The headlines in the national news are saying that the Seattle “autonomous zone” or “occupied protest” known alternatively as the CHAZ or the CHOP is coming to an end. Well, not really.

The truth of the matter is that Mayor Jenny Durkan has a real problem on her hands. Governor Jay Inslee has washed his hands of Seattle, announcing that he has formed a “task force” to offer suggestions about everything involving police and racial justice. Did anyone expect anything different from Inslee the Idiot? Certainly not real leadership, anyway. So that leaves two options: either Mayor Jenny figures out how to deal with CHAZ/CHOP as the violence is escalating – which has already resulted in one death – or leave an opening for President Trump.

At the Tulsa, OK rally @realDonaldTrump says he could help Seattle on CHOP "in one hour or less" if asked.

"I may be wrong, but it's probably better for us to just watch that disaster." pic.twitter.com/pESLVZtFfM

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 21, 2020

So, the mayor brought out the chief of police, Carmen Best, and the fire chief, and other black community leaders, to announce that CHAZ/CHOP was going to have to close down every night in order to keep the peace. Oh, and that the police were going to be moving back into the East Precinct that she made them abandon. However, Mayor Jenny was wishy-washy – intentionally so – on the specifics. Chief Best did not commit to a timeline, either, but was clear that having police back in the East Precinct must happen soon.

Neither Best nor Durkan provided many details about the plan to reopen the East Precinct, but Durkan said the chief is devising a phased approach to return to the building.

“We’re working on that with a lot of folks,” Best said.

The chief said several criminal acts have been reported in the days since her officers left the precinct building. She said the incidents included shootings, rape, assaults, burglary and property destruction.

“I’m not making this up,” Best said. “These things happened. Our officers need to get back into the East Precinct.”

It was obvious the second that the first shooting occurred that the CHAZ/CHOP’s days were numbered. Not only were the police blocked from getting to the victims, despite the rantings of the so-called “warlord” Raz Simone, but the very nature of CHAZ/CHOP had presented a massive problem when it came to making agreements with protestors. With no one leader, or leadership group, there was no way to assume that any deal that was agreed on – like getting right-of-way for first responders – would be honored the next day.

But the proverbial straw that broke Mayor Jenny’s apathy was this quote in the Seattle Times, from a local business.

Molly Moon Neitzel, whose namesake ice cream shop on Capitol Hill has been an attraction for protesters and sightseers alike, said the workers staffing that store have expressed concerns about safety in the past few days.”

“All of us are all super supportive of the [Black Lives Matter] movement, and we’ve wanted to say open, but the last few days things have felt different,” she said. She said shifting leadership within the movement has made it difficult for businesses to communicate with the protesters.”

“I no longer feel it’s safe, and I’m worried for my team and other small businesses,” Neitzel said.”

One of the individuals was shot in front of her store early Saturday, she said. She has closed for the day, and says she isn’t sure when she will open again.”

Molly Moon’s is everything that a liberal Seattle business aspires to be – they offer a “living” minimum wage, they preach diversity and pride and sustainability, they support all the right causes, and they put forward a good product. (Seriously, their Melted Chocolate and their Salted Caramel are amazing.) But if this good, progressive Seattle business can’t keep their doors open on Capitol Hill, despite hitting all the liberal checkmarks, then Mayor Jenny has a problem. You see, she needs the support of people like Molly Moon Neitzel and her employees in order to be reelected someday – and by support, I mean both donations to her campaign, and votes. These are people that Mayor Jenny cannot afford to alienate – which means that she finally had to get off her apathetic butt and tell Chief Best that yes, they probably need to get back into the East Precinct.

Is the “Summer of Love” in the CHAZ/CHOP over? Hardly. Once the police are back, it will become more like a day camp for communists and anarchists as they pretend that they are having some kind of perpetual block party for racial justice. But don’t expect the true believers to go down without a whimper.

They plan on "linking arms" to stop cops from coming into the East Precinct.

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 23, 2020

So no, the CHAZ/CHOP protest is not yet over. First, the police have to reestablish themselves in the East Precinct. Second, we get to see if the protest crowd will go home to Mommy’s basement instead of camping out in Cal Anderson Park each night. And finally, we get to see if Mayor Jenny can salvage her mayorship as businesses leave and others see if they can survive in this post-virus, post-riot atmosphere. Her future political career will depend on it.

Featured image: Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle, March 20, 2018 (photo by Joe Mabel, cropped, Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0))