zlacker

Do you think that the feds would win politically from overriding local authorities to send in armed troops to evict thousands of people from a glorified festival? There was a ton of push-back on the feds clearing out sections of DC, and the feds have a lot more authority there.

Clearing out the area is fundamentally a political issue, so I think you need to focus less on who would clear out CHAZ and more on how they would justify their actions. The area is in a dense area and is easily accessible by transit so tons of people have gone there in person. Plus, the local establishment news has been visiting the area and taking pictures.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/dubbed-a-lawless-s...

Whoever clears it would need to create "probable cause" as you mentioned initially. Our police chief has been trying to justify clearing the area by saying: 1) business are getting extorted (no evidence) 2) assaults and rapes have increased (the crime blotter doesn't support this) 3) there are armed guards doing ID checks at the barricades (people can just walk in to the area and tons of people have visited. There have been a few people with long guns hanging out, but my understanding is that they leave shortly because other people tell them it's not a good look). So far, none of those accusations have stuck:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-prote...