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 may interpret this as a show of braveness; nevertheless, the fact is way extra perilous.
Chief Barnes commented on June 10 earlier than the council’s Public Security Committee that he would “do every part in my energy to guard anybody in Seattle from anybody who involves 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’ve got 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 navy power into American cities. Chief Barnes’ feedback might excite Seattle’s activist core and its traditionally performative Metropolis Council, however they do nothing to guard precise folks on the streets. As a substitute, his phrases give the federal authorities what it desires: public defiance they’ll use as justification to escalate.
Let’s be brutally clear: Seattle lacks the ability and assets to withstand navy 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 effectively the stakes may embody arrest or worse. That’s political theater, and Seattle residents might be collateral harm.
Chief Barnes mentioned in his affirmation listening to that “if there are protests in Seattle, we are able to 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 issues about judgment, techniques 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 will, 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 underneath state management.
That’s how governments shield rights, by means of technique, not showmanship. When metropolis leaders provoke the federal authorities, they threat triggering the very navy response that threatens states’ rights and the security and liberty of the residents they’re chargeable for. When Seattle officers or Chief Barnes fake ethical efficiency is proportional to the ability of america authorities, together with the navy, they escalate public rigidity and invite the administration to focus on everybody who lives or works right here.
Chief Barnes mentioned the deployment of Marines to L.A. just isn’t warranted, however his posturing is not going to deter deployment to Seattle; cautious planning may restrict harm, and he must reveal that he’s able to that degree of management.
If sanctuary standing alone invitations navy occupation, we have to rethink how we shield 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 navy confrontation. If Barnes desires the job completely, he should shift from incitement and efficiency to technique.
Seattle residents, together with our undocumented associates, household and neighbors, deserve leaders who perceive the boundaries of their authority and prioritize the true lives in danger.
Till then, Seattle stays alarmingly weak, and each time a pacesetter flirts with escalation, it’s our neighborhoods and our folks, no matter citizenship standing, who can pay the last word value, not Shon Barnes.
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