After the New York Times and other media outlets called Seattle’s police-free “Autonomous Zone” a “homeland for racial justice,” the newspaper is now painting a darker scene for the six-block downtown area, Fox News reports.
The newspaper interviewed several local business owners who are suing the city over damaged caused by what was previously described as a peaceful area with a block party atmosphere.
Fox reports that the newspaper's recent article "Abolish the Police? Those Who Survived the Chaos in Seattle Aren’t So Sure" is a drastic change from a piece it ran in June, “Free Food, Free Speech and Free of Police: Inside Seattle’s ‘Autonomous Zone.’”
Townhall senior reporter Julio Rosas, who was in Seattle in the middle of the chaos, told Fox News that the media was downplaying the story.
“I think the biggest misperception in the media is that only good things are happening in and around the autonomous zone,” Rosas said in June.
Two months later, other descriptions of what happened in Seattle have emerged.
One business owner Faizel Khan told a New York Times reporter that he experienced young white men wielding guns and protesters smashing windows and looting buildings.
Local business owners told the newspaper they don’t support any calls to defund the police after what they experienced in the police-free zone.
“Business crashed as the Seattle police refused to respond to calls to the area. Officers did not retake the region until July 1, after four shootings, including two fatal ones,” the Times reported.
Khan owns a coffee shop and is one of the business owners suing the city. He said very few people were brave enough to come in for breakfast. He said he and his workers called 911 twice.
“It was lawless,” he said.
The NY Times reports that the lawsuit claims “Seattle’s unprecedented decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood, leaving it unchecked by the police, unserved by fire and emergency health services, and inaccessible to the public” led to property damage and lost revenue.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.