WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd July, 2020) US Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday praised Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best for clearing the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone.
"I commend Police Chief Carmen Best for her courage and leadership in restoring the rule of law in Seattle," Barr said in a statement. "For the past several weeks, the Capitol Hill area of Seattle was occupied by protesters who denied access to police and other law enforcement personnel."
Earlier on Wednesday, the Seattle Police Department said in a statement earlier that officers arrested 31 individuals, including for failure to disperse, obstruction and assault, as they cleared the CHOP zone on the order of Mayor Jenny Durkan.
Barr said that the violence seen in recent weeks in the CHOP zone undermined the rule of law that protesters profess to defend.
The US Attorney General emphasized that the US Constitution protects the right of individuals to free speech and assembly, but not to commit violence.
On Monday, Best urged protesters to leave the CHOP zone after a 16-year-old African American boy was killed in a shooting that also left a 14-year-old African American boy hospitalized.
Best noted that police had received multiple reports of assaults, rape, robbery and shootings in the CHOP zone.
Last week, three people were shot within 48 hours, including a 19-year-old man who later died, according to police reports.
