29th & Judkins: Loud bang and shouting at 5am – UPDATE: SWAT raid on communist collective

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Did anybody else hear it?  Lots of police in the area afterwards.

EDITOR’S UPDATE: The SWAT team raided an apartment near 29th and Judkins early this morning, executing a search warrant. Nobody was arrested in the search, but people were detained and flash grenades were used.

The apartment has been a key organizing space for the upcoming Everything for Everyone festival, and some occupants are active in Occupy Seattle and the Red Spark Collective, a communist group.

Police were apparently searching for evidence connected to the May Day actions that caused property damage and some allegations of assault against police officers.

Details on the raid, from a post on the Kasama Project website (Red Spark is a Kasama member):

Early morning, July 10, SWAT police forced their way into the Seattle apartment of organizers from the Occupy movement. The sleeping residents scrambled to put on clothes as they were confronted automatic weapons.

The neighbor Natalio Perez heard the attack from downstairs: “Suddenly we heard the bang of their grenade, and the crashing as police entered the apartment. The crashing and stomping continued for a long time as they tore the place apart.”

After the raid, the residents pored over the papers handed them by a detective. One explained: “This warrant says that they were specifically looking for ‘anarchist materials’ — which lays out the political police state nature of this right there. In addition they were looking for specific pieces of clothing supposedly connected with a May First incident.

UPDATE X2: Some people are holding a rally at Westlake Park tonight (Tuesday) at 7 p.m. to protest the raid.

Some of the apartment’s residents are also involved with the Food for Everyone BBQs every Sunday at 2 p.m. near the old Horace Mann school.

Here’s SPD’s statement:

Early this morning,  SWAT and detectives served a search warrant to a residence  as part of the ongoing May Day investigation.  Just before 6:00 am,  detectives contacted four individuals inside the residence in the 1100 Block of 29th Avenue South.  The search resulted in evidence that will be useful in the investigation.  The detectives are continuing to work toward identifying suspects in the May Day riot.  There may be more search warrants in the future.  The four individuals contacted inside the residence this morning were cooperative with  investigators and after being interviewed, were released from the scene.  The May Day investigation continues.  Anyone with information is asked to contact SPD’s May Day tip line at (206) 233-2666 or [email protected].

Here’s the press release on the incident from Occupy Seattle:

Early morning, June 10, SWAT police forced their way into the Seattle apartment of several organizers from the Occupy movement. The sleeping individuals, two residents and two visitors, scrambled to put on clothes as they were confronted by officers holding drawn tactical rifles.

The neighbor, Natalio Perez heard the attack from downstairs: “Suddenly we heard a loud crash which was, I guess, them breaking down the door, and then right after I heard what must have been the flash bang grenade and a lot of yelling over a loudspeaker. I heard them go up the stairs and then there was just a lot of crashing and stomping as they tore the place apart.”

After the raid, the residents examined the papers handed them by a detective. One explained: “This warrant notes that they were specifically looking for ‘anarchist materials’—this says to me that it’s an explicitly political thing. That we are not being raided for connection to any crime, but to some political ideology that the police think we have. I was just doing research on the old Pinkerton strikebreaking paramilitaries, so it’s kind of funny, you know, to have that old red scare history burst through my front door at six AM.”

This action targets well known activists from Occupy Seattle who have recently been involved with anti-police brutality organizing, actions against the juvenile detention center and the weekly Food for Everyone free barbecue in the Central District.

“They took basic stuff,” another resident said. “A zip-up sweater, one glove, a blue beanie, a pink scarf. They took a few flyers we had, one from a book release party for a book on Occupy.

This is stuff that would be in the house of any activist or even people who just come to events now and then.”

 

100 thoughts on “29th & Judkins: Loud bang and shouting at 5am – UPDATE: SWAT raid on communist collective”

  1. My husband and I heard it too.
    I think it was at around 5:50?
    Shouting followed by two loud bangs.
    We called the cops and reported it.

  3. These people are deranged. If we can’t have them committed to mental institutions then the justice system is the best we can do.

  4. I heard it and from what I can read it was an completely unnecessarry action to take. The whole neighborhood, which is silent was startled awake and no arrest were made! I thought we had drug runners, mafia or atleast active gang members but no! Some organizers hmmm. Our tax dollars at work!

  9. It wasn’t “just” vandalism. When you break out windows in a court building and try to throw a molotov coctail inside, with people in the building (or not), that’s terrorism. Regardless of your cool pink hair, it’s still domestic terrorism.

  10. Yeah, cute attempt to make me seem like a vandal (the guy with the pink mohawk that everyone has seen). I’ve never committed an act of property destruction, thanks, and until I see a signed confession from any of the victims of police oppression at the Judkins house this morning I will not believe that they (my comrades) have either.

