On Friday, MSNBC defended the takeover of a Seattle neighborhood by radical protesters and claimed the area was “like a pedestrian street festival.” Missing from the coverage was any mention of the extreme views of the demonstrators or the fact that the city’s police chief warned of the department’s inability to respond to “rapes, robberies, and other violent acts” in the area.
“The mayor of Seattle rushed to defend protesters in her city’s so-called ‘autonomous zone’ after President Trump threatened to take over that six-block area,” fill-in anchor Peter Alexander proclaimed at the top of the 11:00 a.m. ET hour segment. After a clip ran of the President denouncing the protesters as “anarchists,” Alexander wondered to correspondent Vaughn Hillyard: “Is it anarchists who are now running the show?”
Hillyard dismissed the label as he marveled over the extremists:
...this particular neighborhood where this six-block radius has become this so-called autonomous zone, is very much a – has its own life within itself. And over these last nights, you’ve had thousands of folks walk through. When you’re going through, it’s more like a pedestrian street festival of sorts. You have folks – these restaurants are open, there’s couches in the middle of the road, there’s gardening taking place.
Earlier in the day, CBS This Morning similarly cheered the mob rule for having a “street fair-like atmosphere,” with “art displays,” and “outdoor movie nights.”
On MSNBC, Hillyard touted a soundbite of left-wing Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkin praising the protesters and trashing Trump: “The right to challenge authority and government is fundamental to who we are as Americans. We do not need anyone, including the President, to try to sow further divide, further mistrust, and misinformation.”
Following that clip, the reporter tried to argue that the neighborhood was safer since the far-left protesters took control: “There was one resident that I talked to who said the last several nights he’s felt safe, unlike the week prior when the police force and those protests were on going.”
Wrapping up the report, Hillyard briefly mentioned: “We should also note, though, that the police chief yesterday said that call time response has increased by three times because that precinct, that east precinct for the police department remains vacant at this time.”
What he left out was the fact that Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best also warned that “Rapes, robberies and all sorts of violent acts have been occurring in the area and we’re not able to get to [them].”
During an exclusive interview with Best on Friday, ABC’s Good Morning America ignored the police chief’s pointed criticism of Democratic city officials, including the mayor.
The liberal media are desperate to paint the radical mob as peaceful and heroic, regardless of the facts.
Here is a full transcript of the June 12 report:
11:06 AM ET
PETER ALEXANDER: The mayor of Seattle rushed to defend protesters in her city’s so-called “autonomous zone” after President Trump threatened to take over that six-block area. Activists there have taken over an area surrounding a police precinct. Their message is straightforward, that police should stay away. Here’s what President Trump said about that in a new interview.
DONALD TRUMP: If they don’t straighten that situation out, we’re going to straighten it out.
HARRIS FAULKNER [FOX NEWS]: And what do you mean by that?
TRUMP: What I mean is very simple, we’re not going to let Seattle be occupied by anarchists. The woman, I don’t know, has she ever done this before? How can you –
FAULKNER: In Seattle?
TRUMP: Oh, it was pathetic. No, no, we’re not going to let this happen in Seattle. If we have to go in, we’re gonna go in.
ALEXANDER: NBC’s Vaughn Hillyard is in Seattle this morning. Vaughn, I lived in that city for a long time, spent a lot of time up on Capitol Hill, where this is taking place. The President says he’s not going to allow Seattle to be occupied by anarchists. You’ve been through the area, walk us through what you’re seeing there. Is it anarchists who are now running the show?
VAUGHN HILLYARD: Peter, as you just said, you’ve been through that neighborhood before, and Capitol Hill, this particular neighborhood where this six-block radius has become this so-called autonomous zone, is very much a – has its own life within itself. And over these last nights, you’ve had thousands of folks walk through. When you’re going through, it’s more like a pedestrian street festival of sorts. You have folks – these restaurants are open, there’s couches in the middle of the road, there’s gardening taking place.
You know, we should note the context to this. The President saying that it may come down to him to step in and bring in troops to take back over this zone. We should note, it was the mayor and the police chief who pulled back police. There had been more than a week of protests that had escalated in violence with flash bang grenades and pepper spray and tear gas being used. And that’s when the city decided, on Monday, to pull back. And that’s essentially when this autonomous zone was created.
I want to let you to hear directly from Mayor Jenny Durkin of Seattle responding to the President’s suggestion that he may use his own force here in the city.
MAYOR JENNY DURKIN [D-SEATTLE]: The right to challenge authority and government is fundamental to who we are as Americans. We do not need anyone, including the President, to try to sow further divide, further mistrust, and misinformation. The threat to invade Seattle, to divide and insight violence in our city, is not only unwelcome, it would be illegal.
HILLYARD: There was one resident that I talked to who said the last several nights he’s felt safe, unlike the week prior when the police force and those protests were on going. We should also note, though, that the police chief yesterday said that call time response has increased by three times because that precinct, that east precinct for the police department remains vacant at this time. Peter?
ALEXANDER: Vaughn Hillyard in what they call Kerry Park, with a gorgeous view of the Seattle skyline on this Friday morning. Vaughn, thank you very much.
