Republican lawmakers took to social media Wednesday to express their support for the end of CHOP, the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, in Seattle.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan authorized the Seattle Police Department to shut the “police free” zone done after the area saw five shootings and two deaths in three weeks, Fox News reports.
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best called the area “lawless and brutal” in a statement.
By 9:25 a.m. PST, police officers logged 31 arrests. One person was “in possession of a large metal pipe and kitchen knife when he was taken into custody." Cops also found homemade spike strips meant to prevent cars from entering the CHOP area.
"Finally," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tweeted about the end of CHOP. "Twenty-some days and several deaths too late. The rule of law must not fade in and out with the fashions of the radical left."
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, poked fun at the autonomous zone for only lasting a few weeks.
"Boy, nation-states seem to be lasting shorter & shorter," Cruz tweeted.
"Is it still the Summer of Love? #NowThatCHAZIsGone," Cruz wrote in another tweet.
Georgia Rep. Doug Collins took a jab at the Seattle mayor for not acting sooner.
"It’s sad that it took two deaths for the Seattle mayor to finally realize what we’ve known all along," he tweeted. "WE NEED OUR POLICE!"
Durkan allowed the CHOP zone to take over six blocks of the city that included a police precinct, which officers were forced to abandon along with businesses that owners couldn’t access.
Trump offered to send the National Guard to clear the area several weeks ago, but Durkan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee were hesitant to shut the area down.
"Seattle is fine Don't be so afraid of Democracy,” Durkan tweeted at Trump.
Following their difference in opinion on CHOP, there were five shootings and two deaths in CHOP before it was shut down by the Seattle Police Department.
"The mayor’s job is to ensure public safety," tweeted Ari Fleischer, the former press secretary for the George W. Bush administration. "This should have been done three weeks ago."
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