    And good job for taking the State’s line on what terrorism is or isn’t. How’s that Kool-Aid taste? Brain washed squeaky clean?

  11. I was behind the Occupy Wall Street movement and still am. Occupy Seattle, however, has allowed itself to be completely taken over by supposed Anarchists, the Autonomia crowd fond of terrorizing neighbors who didn’t like their noise, Black Bloc folks, along with a contingent of “I’m all of those / none of those; I glom on to EVERY movement and just like to pick fights with the police.” What they did in May, and have done several times in the past, constitutes terrorism. This has been going on in Seattle since before the Occupy movement, and it’s the same crowd of people. If you commit domestic terrorism, expect the police to go after you like you’re terrorists. Meanwhile, stop glomming on to and ruining peaceful movements.

  12. Actually, “Ian Awesome,” I was referring to one guy – or maybe girl? – in the 5 photos posted on Komo yesterday whose sole defining factor appeared to be pink bangs. But please, do go on thinking everything is about you, “the guy with the pink mohawk that EVERYONE has seen.” Because you are that important. Yawn.

    And breaking out windows in order to attempt to get a molotov cocktail inside a building, potentially killing people, is terrorism in ANYONE’s book.

  13. Two of the people who live in the house just stopped by our house (we live around the corner) to kindly apologize and to see if we had any questions on what they organize, what they support or what happened this morning. They were both still visibly shaken from this morning. I really feel the police could have handled this much better. Or better yet, I wish they would have gotten the address wrong and taken down the drug dealing house just down the street.

  14. Perhaps you would like to pay the $500 it cost us to remove graffiti from our property?

  17. Comment not directed at you, Mr. Awesome. It was directed to the initial poster, CHAD))

  18. OMG – I logged on to say the same thing. Total drug dealer about 3 doors up. I wish the cops would bust her and break that business up. I called 911 about this house months ago but nothing ever happened.

  19. Yeah, because using a flashbang grenade in someone’s house at 5:50 in the morning as part of a search is the furthest thing from deranged….

  20. Please, everybody, refrain from personal attacks in the comments. They distract from the conversation and create a hostile environment for a community conversation. Thanks.

  21. “I wish they would have gotten the address wrong and taken down the drug dealing house just down the street.”

    Which one?

  22. I support Occupy and in particular #OccupyStudentLoans. However, I am not sympathetic to paid instigators that work both sides of the street, even though they have friends in high places.

  23. Holding an unpopular political view does not make someone mentally ill.

  26. @CrackerJacker No molotovs that day? Were those flames just spontaneously combusting anarchists? The video posted on King 5 of flames on the outside of the courthouse right after the windows were smashed would indicate something flamable thrown, call it what you will. Luckily the goofs in black had poor aim as they failed in lobbing the molotov cocktail through the windows they’d just broken.

  28. I have watched that video you speak of, love the hair but, and it looks like a road flare to me.

  29. Could you post a link to those pics? I can’t find them. I would really like to know what you are talking about.

  30. @CHAD I think you’re right. I stand corrected. Phew! I’ll bet this guy is really glad that it was only a flaming road flare chucked at him. :)

  32. Making “contact” with suspects, however flimsy they actually are as “suspects” is SPD’s new code for using battering rams and deploying flashbangs, putting individuals into zip ties while at gunpoint, and then not having any probable cause for any arrests?
    And a few flyers? A couple pieces of clothing? What the heck do they expect they will be finding?
    The absurdity of this anarchist-baiting, manhunt, scare-tactic is palpable. I might add that no one living in that house, as far as I know, is an “anarchist” anyhow – so the SPD’s warrant, searching for “anarchist materials” is pretty freaking ridiculous in and of itself.
    What, was the SPD too afraid to just knock on the door first that they had to use a battering ram and flashbangs? Absurdity. This action should be deemed an offence to everyone. The public should not allow the police force to execute such tactics for fishing expeditions when there is no evidence, only a dislike of the residents presumed political ideologies (which the SPD had wrong anyhow).

  34. I agree with you. What happened this morning seemed completely over the top.

  35. There doesn’t appear to be anything linking the person with pink hair to any vandalism. In fact, there are several photos of “suspects” that don’t actually show them doing anything, yet you have managed to jump to the conclusion that the person with the pink bangs threw a molotov cocktail into the courthouse.

  36. You think! I had no idea you had to go through all that to execute a search warrant! I thought you just knocked announced yourself made contact and then execute the warrant. I mean the police said the people were cooperative so this seems like complete over kill!

  37. Regardless of what anyone thinks of the Occupy folks, a few broken windows is a far cry short of cold blooded murder. I look forward to the day when the headlines read “Anarchocommunist squad raids SPD headquarters. Several officers arrested in connection to murder of innocents.”

  38. Check out the statement of Seattle independent candidate Kshama Sawant Condemning the police raid: http://votesawant.org/?q=node/12

    Around 6:00 A.M. on Tuesday, July 10th, a house where local activists from Occupy Seattle and the Red Spark group live was raided by a Seattle Police Department SWAT team. According to reports, police broke through the front door armed with automatic weaponry and used “flashbang” grenades. The police have said they were searching for “Anarchist materials” and clothing allegedly connected to the Seattle May 1st demonstrations. No arrests were made; only clothing was taken from the apartment. ( http://kasamaproject.org/2012/07/10/swat-raid-organizers-of-)

    This raid is clearly an act of political repression of left-wing activists and an attempt to intimidate activists who are fighting against the richest 1% and big business. There is absolutely nothing illegal about possessing anarchist or other radical literature. Socialist Alternative and the Vote Sawant campaign stand in solidarity with those affected by today’s raid, and strongly condemn the actions of the Seattle Police Department. We urge all activists, students, unions, and working people generally, to join the solidarity march today (Tuesday, July 10) at 7pm, beginning at Westlake Park.

    This is not an isolated incident. This act of state repression continues a long tradition of police brutality and political repression by the SPD and police forces across the country. The Occupy Wall Street movement suffered police violence where demonstrations faced attacks, pepper spray, brutality, mass arrests, and the demolition of protest encampments. Here in Seattle in recent years we have seen an out-of-control police department carrying out an almost unending number of acts of police brutality, including killings, which have gone so far that even the Federal Department of Justice has been forced to investigate and try to reign in the SPD.

    It is crucial that Occupy, unions, and left-wing activists generally respond to this provocation by mobilizing for public protests to shine a spotlight on the undemocratic actions of the SPD and rally to defend our democratic rights. If the SPD is allowed to get away with this type of undemocratic repression of political activity, it will be used in the future against other movements challenging the political and corporate establishment, including the labor movement and workers’ struggles.

    While the SPD and Mayor McGinn carried out this raid with the intention of intimidating activists, in reality, it will only serve to expose the true nature of the police in our so-called democracy as tools of the richest 1% who use undemocratic and violent measures to protect the interests of big business and their system of capitalism.

    Democratic Mayor of Seattle Mike McGinn is ultimately responsible for the activities of the SPD. This political repression highlights the need to break with the Democratic Party and begin building a left-wing, working-class political alternative. To this end, Kshama Sawant, a member of Socialist Alternative and Occupy Seattle activist, is running as an independent candidate for the 99% in the 43rd District of Seattle (position 1). The Sawant campaign and Socialist Alternative call for the creation of an elected civilian review board with full powers over the police. We also demand investment in rehabilitation, job-training, and living-wage jobs, not prisons or detention centers, and abolition of the death penalty (which is still on the books in Washington state) as elementary first steps to begin to fight the police brutality and institutional racism of the criminal justice system.

    The SPD has stated that this raid was connected to investigating incidents which took place around the May 1 protests in Seattle. It is true that some property destruction was carried out by a few people around the May 1 protest. Socialist Alternative and the Vote Sawant campaign did not support such acts and view them as counter-productive to building mass movements of the working class that can challenge capitalism. However, police repression will in no way stop such acts from occurring and will actually make them more likely. In reality, today’s events highlight how the real criminality and violence in our society stem from the police and the corporate aristocracy that rules this country.
    We need to stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters who suffered this raid and build massive movements of working people to defend our democratic rights and fight for our interests. We urge as many people as possible will attend the protest tonight at 7 pm beginning at Westlake park, Tuesday, July 10.

    http://www.SocialistAlternative.org
    http://www.VoteSawant.org

  40. Yeah, all the white people posting on this site, many of whom have lived in the CD for decades, before you were born, are really going to attend your de-colonize event. Good grief. Japanese and Italians could say the same thing. “Get out! We were here first!” Stop being divisive in poor neighborhood, trying to turn neighbor against neighbor, and fight the real enemy. It isn’t the working person next door. Oh wait, you don’t live in the CD so you don’t realize that.

  41. I googled your screen name and found you’re a frequent photobomber. You should make a site of your photobombs! Awesome!

  42. Please don’t make me go into the complete history of the Central Area.

    When I start naming the names of who did what (and when), with complete proof, more than a few of you 100% weak and wicked liberal-reactionaries, friendly fascists, and junior imperialists will find yourselves politically exposed as the blood-thirsty jackals and vultures (aka “typical amerikkkans”) that you truly are.

