When news broke this month that the Seattle Police Department’s sex crimes unit is too short-staffed to properly investigate rapes, some of the city’s left-leaning media outlets rushed to absolve anti-police activists of blame. Instead, publications like The Stranger and The Seattle Times suggested police were the ones failing survivors.
Yet some of the same activists being shielded from criticism have been pushing for the police department’s Sexual Assault Unit to be defunded since at least last fall.
Oops.
In September 2021, activists unveiled their 2022 “Solidarity Budget,” which called for a 50% reduction in funding for the police department’s Sexual Assault Unit. The budget proposal was endorsed by a long list of Progressive groups, including the King County Young Democrats and the King County Department of Public Defense.
The budget claims that prosecution of rape cases “does not work for the vast majority of survivors, especially Black, Indigenous, migrant, criminalized, young, drug-using, disabled, homeless and sex working survivors who do not call the cops because they are more likely to get a negative or no response.” Writers argue that the work of the sex crimes unit “is often used to justify continued police funding.”
It should be noted that the Sexual Assault Unit also handles cases involving child rape and molestation.
So, what would activists do with the $4.15 million they proposed cutting from the unit’s $8.3 million budget? Invest it in community programs.
“Support for survivors of gender-based violence to overcome abuse means ample affordable and decent housing, living wages, paid leave, childcare, access to transportation, health care, counseling, services for children that foster healing from trauma and strengthen resiliency, and civil legal services – all critical services that Seattle has demonstrated support for, but that remain underfunded, especially when compared to the policing budget. People who perpetrate gender-based violence should be held accountable - but arrest and incarceration does not equate to meaningful accountability that truly repairs harm.”
Backers of defunding the Sexual Assault Unit include twice failed political candidate Nikkita Oliver, who was endorsed by The Stranger in 2021 (the same publication now aggressively arguing that activists aren’t to blame for low police staffing and, should you suggest they are, you are “unhinged.” The article was written by Will Casey, a former spokesperson for the Washington State Democratic Party who worked on the campaign of police abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy, who once called cops “serial killers.” The Stranger also used to employ the Seattle Times reporter who broke the story on low staffing in the Sexual Assault Unit – a story that distanced defund supporters from scrutiny. The same writer actually ENDORSED Nikkita Oliver for mayor in 2017 while working for The Stranger, suggesting Oliver wasn't "that radical." Should anyone really wonder why those writers are so quick to vilify the police and give activists a pass?).
And lest one argue that activists seeking to defund the Sexual Assault Unit this year wouldn't support doing so without alternatives in place, remember that the very same activists pushed for a 50% reduction in the SPD budget in 2020, despite warnings that it would leave the city without a public safety net.
Oliver, a Socialist-endorsed abolitionist, led efforts to try to convince the Seattle City Council to defund the police department in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In fact, Oliver was a backer of the first iteration of the Solidarity Budget that year, which directly influenced proposals introduced in the Seattle City Council.
While the budget the city passed that year failed to meet all their demands, writers of the Solidarity Budget took credit for cuts to SPD.
“This year is the first time in Seattle’s history that we are shrinking, rather than growing SPD’s budget, via eliminating 35 unfilled positions and civilianizing functions like 911 response and parking enforcement. This is a step in the right direction, but it can’t be a stopping point: if we are truly reckoning with how to build healthy and safe communities, hiring new police officers will not help us reach that goal.”
The 2020 debate around defunding, marked by unrest and the abandonment of a police precinct, kicked off an exodus of officers from the city that has left the department short staffed across the board. Any attempt to suggest Seattle’s anti-police climate is not tied to the staffing crisis is negated by countless exit interviews in which officers cite vitriol from politicians, activists, and the press for their decision to leave.
Let me be clear: The Seattle Police Department has a duty to ensure serious cases like rape are investigated fully, even if there are fewer detectives assigned to such cases. It is of paramount importance. But to ignore or downplay how activists who claim to care about survivors have instead made getting justice more difficult is – as I stated in a June 6 commentary – nothing short of media malpractice.
And just in case it needs to be said: The idea of defunding an already short-staffed unit that investigates heinous sex crimes against kids and adults should be seen as the final straw for voters who, until this point, have been too afraid to turn away from Seattle’s activist class.
SOURCES:
BRANDI COMMENTARY: https://twitter.com/BrandiKruse/status/1533927571410264066
THE STRANGER REBUTTAL: https://www.thestranger.com/cops/2022/06/08/74782442/blaming-spd-for-failing-rape-victims-isnt-media-malpractice
2022 SOLIDARITY BBUDGET: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1meeXTETSLaZEwdS9Ec2SF1_aTZOKs1JJhArY3J3wDvU/edit
2017 ENDORSEMENT OF OLIVER: https://www.thestranger.com/news/2017/07/12/25280763/the-case-for-nikkita-oliver
2021 ENDORSEMENT OF OLIVER: https://www.thestranger.com/news/2021/10/13/61926578/the-strangers-endorsements-for-the-november-2-2021-general-election
As Washington state heads toward economic ruin, remember that Democrats ignored the warnings. Americans are toying with a dangerous ideology. More taxes to fund public safety, but how much will actually go toward hiring police? Joy Reid sees the light.
Prefer to listen? https://audioboom.com/posts/8808485-actions-have-consequences-11-19-25
Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction doesn’t think it matters how many sexual partners students have. Trump once again threatens to move the World Cup from Seattle. Democrats in Olympia keep trying to lower punishments for sexual predators. Trump’s love affair with McDonalds.
