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Seattle group isn’t patriotic

To the Editor:

What happened to George Floyd, the black man who died at the hands of a rogue police officer while in police custody in Minneapolis was reprehensible, outrageous and a tragedy. The behavior of the three other officers present not coming to the aid of Floyd was completely irresponsible. Protesters, including some from the Black Lives Matter movement, rightfully demanded justice for Floyd. But then consider the complete lack of any outrage from Black Lives Matter when a retired black police captain in St. Louis was gunned down outside his friend’s store he was trying to protect. His death, like Floyd’s, was captured on video as he lay on the sidewalk dying. His black life apparently didn’t matter enough. I suppose it was because he was a police officer.

It is unbelievable that a group of people have been allowed to take over a six-block area in Seattle and create what they named the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ, for short). What makes it more unbelievable is the mayor of Seattle ordered the police chief to abandon a police precinct that CHAZ occupied and expanded to become a six-block area. That same mayor called those in CHAZ “patriots”. Really? The dictionary defines a patriot as one who loves his or her country. I seriously doubt most Americans, Republican or Democrat, would see patriots as ones that would occupy a six-block area of a city, erect barriers, and claim it as their own. Many in the mainstream media say they are just having a “festival”. Would the residents trapped in CHAZ consider it a “festival”?

Those in CHAZ have made a list of demands. The most dangerous is the demand to dismantle the police department in all of Seattle. Sadly, elsewhere in the country that demand is being met. The City Council in Minneapolis pledged, with a veto-proof majority, to do just that. I have yet to hear just what the plan is for providing law and order for the residents of Minneapolis – or Seattle.

CHAZ in Seattle will be a test. If deemed successful other cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, or New York City may be next to see areas of their city occupied and demands made, many which would cause more harm than good.

We will find a way to solve the country’s racial and inequality problems but peacefully and without infringing on the rights of others.

Chuck Peterson

Fort Dodge

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