  43. There’s no such thing. The word and the idea are used to divide and conquer. It is high time we stopped bickering about terrorism. It’s been fabricated in order to begin the POLICE STATE, which we are witness to by this event. It’s just one more example of our rights being stripped away. You spoiled rotten assholes that have been drinking the Kool-aid and eating your Wonder Bread have no idea what terrorism is. And I hope you never do. No one deserves to be terrorized ESPECIALLY by police. Have you forgotten what this country was founded on? It’s that little word that is used way to often and supposedly describes America. That word is freedom and we are losing it, piece by piece. Wake up, talk to your neighbors, stop being so stupid and narrow minded and READ. Educate your stupid minds. GAWD, SOME OF YOU PEOPLE ARE SO FUCKING DUMB!!! Wake the fuck up!

  48. Wow. Just when I was losing faith in SPD they start to turn it around and go after the criminals. Good job SPD – we will try to back you up where we can.

    Though rumor has it that these raids were carried out at the urging of DOJ as is the crack down on gun crime. We need to be able to take local responsibilty to fight these crimes. Federal assistance is appreciated (Thank you DOJ), but, I hope you can sustain the mission without he federalies watching.

  49. What a surreal load of crap on this posting, Doris could not have better material if she were to write a sequel to the original book.
    But this is not a book.

    Alright children, time to go home to your parents, we have good bus service from the CD if your parents do not have a car to pick you.

  50. So to paraphrase the complaints by Chad and Ian: ‘The police should not have broken our door, tossed a flaming device, and ransacked our house because all we did was break doors and windows, tossed flaming devices, and ransacked the city. The police should be nicer to us because we are such good kids.’

    Interesting. I’m almost speechless.

  51. JUNE 4TH 1998 THE GESTAPO RAID ON THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURE CENTER WAS CARRIED OUT AT 5AM IN THE MORNING. THIS RECLESS PROVOCATIVE TERRORIST ATTACK ON THE PEACEFUL AFRICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURE CENTER WAS COORDINATED WITH THE FBI “WEED AND SEED” UNDER DIRECTION OF THEN GOVERNMENT POLICE AGENT HARRY BAILEY (NOW SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO MAYOR McGINN) AND CURRENT POLICE AGENT JOHN DIAZ OF “JOHN T. WILLIAMS” MURDER INCORPORATED. REGIME CHANGE AT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURE CENTER HAS RESULTED IN AN EXPLOSION OF HOMOCIDES,ROBBERIES, ASSAULTS, FIGHTS AND NEIGHBOR AGAINST NEIGHBOR NEW COMERS AGAINST FORCED OUTS? STAY TUNED FOR EVERY ACTION THERE IS A REACTION. NATIVE AMERICAN LAND WILL ONCE AGAIN BE FREE OF EUROPEAN SETTLER COLONIAL “JUDEO-CHRISTIAN” TERRORISM DISGUISED AS “CAPITALIST DEMOCRACY” THE 99 PERCENT ARE ON THE MOVE TO END CULTURAL ECONOMIC APARTHEID IN THE AMERICAS. FOWARD EVER BACKWARDS NEVER!!!! THE STRUGGLE FOR WORLD CLASS AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURE CENTER CONTINUES, Omari Tahir, founder / Vice President AFRICAN AMERICAN HERITAGE MUSEUM AND CULTURE CENTER AT FORMER COLMAN SCHOOL SITE.

  52. And what do you expect? This is the same group that has been spouting rhetoric against the police for years. Not to say their isn’t any truth to what they say about the abuses, but their message is lost in their shrill rhetoric (Mao? Really? How many dies in the Great Leap Forward?), and it is apparent that there are some serious emotional problems that are unrelated to their brand of politics, which, is unfortunately conflated as the same by those who understand neither. In any event, we will never have true reform of the police while these people self select as “the” spokespeople for that effort, and we will never have incremental social change, let alone radical, as long as these people with their heads you-know-where are the ones self selecting and trying to make everything into a cookie cutter “anarchist” thing.

    Boo on the SPD. Typical heavy handed stuff. But seriously, you commit political violence and what do you expect? The friggin ice cream truck to show up at 5am? Seriously.

    That podcast is something else. Not only weird ultra left gibberish, but poorly produced to boot.

  53. Stalinst baloney. If you knew what a society like that was like, you’d think twice.

  54. What the heck are you talking about? These people are not agents provacateurs, they are dedicated organizers. Truly kind people with huge hearts who care deeply about the sorry state of the world.

  55. Uhhhh, there were no molotov cocktails on May Day. You’re thinking of smoke bombs, you know, that just put off lots of smoke. Seems like YOU’VE had too many cocktails. Throughout anarchist history, anarchists have VERY RARELY engaged in acts of terrorism and when they use violence against people, those people are usually rulers and their stooges. Most other political tendencies resort to violence and terrorism much more quickly and MUCH more often. Like, I dunno, the Republican Party (you know, all those wars and black-baggings and torture) and the Democratic Party (oh wait, that kept happening after Obama was elected) and state communists (who have massacred anarchists multiple times throughout history). But we accept most of this because it is normalized. True, some anarchists at the turn of the century did things like throw bombs into the cafes of the wealthy, but most anarchists didn’t approve at the time.

