:

As officers left the area after the clashes were over, protestors followed along chanting “All Cops Are Bastards.” (Frontlines published numerous videos of the incident if you want to see more!)

This is a fairly familiar scene to people who live in the northwest. As far as crazy political rallies go, it wasn’t even all that memorable.

Then Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell released the following statement: (emphasis mine - it’s relevant for later!)

Mayor Harrell Statement on Extreme Right-Wing Rally at Cal Anderson Park

Seattle is proud of our reputation as a welcoming, inclusive city for LGBTQ+ communities, and we stand with our trans neighbors when they face bigotry and injustice. Today’s far-right rally was held here for this very reason – to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.

When the humanity of trans people and those who have been historically marginalized is questioned, we triumph by demonstrating our values through our words and peaceful protest – we lose our voice when this is disrupted by violence, chaos, and confusion.

Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protestors group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did.

While there are broad First Amendment requirements around permitting events under free speech protections, I am directing the Parks Department to review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued. The Police Department will complete an after-action report of this event, including understanding preparation, crowd management tactics, and review of arrests and citations.

I am grateful for those who make their voices heard in support of our neighbors without resorting to violence. In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors, and commitment to justice and fairness.

Let’s set aside the absolute insanity of the Mayor of Seattle more or less saying “Did you see what she was wearing?” while attacking the victims — instead let’s focus on the Mayor’s statement that the protest was held in that specific part for the purpose of provoking a violent reaction.

As it turns out, MayDay USA wanted to hold the rally at Pike Place, but was redirected to Cal Anderson Park BY THE MAYOR’S OFFICE — perhaps to provoke the exact reaction he blamed on the “far-right.” Oops!

Now rally organizer and Seattle Pastor Russell Johnson is calling for the mayor’s resignation, and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino is demanding a full investigation into the situation.

Be careful what you wish for, mayor!!

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Also this week, Washington and most of the counties in Washington find themselves on the government’s new list of Sanctuary Jursidictions. (Notice the dearth of cooperation from governments in the Western States Pact.)

The state now “will receive formal notification of its non-compliance with Federal statutes. DHS demands that these jurisdictions immediately review and revise their policies to align with Federal immigration laws and renew their obligation to protect American citizens”, according to the page. (I have to imagine this sets the stage for more drastic measures such as withholding of federal funds, but we’ll see.)

The House has already opened an investigation into Washington’s sanctuary state policies. Washington Attorney General Nick Brown actually sued the Adams County Sheriff’s Department for handing over inmates to ICE. (This is exactly what the state government means when it says it’s going to “Stop Trump”.)

Ironically, one of the reasons given for Washington sanctuary state polices is to reduce government’s exposure to lawsuits for civil rights violations.

So the state government is suing the local government for civil rights violations.

You can’t make this up.

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Finally, we end the week with that thing that never happens once again happening.

“Veronica Garcia” (formerly known as Donovan Brown) is a boy running against (and beating) girls at the State Championships today. The runner also won last year’s 400-meter race, becoming the first (but hardly the last) “trans-girl” to steal a state championship from actual girls.

(The problem is so widespread, California’s implementing “co-winners” when a boy takes a spot from a girl — instead of, you know…..just stopping the boys from competing with the girls in the first place.)

Stuff like this is exactly why MayDay USA showed up in the state to begin with.

Edit — Washington parents just might be fed up with this.

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Bonus content:

I spent Wednesday reading through the US Court of International Trade ruling striking down Donald Trump’s use of emergency powers to set tariff rates, but before I could write about it, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal District Circuit reversed the ruling.

I’ve long talked about the pitfalls of vague language in laws, and how such language often leaves the matter in the opinion of a single person. In this case, the original court concedes the President has been granted the power to set tariffs in an emergency, but doesn’t agree with the President’s opinion on what constitutes an emergency.

But the vague wording isn’t Trump’s fault — indeed, it’s the fault of the Congress that made it vague on purpose to duck any semblance of responsibility for anything. My guess is that, much like the mass cancellation of visas, the courts will ultimately rule that Trump does indeed have these powers, and it’s up to Congress to take them back.

I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting.