When interim Seattle police Chief Shon Barnes made the startling assertion throughout his affirmation listening to this week that he expects he “will probably go to jail” for “defending” Seattle residents’ First Modification rights towards the overreach of the federal authorities, it was a second that ought to have set off extra than simply alarm bells.
Some would possibly interpret this as a show of braveness; nevertheless, the fact is much extra perilous.
Chief Barnes commented on June 10 earlier than the council’s Public Security Committee that he would “do the whole lot in my energy to guard anybody in Seattle from anybody who involves the town with the intention to harm them or inhibit their First Modification rights.” He added that this might imply jail time as a result of “we now have an administration that has threatened to jail politicians … and has threatened to jail a governor.”
These are consequential phrases, particularly because the federal authorities seizes management of the Nationwide Guard and deploys Marines to Los Angeles, projecting army power into American cities. Chief Barnes’ feedback could excite Seattle’s activist core and its traditionally performative Metropolis Council, however they do nothing to guard precise folks on the streets. As an alternative, his phrases give the federal authorities what it desires: public defiance they will use as justification to escalate.
Let’s be brutally clear: Seattle lacks the facility and sources to withstand army occupation. Troops reply solely to the federal chain of command. All Chief Barnes is doing is baiting the administration with heavy public rhetoric, figuring out full properly the stakes may embrace arrest or worse. That’s political theater, and Seattle residents will probably be collateral injury.
Chief Barnes mentioned in his affirmation listening to that “if there are protests in Seattle, we will deal with it.”
Historical past disagrees.
Most not too long ago, SPD’s actions throughout a protest and counterprotest at Cal Anderson Park as soon as once more raised severe considerations about judgment, ways and bias. Likewise, Seattle and its folks have already got a federal goal on their backs for his or her dealing with of protests in 2020; management ought to bear that in thoughts when shouting “come at me, bro” at an administration that has embraced vengeance as a precedence.
Chief Barnes and metropolis leaders can, and may, problem the federal authorities in court docket. They’ll file lawsuits, construct coalitions and coordinate authorized resistance. They need to work with the governor to make sure the Nationwide Guard stays beneath state management.
That’s how governments defend rights, by technique, not showmanship. When metropolis leaders provoke the federal authorities, they threat triggering the very army response that threatens states’ rights and the security and liberty of the residents they’re liable for. When Seattle officers or Chief Barnes fake ethical efficiency is proportional to the facility of the US authorities, together with the army, they escalate public stress and invite the administration to focus on everybody who lives or works right here.
Chief Barnes mentioned the deployment of Marines to L.A. will not be warranted, however his posturing won’t deter deployment to Seattle; cautious planning would possibly restrict injury, and he must exhibit that he’s able to that degree of management.
If sanctuary standing alone invitations army occupation, we have to rethink how we defend undocumented residents, as a substitute of throwing incendiary flash bangs on the federal authorities; that’s not de-escalation. When Chief Barnes, in a high-profile listening to, declares his willingness to go to jail, what he’s actually saying is that this metropolis is open to army confrontation. If Barnes desires the job completely, he should shift from incitement and efficiency to technique.
Seattle residents, together with our undocumented mates, household and neighbors, deserve leaders who perceive the bounds of their authority and prioritize the true lives in danger.
Till then, Seattle stays alarmingly weak, and each time a frontrunner flirts with escalation, it’s our neighborhoods and our folks, no matter citizenship standing, who pays the last word value, not Shon Barnes.
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