The City of Seattle isn’t quite as big as it was a month ago. Well, technically, it’s the same size, but the among of real estate answerable to the local government is smaller by about six blocks.

The CHOP, formerly the CHAZ–which I was partial to myself–takes up a fair bit of real estate and claims that it doesn’t answer to any government except themselves. Signs on the border make that very clear.

Still, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan continues to try and sell a line of BS that this is just some protest and it actually a wonderful thing to watch. She’s complicit in an attempt to succeed from the country.

More than that, though, she’s officially giving her government’s approval by essentially legitimizing the CHOP.

The occupied protest zone in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood known as the CHOP is getting some extra safety measures from the city.

Tuesday morning, the Seattle Department of Transportation replaced tent barriers with concrete barriers around the edges of the six-nine block protest zone surrounding the abandoned SPD East Precinct.

The barriers will help to prevent cars from driving through the protesters, which happened last week, while also leaving a travel lane for emergency responders.

Although the occupied protest has remained largely peaceful since it popped up more than a week ago, residents and business owners in the area have raised safety concerns over police response times tripling and officers not responding to calls inside the zone.

Mayor Jenny Durkan said Tuesday that the city is making changes to accommodate the protesters while still protecting nearby businesses and residents.

Of course, Durkan can say that, but all evidence from within the CHOP suggests otherwise. Laws are routinely being ignored, in particular, the gun control laws that the mayor and Gov. Jay Inslee seem so fond of for regular citizens of Washington.

Then, on top of that, they provide concrete barriers to secure the site?

I can’t help but wonder how much of this has to do with President Trump’s comments about sending the military to take care of the CHOP once and for all. Concrete barricades are a lot tougher to get through than tents, after all.

Regardless, this move represents Durkan’s approval and her essentially ceding over control of parts of her city to another entity. Honestly, how the people of Seattle can support her right now is beyond me.

Meanwhile, businesses inside the CHOP had best hope they don’t need law enforcement help. While Durkan can claim the barriers are also to help facilitate emergency vehicles coming and going through the CHOP, law enforcement still isn’t welcome. These are people who are downright hostile to police. I can’t imagine the police going in there for anything short of a war. If they roll into the CHOP for anything, violence will follow. As such, I don’t see them going in for any reason other than to push them out permanently.

And Durkan has not just made it clear she’s prepared to tolerate this kind of thing indefinitely, but is willing to outright support it.

Pathetic.