Social media users slammed The Seattle Times this week for reporting that former President Trump “falsely claimed” during a debate that Black Lives Matter/Antifa protesters had taken over “large parts” of Seattle during the 2020 riots.
In the work In an article published the morning after his debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, the outlet accused Trump of misrepresenting the size of the Capitol Hill Organized Protests (CHOP). During the debate, Trump said the protests, which had seized control of a city block in Seattle from local authorities, were “massive,” but the outlet corrected him, saying they “fluctuated” by “only six blocks.”
The X account slammed the paper for its lackluster fact-checking, with Post Millennial reporter Katie Daviscourt saying, “I can't believe this is an actual article that was published in the Seattle Times. Shame on you.”
Kamala Harris supported “defunding the police” in a 2020 radio interview, but the Biden campaign expressed opposition.
The Seattle Times came under fire this week for disputing former President Trump's recent claim that protests organized at the U.S. Capitol in Seattle had taken over a “large portion” of the city. (Photo: David Ryder/Getty Images)
During the debate, Trump invoked CHOP to pin the blame for the January 6 attack on the Capitol on him while pointing out the hypocrisy of his opponents who supported the riots the previous summer.
“When are the people who burned down Minneapolis going to be prosecuted? Or are they going to be prosecuted in Seattle? They came in and took over a large part of the city of Seattle. When are they going to be prosecuted?” he asked, also noting that Harris had collected bail for people arrested in the BLM riots that summer.
The CHOP Zone was occupied by protesters “from approximately June 10 to July 1, 2020,” according to the Times. Multiple shootings occurred at the site, including one that killed teenager Antonio Mays Jr.
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The outlet disputed Trump's description of the size of the CHOP area, writing, “Former President Donald Trump referenced organized protests on Seattle's Capitol Hill during Tuesday night's presidential debate, falsely claiming that protesters had occupied large parts of the city.”
“The area fluctuated in size, but essentially encompassed about six blocks surrounding the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct and Cal Anderson Park, stretching from 12th Street on the east, Broadway on the west, East Pine Street on the south, and East Denny Way on the north.”
Seattle Police retake Chop Station, arrest multiple protesters following Governor Durkan's orders
The word “people” is spray painted over the word “police” at the closed Seattle Police East Precinct, surrounded by an area known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) on June 11, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. ((Photo: Jason Redmond/AFP) (Photo: Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images))
Other social media users also slammed the article.
“Wow they still haven't deleted this? That says it all,” commented Gunter Eagleman of the conservative account.
Former model and Trump supporter Adrianne Curry slammed the outlet, writing: “Are you kidding me? These communist propagandists should be ashamed to even leave their homes.”
Journalist Andy Ngo responded to the article, saying, “This is horrible gaslighting by @vonnaiphair and her editors at the Seattle Times. I was there undercover. According to their own reporting at the time, six streets in a dense commercial and residential area were taken over by militants. The extremists belonged to the BLM-Antifa group.”
He added: “After weeks of chaos and anarchy, people were killed. Young black people were called white supremacists and shot.”
The Seattle Times did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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