  56. 1998 and the loser cry baby is still crying. Ever heard the phrase ‘move on’? You lost Omar, go find a new cause.

  58. No. 1968? Black Panther member shot by police ‘as he slept’ during a the execution of a warrant. Warrant may have been obtained unlawfully by local and federal agencies.

    So, if that is what you believe about the current instance – go investigate it. Eluding that some warrant sometime in the last 50 may have been obtained illegaly does not taint all warrants and police actions. To follow that logic – the police at some time have mistakenly arrested somebody, so, they should never be allowed to arrest anyone. That is the anarchist goal, silly as it is.

    The court reviewed evidence that the CD anarchists were involved in violence against the citizens of Seattle, destruction of property. The court issued a warrant. More evidence was collected at the home of these violent demonstrators.

  60. Oh, that’s right, it can’t happen here. Now why was it our PD was investigated by the DOJ? I’m not saying McGinn is Daley, even if I cared for either of them I wouldn’t say that. And I’m not saying there was anything fraudulent about the SPD’s warrant, etc. And I’m not living in the past. What I am saying is that the past is prologue.

    Oh, Dec., 1969.

  61. Not saying it can’t happen here. I think we can be sure there are some bad cops/brass and some bad warrants. This is terrible. I personally have been arrested on bogus charges, not by SPD, many years ago. But I understand it can happen. Also, many many years ago I was a cop. My peers were mostly good guys, but, some were horrible people. Dishonest, mean, drunks. I would rank our Lt at the time in the Dishonest mean drunk category. Bad cops are out there, not doubt.

    But still, the anarchists are here. They are a violent cult that must be stopped. I am hopefull that SPD is making an honest effort.

    The presence of DOJ is political. They won’t fix anything. What is required is good management. Complete re-evaluation of police brass, hiring/firing policies. Not saying we don’t have that or approaching, but, we must continually evaluate management and let them make personell decisions.

  62. I think there is a sentiment that is being lost here in the nonsense back and forth. The SPD is willing to use tactical teams to serve warrants on people who haven’t killed anyone yet there are multiple unsolved murders this year and that heavy response is not seen in those cases. I’m willing to cut SPD slack on this operation – who knows what information they had, maybe they had reason to believe there would be bombs or weapons in the building.

    The anarchists aren’t exactly a pressing problem for the city at the moment, though. Why aren’t there dawn raids for suspected murderers? Where is the police response to the problem that is actively killing citizens and shooting up neighborhoods? More patrols are fine and appropriate but focus effort and resources on gun violence that is shaking up the CD. I’m not hesitant to drive or walk through my neighborhood because I’m afraid anarchists will break some bank windows on the other side of town.

  63. I see your point, but, I would bet SPD would come down pretty hard on the murderers if they had any information. In the mean time the anarchists are a legit target. They haven’t killed anyone yet.

    Just like Justin’s shooter did not intend to kill him in particular. He was terribly reckless and has no respect for our laws or society. Not much different than the anarchists.

  64. “I see your point, but, I would bet SPD would come down pretty hard on the murderers if they had any information. “

    Then they need to get out there and get that information and act on it. This is a poor excuse. Busting up factions of the Occupy movement is not going to make the CD safer. It will keep some windows from being broken and property, mostly bank and corporate, from being destroyed but it probably won’t save a single life. I’m sorry, a hypothetical situation where an anarchist accidentally kills a bystander hasn’t happened. The multiple innocent murder victims trump your hypothetical accident. SPD needs to focus and act.

  65. You are missing the point that there is a sequence of photos and clues that track the individuals to crimes. Pink bandana guy changes but keeps the same shirt and pink bandana.

    I’ve seen these guys try to do quick changes. Puting hoods and bandanans on and off. changing shirts. exchanging clothing. It is a crime. And conspiracy to commit crime to work together in this way. Let’s run them up on Federal RICO(?) charges.

  66. Like y’all gave two shites about John T. Williams previously. How much volunteering at the Chief Seattle Center have you done? In what way have you lobbied to get long term housing or alcohol treatment for chronic inebriates? Y’all are just grabbing on to John T. Williams in an attempt to use his murder to forward your violent, police baiting tantrums. Get off. Even his family knows what y’all are up to.

