Journalist Andy Ngo Describes Seattle's Occupied Zone as 'Jekyll and Hyde'
As night falls, the 'criminal elements come out'
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Journalist and author Andy Ngo said demonstrators staying at Seattle's "Capitol Hill Organized Protest" zone, behave very differently during the day and during the night.
Appearing on Fox News, Ngo explained that protesters in the area they are calling CHOP could be described as a "sort of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde."
Ngo said during the day; the area could be considered peaceful despite graffiti and boarded-up businesses.
But as night falls, the "criminal elements come out," Ngo said.
"Unfortunately, last night that was made very clear, when one person on a microphone and a loudspeaker was able to sic a mob of probably more than 100 people to chase down this business that was several blocks away," he said.
"They just all descended on it. It was pure anarchy," Ngo remarked.
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"They pushed up against the fence, and all rushed in. It could have been extremely violent," he recalled.
"Fortunately, it wasn't, according to what I heard from the owner and staff. They had detained one of the comrades of this camp for alleged arson and theft. And, because of that, all [of] his comrades came to help get him out."
"[The] police never came," Ngo said.
Ngo added that while there may be some businesses sympathetic to the cause of protesters, others may not.
"For example, there's a Trader Joe's nearby who announced just a few days ago that they're closing indefinitely because of security and safety issues," he remarked.
"So, when you take that, and you also see all [of] the businesses that are boarded up, that no cars can drive into this area — I don't see how the few anecdotes of positive experiences of some owners could be the representative voice."
"Particularly when there are now some dissident voices coming out to speak, and they're having to do it anonymously because of threats of retaliation," Ngo noted.
WATCH:
A man on a microphone sicced a large mob on the Car Tender autoshop near the Seattle “autonomous zone.” They broke down the fence. The owner said he apprehended an arsonist before all his comrades showed up to try & free him. Police never came. #CapitolHillAutonomousZone #antifa pic.twitter.com/hf4lYzm2rF
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 15, 2020
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Ngo highlighted drug use along with a chaotic atmosphere.
"At night, t's a completely different vibe than during the day," he said.
"You see vagrants come there. Some of them are dealing with mental and health [crises]. There was an ambulance that was called yesterday. The fact that police are not going in should tell you quite a lot."
"And, this is what my own sourcing had told me last week is that if anybody needs help, you actually have to leave the physical zone and go return to the U.S., let's say, to get help."
"So, this is a now one-week experiment in anarchy and chaos, and those who live there have to fend for themselves," he concluded.
Protesters recently seized the six-block zone in the Washington city after driving police from the area and taking control of the SPD's East Precinct.
Activists controlling the self-declared CHAZ area have set up a sealed perimeter controlled by a quasi-Border Patrol to keep police and other unwanted people out.
Last week, people living inside the autonomous zone spoke out against the serious problems it is creating for them.
One resident, Brandon, gave only his first name for fear of reprisal.
“You can see for yourself, you can see that we don’t have the right to vote for stuff here anymore,” Brandon said
“You can see the demands when they say the that we want the pensions away from every police officer in Seattle."
"They took our rights away. That’s not okay," he said.
"It’s not political. It’s just not okay.”
