One of the Seattle Black Lives Matter protesters struck by a car while blocking Interstate 5 early July 4th has died and her death has forced state cops to re-think their permissive policies allowing protesters to take over freeways.
Summer Taylor was blocking the freeway with a small group of Black Lives Matter demonstrators on the southbound lanes of I-5, the main artery through Seattle, about 1:30 a.m. Saturday.
A 27-year-old man was arrested. Police identified him as Dawit Kelete, and they say he was sober.
Summer Taylor, a non binary Black Lives Matter activist who was hit by a car while protesting on the I-5 freeway in Seattle, has died. Dawit Kelete, who is black, is accused of being the driver & was arrested.
Summer Taylor, a non binary Black Lives Matter activist who was hit by a car while protesting on the I-5 freeway in Seattle, has died. Dawit Kelete, who is black, is accused of being the driver & was arrested. pic.twitter.com/Lr6Jp3BkzO
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) July 5, 2020
The situation in which a black man is charged for the death of a white woman demonstrating for Black Lives Matter has sent millions of people to the Woke Version of Political Rock Paper Scissors.
Seattle’s game of political rock, paper, scissors
I can see the rock, paper, scissors imaginary discussion now:
OK, so idiots block the freeway.
Agreed, they’re idiots.
Yeah, but they were Black Lives Matter idiots blocking the freeway, so it must be OK.
Right.
But, a white chick was involved in the Black Lives Matter idiots blocking the freeway.
Sure, OK.
A man drove a car hitting a white woman in the Black Lives Matter protest.
Are you sure it was a white chick?
Yes, dude sent her to the hospital and she died.
What? Kill him!
But the white chick was killed.
And she was apparently killed by a black man, Dawit Kelete.
Wait, the driver was black?
Yeah, the driver was black who killed the white chick.
Free Dawit Kelete!
Wait, why did the cops let anyone go on the freeway?
Because they were Black Lives Matter.
Defund the police!
Heads explode.
Here’s where we insert equal protection under the law information. I’d write it, but you already know it. So do police and elected officials. That they never seem to observe it is a question for the voters. Are you listening?
How did Seattle driver get to protesters?
It turns out that the driver had to somehow get around a Washington State Highway Patrol blockade put up to protect the protesters.
NPR reports that investigators don’t know why Kelete jumped on the freeway in another spot.
The Washington State Patrol said Saturday that the driver of the white Jaguar sedan, a 27-year-old man, is in custody. At this point, officers have not offered a motive, though Capt. Ron Mead said officers believe the suspect was not impaired.
At a news conference early Saturday, Mead did not offer further details on how authorities believe the man bypassed a police closure to reach the victims. But he warned that the incident offers a stark lesson for protesters.
“My hope is, as a result of this tragedy, protesters will reconsider their desire to be on the interstate,” he said, “because I cannot guarantee their safety, plain and simple.” [emphasis added]
No, you read that right. The Washington State Patrol (WSP) set up barricades allowing the protesters to flood the freeways.
At Least 20 Peopled Killed in the ‘Mostly Peaceful’ George Floyd Riots
After Seattle freeway takeover WSP re-thinks policies
Hours after Taylor succumbed to her injuries, the WSP announced it was changing its policies to arrest people who block freeways instead of letting them protest there.
The admission that official Seattle had apparently allowed the protesters to take over the freeway was met with incredulity from law-abiding folks, including one who rightly observed that “Seattle looks like a bunch of children learning not to touch a hot stove.”
Gee, what changed?
Not attacking the WSP with my comment, but this whole leadership fiasco in Seattle looks like a bunch of children learning not to touch a hot stove.
— Dean K Gibson 📶 (@AE7Q_) July 5, 2020
After shootings, murder – MURDER – rapes, assaults, graft, and other assorted crimes at the Black Lives Matter/antifa autonomous zone, CHOP, in Seattle, and then Washington State Patrol makes the political decision that these same people should be allowed to hand over a swath of an Interstate freeway … ?
It’s gobsmacking. It defies the law of common sense.
Seattle protester freeway takeover could have been avoided
For those playing the home game, the First Amendment allows local officials to exercise time, place, and manner restrictions on free speech events. That means they could have arrested people occupying the freeways. But they didn’t. This freeway takeover was allowed by political forces ordering law enforcement to ignore existing law and allowing this I-5 takeover.
Political Seattle let this takeover of the freeway on the July 4th holiday take place. Thousands and thousands of people who wanted to use the freeway to get to their Independence Day activities were literally detoured from their plans by complicit cops for political reasons.
It is a colossal disconnect. It’s a complete disavowal of pattern recognition.
As I reported here Saturday, there was video of the gruesome collision.
Rest in Peace Summer Taylor😔 She was struck by a car going through a protest and had died. #SummerTaylor pic.twitter.com/byJ0GVNdOI
— Hannah.Banana.502 (@BannanaLollipop) July 5, 2020
And you can watch the insipid demonstration here and the final seconds when the car came around the barricade.
In short, this didn’t have to happen, but Official Political Seattle – whoever that is, Mayor Jenny Durkan perhaps? – let it.
#watch Black Femme March takes I-5 #chop #seattleprotest
Posted by Diaz Love on Friday, July 3, 2020
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