Prefer to listen? https://audioboom.com/posts/8807912-safe-sex-is-fascist-11-18-25
Trump says Seattle could lose the World Cup if new socialist mayor can't ensure safety. Pros and cons of 50-year mortgage. Washington is the most expensive state for dining out.
Keep in touch with Zach Abraham at KnowYourRiskPodcast.com.
These remarks were delivered to the Snohomish County Lincoln Day Dinner on May 17, 2024.
The following remarks were delivered to the Whatcom County Lincoln Day Dinner on March 23, 2024, in Ferndale, Washington.
I struggled with what to talk to you about tonight.
Well, that’s not true. I didn't struggle with what to talk to you about – I struggled with whether I was brave enough to say what I wanted to say.
When I'm invited to speak to groups, I don't want to offend anyone or be too controversial. So, I reached out to a few of your fellow party members to ask whether any topics were off limits or wouldn't go over well with the crowd.
I got some good advice.
Then I decided to ignore that good advice entirely.
Too much is at stake to be polite.
As we sit here tonight, we are in the final battle of a war.
A war that has pit sanity against insanity.
Pragmatism against idealism.
A war that has sacrificed the public good, in favor of a twisted idea of progress.
It's a war that began long before I moved here 15 years ago. It started silently and it was mostly waged in the shadows.
Most of us didn't even realize that a war was being fought. We were too caught up in our own lives and our own problems. ...
As Washington state heads toward economic ruin, remember that Democrats ignored the warnings. Americans are toying with a dangerous ideology. More taxes to fund public safety, but how much will actually go toward hiring police? Joy Reid sees the light.
Washington’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction doesn’t think it matters how many sexual partners students have. Trump once again threatens to move the World Cup from Seattle. Democrats in Olympia keep trying to lower punishments for sexual predators. Trump’s love affair with McDonalds.
I was honored this week to join President Donald Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, and other independent content creators for a roundtable on Antifa.
While a certain joke about TDS is getting a lot of attention, the underlying mission of the meeting was serious – deadly serious.
For years, organized left-wing radicals have sought to influence public policy through coercion: using harassment, threats, vandalism, and violence as their tools. From the Occupy movement, to the May Day riots, to the "Summer of Love" and up to the most recent anti-ICE actions, I've followed these activities closely – and been the target of their tactics far too many times.
Whether you call them Antifa, terrorists, radicals, or just criminals – understanding, investigating, and disrupting violent extremism in all forms should be a nonpartisan pursuit.
Here are my full remarks to President Donald Trump:
Mr. President, you’re going to hear us be very fired up today, as you can tell. It’s because some of us have been covering Antifa for 15 years and have never had anyone in a position of authority even acknowledge their existence.
The single most powerful thing you’ve done to deal with this scourge has been acknowledging that Antifa is a real thing. I genuinely believe there would be people at these tables who would be dead today and would have been killed in Portland had you not called them a terror organization and said you're going to bring the full weight of the federal government to bear.
I talked to Katie Daviscourt in Portland the other day. She’d been assaulted all summer. And she said the same thing. They didn’t seem as quick to violence as soon as you made that designation. They’re worried. There’s been two dozen or so arrested in Portland. They don’t want to go to federal prison.
There’s this video of one of them who was in the face of an ICE agent and then he’s in custody shaking. Once you take the mask off, they’re nothing.
I was told by probably a dozen people not to tell you this. I’m going to tell you anyway because it’s relevant to what we’re talking about. I’m living proof that you can recover from TDS. I had strong Trump Derangement Syndrome for probably eight years. This is one of the reasons I recovered from it.
By the way, it’s much better to not have TDS. I’m happier. I’m healthier. I'm more successful. I even think I got a little more attractive after I got rid of my TDS.
I’m a reporter in Seattle and frankly, I could not care any less what any of you have to say about this meeting (looks to Press Corps). I could not care any less. We’re not here for you. I’m not here to convince any of you that Antifa is a real thing. Because if you have not come to that conclusion by now, you are never going to come to that conclusion because you don’t want to see it. And you’re going to say it’s a bunch of right-wing conservative influencers who are here spinning a tale.
I was one of you. I was a mainstream reporter in Seattle for 10 years. I was a TV reporter, on the streets, doing my job and I was still assaulted by Antifa. So, it’s not about being conservative. It’s about people who go out there and show what they’re doing.
When I saw after all those years that the media wouldn’t be honest about what was happening, that Democratic politicians wouldn’t be honest about what was happening, I thought, well, if they’re not being honest about that, maybe they’re not being honest about President Trump either. It opened my mind to just looking at things for what they were. And now I find you quite funny, actually (looks to President Trump).
Again, I could not care any less the stories that go to print. This is what I care about: We have three and a half years. Nothing is guaranteed. Although, I think if Democrats keep it up, we’ll probably have Republican presidents for the next three decades. But nothing is guaranteed. So, what I want to see over the next three and a half years is a fullcourt press to dismantle Antifa once and for all in a meaningful way. I know Andy Ngo, we talked before this about some ideas. We want the federal government to take as many of these cases as possible and look at the interstate travel between Portland and Seattle when it comes to these people who are committing violent acts.
Hopefully, in three and a half years, they will be a shell of their former selves.
President Trump:
Well I think we're very close, and it’s Antifa and many others. Unfortunately, there are many others, bad ones. Most have been named terrorist organizations. There a couple that we’re going to focus on, but I think we’ve got it pretty well covered, but there are many others. Specifically today is Antifa and it’s really bad and we’re going to get it cleaned up.
Thank you very much. I’m glad you no longer have TDS. I feel very good about that. Thank you.