  67. Good grief. Do you have any idea how mentally ill you sound? Please do go in to the CD history, and include the real CD, which in my lifetime spread from the Montlake bridge to Rainier. It has only since the 80’s shrunk to exclude many sections. Talk to my interned Japanese family members about who lived on 26th and Jackson when it was a Japanese neighborhood. Talk to the Italians about who used to live around and run all the businesses on Rainier.

  68. Wow, Mamagirl, you really make neighbors want to talk to you with your “YOU PEOPLE ARE SO FUCKING DUMB!!! ” blabber. Yeah, that would be a productive talk.

    Some of us have lived abroad, traveled to more than a dozen countries, worked in war zones providing humanitarian aid, and know well what terrorism is. So educated yourself before you make assumptions about the rest of us.

    When neighbors dislike your noise and your collective throws paint bombs at said neighbor’s house, and puts nasty graffiti on neighbors’ rockeries, that’s terrorizing. When you break out windows and throw road flares attempting to put fire through the windows and set the building ablaze, that’s terrorism. I will rejoice when you lot are jailed on stacked charges resulting in federal charges.

  69. SPD does indeed respond like the wrath of God when serving a murder warrant. What do you think, they knock on the door? Problem is, not many murder warrants being issued when 50 witnesses all say they saw nothing. And that’s EXACTLY what the so called Anarchist want – hence their posting “Get Snitchy” posters in the CD depicting a baseball bat with nails in it. The not so veiled threat – talk to the police and we’ll harm you. They’re no worse than the gangs in their use of intimidation, they’re just taken less seriously.

  70. You’re saying you want murder witnesses to “snitch?” If so, take down your “No Snitching” posters depicting a baseball bat with nails in it, in the CD, Anarchists. You can’t have it both ways.

  71. Where have you seen these “get snitchy” posters? How do you know they are from anarchists?

    I’m really curious. I haven’t seen them. I’ve heard of the anti-snitch problem but didn’t think there was any connection with the anarchists. Honestly, I assume the anti-snitchers are gang and gun-related criminals. The anarchists have a different agenda that doesn’t have much to do with idiots shooting at each other in broad daylight.

  73. FYI these kids are good old fashioned red socialists, they are also as American as apple pie, can’t deport them anywhere, they are us.

  74. Mrs. D you are spot on except for noe point, we are not a poor neighborhood. Census tracks will show this. One other factoid. Post war the CD was the largest middle class home owning black neighborhood in the US.

  75. just so how bad you all are making things:

    A kid asked me if I was an undercover cop, I said “fuck no!” He didn’t want to believe and then accused me of being a “CDnewser.” Finally I cleared things up and convinced him I wasn’t a “gentrifying piece of shit, a fucking snitch, cop lover.”

    All you reactionaries are doing a good job at digging your own hole. Keep it up. Class and race divisions will blow up pretty soon. Hope you like the situation you’ve created for your sheltered children.

  76. grumbo, read the comment below for more details:

    young people from rainier all the way up to madison despise the CDnews because the comments you specifically have been leaving. i think things have gotten pretty bad when people are saying “fuck grumbo, dude is too afraid to show his face.”

    anyway, keep being a fascist troll. things will only get worse

  77. It’s true there is no legal way to deport them. Regardless I would love to see them deported! Or thrown in jail for life. They are sort of like maggots, they breed and they take but contribute nothing but filth.

  78. If wanting to find the murderers of innocent bystanders is being a “fucking snitch” and “cop lover”, sign me up. Who do you think created this situation? Cops didn’t kill those people. “Gentrifying pieces of shit” didn’t kill those people. Criminals are the enemy. I don’t understand how someone can call this sort of observation reactionary. You have it backwards. Blaming cops and people who moved into the CD recently is ridiculous. Any explosion of racial tension is due to the people committing violence and protecting criminals, not the people who want a safe neighborhood. Next time you want an opinion, don’t ask a stupid kid with a chip on his shoulder, ask the mothers, fathers, and others trying to make a living.

  79. If ya can’t stand the heat get out of the kitchen children.

    Kids from Madrona to RV despise Grumbo? I bet there are 5 kids that occasionally read this. Your claims of my fame are doubtfull, though I would/will take it as a re-enforcement that these opinions must be expressed for the good of the hood.

    As for my anonymity – How many posters here use real names? Very few because of thinly veiled threats like your’s – “[email protected]”. Furthermore I would not be the guy on the street that anybody wants to tangle with, so, it’s best they don’t know who I am, if they did exist, which they don’t.

  80. To the author of this comment.
    “A kid asked me if I was an undercover cop, I said “fuck no!” He didn’t want to believe and then accused me of being a “CDnewser.” Finally I cleared things up and convinced him I wasn’t a “gentrifying piece of shit, a fucking snitch, cop lover.”

    All you reactionaries are doing a good job at digging your own hole. Keep it up. Class and race divisions will blow up pretty soon. Hope you like the situation you’ve created for your sheltered children”.

