The New York Times surprisingly demolished the mainstream mediaās previousĀ narrativeĀ thatĀ Seattle’sĀ police-freeĀ āAutonomous Zoneā was a peaceful area with aĀ block party atmosphere by speaking with local business owners who are now suing the city over the damage caused.
Liberal news outlets largely downplayedĀ theĀ six-block downtown area, first dubbed the āCapitol Hill Autonomous Zoneā (CHAZ) and laterĀ Capitol Hill Organized ProtestĀ (CHOP), because of its location in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. CNNĀ largelyĀ dismissed theĀ chaos, whileĀ The New York TimesĀ itself celebrated the area as āa homeland for racial justice.ā
NEW YORK TIMES CELEBRATES SEATTLE PROTESTERS’ ‘AUTONOMOUS ZONE’: ‘A HOMELAND FOR RACIAL JUSTICE’
Townhall senior reporterĀ 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.
āI think the biggestĀ misperception in the media is that only good things are happening in and around the autonomous zone,ā 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, āAbolish the Police? Those Who Survived the Chaos in Seattle Arenāt So Sure,ā in which businessĀ owners described the āharrowing experience of calling for help and being left all aloneā that contradicts the mediaās previousĀ narrative.
The Times spoke with a local business owner who had heard the area had a āblock party atmosphere,ā whichĀ Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan famously said on CNN.
āBut 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,ā the Times reported, noting the man saw āyoung white men wielding guns.ā
The area was celebrated by liberal lawmakers and pundits until it turned deadly, even though President Trump andĀ pundits on the right had declared the area unsafe from the beginning. The protest coincided with nationwide calls to ādefund the police,ā but local business owners donātĀ seem toĀ thinkĀ thatās a good idea any longer.
āBusiness 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,Ā including two fatal ones,ā the Times reported, noting thatĀ local businesses owners are now suing the city.
āThe lawsuit claims that āSeattleās 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 publicā resulted in enormous property damage and lost revenue,ā the Times reported.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA DOWNPLAYS ‘INSANITY IN SEATTLE’ AS CRITICS POINT OUT BIAS, HYPOCRISY
The impact of the occupation on Cafe Argento, whose owner is a partĀ of the lawsuit, has been ādevastating,ā according to the Times.
āVery 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,ā the Times reported.
āIt was lawless,ā the business owner told the Times.
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The Times reportĀ nowĀ paints the area as aĀ graffiti-filled mess filled with shattered glass,Ā brokenĀ street lightsĀ and gun-totingĀ private security guards.Ā AĀ Black Lives Matter community guard told the Times he āwas appalled by the violent tactics and rhetoric he witnessed during the occupation.ā
The TimesĀ went a different route in June, embracing the areaĀ with a glowing feature, āFree Food, Free Speech and Free of Police: Inside Seattleās āAutonomous Zone.āā