(Zero Hedge)—The year of 2020 was an unmitigated disaster for the US for numerous reasons. With so many chaotic events happening simultaneously, one can be forgiven if they have completely forgotten about the bizarre CHAZ/CHOP takeover of a section of Seattle by woke activists for around a month. The protest led to extensive violence and some deaths, but was widely supported by city officials. It was also a wellspring of hilarious memes as ignorant protesters tried in vain to establish a self sustaining progressive community complete with socialist garden spaces.
Seattle is one of the few leftist enclaves in the US still clinging to the old days of BLM and covid mandates, and they are back in the news again. This time because of an organized and violent mob attack on a peaceful Christian rally this week at Cal Anderson Park. The rally, held by a group called Mayday USA, spoke on pro-life issues and against transgender hormones and surgeries for children.
A group called “Radical Women Seattle” explained their protest of the event:
“Aimed to counter the well-funded anti-trans, anti-queer event that is led by far-right Christian activists. The Mayday USA rally in Seattle is provocatively being held in the heart of the Queer community. It is part of a 5-city national tour. Reactionary preacher and former Spokane Valley state representative Matt Shea, of the “On Fire Ministries,” is one of the prominent supporters…”
Freedom Socialist Party leader Doreen McGrath stated:
“We are encouraging everyone to come out and show their solidarity…Attacks of this kind need to be met with protest every time…”
In other words, a Christian group meeting in a public park is considered an “attack”.
By mid-day the mob engaged in a series of violent actions on the Christian rally, forcing police to intervene. At least 23 activists were arrested on charges of assault and obstruction.
Seattle — Antifa and Trantifa gathered to riot again at the site of the former CHAZ occupation, which led to people being killed in 2020. The May 24 riot was organized to violently shut down a Christian worship event. pic.twitter.com/7vzQAM6hJ6
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 25, 2025
After a decade of unhinged woke activism in the US most people are now well aware that the political left’s idea of “free speech” is highly one-sided. They believe that free speech laws give them the right to disrupt and even violently shut down other people’s free speech. They think that the 1st Amendment gives them the right to do whatever they want whenever they want. This is simply not reality.
Furthermore, the political left argues that the right to disrupt is supported by the content of their opponent’s speech. Meaning, if a person or group is presenting conservative or populist views (what they call “hate speech”), this justifies violence as a tool to shut that speech down.
This is a very convenient mindset because it allows them to rationalize any malicious tactic. All they have to do is label their enemies “fascists” and the rules of civil order go out the window. This is why leftists are unlikely to win a majority of elections at any point in the near future and it’s also why the American public is increasingly tempted to return the favor and visit violence on woke activists.
Far left Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell warned against violence but also defended the mob. He called for an investigation into the permit process that allowed the Christian group to meet at Cal Anderson Park, as if Mayday USA was to blame, and suggested that the attacks were caused by “anarchists infiltrating the protest”.
“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…”
“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…”
This kind of progressive political bias might have been in vogue in 2020, but that was five years ago. Harrell should consider his positions carefully; a lot has changed and the notion that only certain activist groups have rights to public spaces is no longer being tolerated. The era of BLM and Antifa is over and even Seattle is going to have to catch up with the times.
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