    Bring it on!!! I hope the cops shoot to kill if a fleeing felony or deadly reaction against the police occurs. This is not a ghetto, or a containmnet zone. We are equal to all other neighborhoods in the city. What is not tolorated in Lauralhurst, Wedgewood or Ballard is NOT tolorated here. Once gangbangers get their noses rubbed into it good by the police they will get the message, change, leave or suffer for your actions.

  81. To the author of this comment.
    “A kid asked me if I was an undercover cop, I said “fuck no!” He didn’t want to believe and then accused me of being a “CDnewser.” Finally I cleared things up and convinced him I wasn’t a “gentrifying piece of shit, a fucking snitch, cop lover.”

    All you reactionaries are doing a good job at digging your own hole. Keep it up. Class and race divisions will blow up pretty soon. Hope you like the situation you’ve created for your sheltered children”.

    Bring it on!!! I hope the cops shoot to kill if a fleeing felony or deadly reaction against the police occurs. This is not a ghetto, or a containmnet zone. We are equal to all other neighborhoods in the city. What is not tolorated in Lauralhurst, Wedgewood or Ballard is NOT tolorated here. Once gangbangers get their noses rubbed into it good by the police they will get the message, change, leave or suffer for your actions.

  82. Carefull now. Those kids that can’t keep their pants up and scatter when the police come aren’t necessarily the shooters. Funny, one time I was looking for a suspect known to frequent a residence I was going to. I get there and some kid that looked generally the same goes running off jumping fences. So off I go jumping a fence and trying to keep my gun in the holster (a terrible new model issued to me). Kid looks back and starts sreaming don’t shoot. It wasn’t the kid I was looking for. So I shot him, ha ah ha. No actually I asked what are you running for? He said he was scared. Don’t have any idea what he was up to but he had no record and otherwise seemed normal. So I shot him. ha ha ah ha. We, no actually we just kind of laughed and went our own ways.

  83. i don’t know what the hell you all are talking about, but grumbo is insane. there are clearly one or two SPD employees consistently trolling this website, as well a few commenting out in the open. you all are creating your own worst nightmare and you dont even see it. can’t say i care too much about any of you, given the horrible things you’ve written.

  84. Who are you responding to? What nightmare do you think is being created by wanting a safe neighborhood?

  85. He is a lying troll Grumbo. Makes up this troll crap about kids. Do not take the bait.

  86. Hey Fidel! You looking for me? I’ll be downtown at 7 tonight engaging in the war against commies, anarchists, non-citizens, and chumps. It’s time to have the rest of Seattle come out and keep you guys in line.

  87. It seems that as a nation we don’t care to hear anything but our own personal rhetoric reflected back to us. That’s part of why the political landscape in our country is so fraught and unproductive. Fact is, community means differences – and airing those differences actually can be productive as long as it’s done with the intention to communicate one’s perspective so that others can see how you see the world, done diplomatically, that can be an education for everyone. If we share our different perspectives we get a sense of the fabric of this community which isn’t of one piece, thankfully.
    Grumbo seems to believe the community can be improved, some people don’t agree with him – that’s fine. He’s a concerned part of our community.
    Wyking seems seems to believe the community can be improved, some people don’t agree with him – that’s fine. He’s a concerned part of our community.
    Young anarchists, seem seem to believe the community can be improved… same deal.

    Communicate respectfully and we might actually find some ground that is similar from which action can be made from – and if not – well, at least we can see that our community is made up of very different people and that in and of itself is useful because it is reality.

    Being enraged because someone doesn’t see the world the way you do is isolating. Learning to listen when you don’t agree is enlarging. It develops critical thinking abilities and if this community intends to improve, some critical, practical thinking is needed.

  89. Could not agree with you more. The issue is trolls who inflame on purpose, but that is par for the course in a public blog.

  90. I’m curious about something – some people are insinuating that the “anti-snitchers” and the “anarchists” (at the risk of labeling people I don’t know much about) are somehow cooperating to protect criminals and murderers. Is this true? Like I said in another post, it seems like these two groups would have very different agendas.

    Other posters suggests kids in the CD watch this blog and don’t approve of people supporting cops and in fact seem to hate gentrifiers. If this is true, it seems related to the above. Who are these kids? Anarchists or anti-snitchers or just knuckleheads? Why do they care what people say here? More to the point, why do they hate cops and the new diversity in their neighborhood? It seems to me they need to speak up and be a part of the solution instead of making threats on the internet.

  91. I’ll concede that Wyking is well intentioned and probably an asset to the community (though I don’t know him at all).

