Seattle Neighborhood Secedes as Crime Spins Out of Control

In this FrontPage Magazine article, Daniel Greenfield argues that Seattle residents blocking off streets near Aurora Avenue shows what happens when city leaders fail at the basic duty of public safety.

• Greenfield frames the incident as a kind of neighborhood “secession,” with residents acting on their own after escalating violence in Seattle’s North Aurora corridor.
• The article cites a recent shooting in which bullets reportedly passed near a six-week-old baby sleeping in a Greenwood home.
• Another incident near Aurora Avenue N. and N. 98th Street reportedly left roughly 40 shell casings on the pavement after a shootout.
• Residents responded by placing large industrial steel planters across residential side streets at N. 97th, 98th, and 102nd Streets.
• According to the article, city officials from the mayor’s office and transportation department objected, but residents refused to move the barriers.
• One resident said neighbors were not thinking long-term and were simply tired of the lack of action from city leaders.
• Greenfield uses the episode to criticize Seattle’s left-wing political leadership, arguing that progressive priorities have displaced the core function of government: protecting public safety.
• The piece suggests that when government abandons law-abiding citizens, neighborhoods eventually start improvising their own defenses.

Read the full story: https://www.frontpagemag.com/seattle-neighborhood-secedes-as-crime-spins-out-of-control/