    The anarchists not so much. The thing we three do have in common is the belief that a fight is on. Progress is not all smiling and getting along. We must bend public opinion in directions other that what the behind the scenes forces agenda and the nothing happened because we said nothing camps. I agree with the fighting energy of the anarchists, but, in no way agree with their stated objectives or dangerous destructive behaviour. Smashing things and fighting with police is not the same as arguing in a somewhat uncivil and provoking tone.

    Politics has historically involved cantankarous individuals who fought and dueled to acheive what we have today. By simply inserting bold ideas harshly, consistently, over and over, the accepted view broadens. Kind of like if you tell a lie often enough, it becomes the truth. I both fight against this, and, practice a form of it.

    Grumbo is a character that I play with. To some extent just trying to spill my thoughts out simply to see what they are. Partly to bend the conversation. I also have a Seattle Times forum character. It is a pretty funny character. Those bloggers are actually really easy to manipulate. They buy into any trolling debate I put on the plate. I can turn their conversations into anything I want.

    CDN folks seem to be a bit smarter than that.

  93. I don’t know who jacksonplaceresident is. And so what if that is who I am? Is there something wrong with my questions or are you happy to just make opaque remarks and let me guess?

  95. I am not that person. Nice way to welcome a new commenter. Seriously, what is it about my posts that provoke this reaction. Too pro-cop? Try engaging instead of acting like the popular kids.

  97. Nobody: To address your question – The “snitch” posters ( http://www.centraldistrictnews.com/2011/09/09/seen-at-23rd-a) wheat pasted on 3 CD corners (and perhaps more) during the same night that graffiti, promoting an anarchist/autonomia/acab crowd supported event, appeared on walls mere feet from the posters. Many believe that the posters were put up not by gang members (Duece 8 wheat pastes? Err,no) but by the folks previously mentioned, one of whom – a vocal and previously frequent commenter/angry ranter on this site for a while – used the term “snitchy” many times in posts here and on CHS. It is my opinion that this group of mostly white, middle class young adults, not local gang members, put up those posters. The website associated with that group also had comments about “snitches” ad nauseum for a while (Google it), and the subject was brought up again online when a neighbor lady (who’d talked to the cops about Autonomia) experienced vandalism at her house which mysteriously matched the m.o. of actions on Broadway the previous year by self described anarchists, i.e., filling lightbulbs with paint and chucking them at those you dislike. The woman with the house who complained to cops, and the year previously the cops themselves – same m.o. of paint bulbs thrown. There’s a video on youtube explaining how to make these paint bombs, and many references to Black Bloc using this tactic in the U.S. and Europe. They also fill the bulbs with amonia, urine, etc.

    That’s my opinion and that, plus $2.25, will get you on the bus.

  98. The link was enlightening. Thanks for the info. I’m not convinced about the rampant anarchists being the main problem in the CD. Again, who has killed innocent people? Not the anarchists. But, why is anyone putting up posters like that? It reeks of stupid. That link also shows me that the same BS has been going on here for a year at least. I just discovered this website. Lots of grumbling and old scores to settle. Maybe people should recalibrate. Not everyone is an enemy.

  99. Nobody: I totally agree that “rampant anarchists” are not “the main problem in the CD.” That doesn’t mean those vicitimized by specific people don’t have reason to begrudge the attack. I think more than anything lifelong residents overwhelmingly reject the hubris and rhetoric of this group of newcomers, whose main mantra is “we just got here 5 minutes ago and you, neighbors who’ve been here for decades, are scum!” Who would respond well to that? And, no one likes the expensive clean up post vanadalism. Certainly there are other, more pressing problems in the CD and there have been for decades. The two aren’t mutually exclusive.

  100. RE: the poster who wrote A kid asked me if I was an undercover cop, I said “fuck no!” He didn’t want to believe and then accused me of being a “CDnewser.” Finally I cleared things up and convinced him I wasn’t a “gentrifying piece of shit, a fucking snitch, cop lover.”
    Keep it up. Class and race divisions will blow up pretty soon. Hope you like the situation you’ve created for your sheltered children.
    Comment by arandomperson

    Using the term “snitch,” referring to young adults in their 20’s as “kid” and talking abour class and race divisions blowing up soon in the face of gentrifying cop lopvers, is all – word for word – rhetoric used in the Tide of Flames issue ranting about the fall of Autonomia. It’s all the same probably 5 people, one of whom used to post here quite a bit, who blow up any story regarding their cohorts to the point that there are hundreds of comments.

    They’re getting a bit boring at this point.
    Neighbors with jobs are pieces of shit. CHECK.
    Neighbors who are white, like the anarchists, are shit. CHECK
    We’re all cop lovers and snitches and gentrifiers. CHECK
    Helter Skelter is about to occur. CHECK

    Say something new for heaven’s sake! You’ve become dull!