Viva La Cola!

Founded in January 2009, PubliCola is a blog about Seattle written by journalists who are dedicated to non-partisan, original daily reporting that prioritizes a balanced approach to news. Started by longtime local editor and award-winning reporter Josh Feit, PubliCola is the first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol.

PubliCola was off and running. In June 2009, PubliCola hired another award-winning journalist, super-sourced Seattle city hall reporter Erica C. Barnett.

People were afraid that blogging would change journalism. Instead, we believe journalism can change blogging. Twenty-first century journalism may look and feel different, and yes Erica isn't afraid to get cranky, but we're committed to making sure online news still delivers independent, reliable, even-keeled coverage. And most of all, we're committed to making sure the coverage sparks honest civic debate.

Bringing you cola for the people, PubliCola is named after Publius Valerius PubliCola, the alias for the authors of the Federalist Papers—the original bloggers.

x close
The first online-only news site in state history to get media credentials to cover the state capitol and Seattle city hall, PubliCola has been called a “must-read” by the Seattle Post Intelligencer and a hot “New Media Mover and Shaker” by Seattle Magazine—which also cited our own Erica C. Barnett as the city's No. 1 news nerd.

Police Evict Protesters From “Turritopsis Nutricula” House In the Central District

Crime   January 11, 2012 at 7:49 am Jonah Spangenthal-Lee

Police chainsawed their way through the front door of a Central District home this morning before evicting seven Occupy Seattle protesters who had been squatting in the vacant house since November.

This morning, around 4:00am, King County’s Tac 30 team—the sheriff’s office equivalent of a SWAT team—and Seattle police swarmed the home at 23rd Ave. and Alder St. and used a loudspeaker to wake up the protesters. Police then used a chainsaw to cut through the door of the home, which was barred with a “castle lock” or 2×4 board, according to King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Sgt. Cindi West.

West says police sent in a tactical squad because they “had received intelligence information that there were possibly some weapons and booby traps in the house,” although she said deputies didn’t find any in the home.

West says police removed seven protesters from the home this morning, but did not arrest them.

As many as 30 people had previously been “crashing” at the home, and West says that the group caused extensive damage to the inside and outside of the house.

 

Before and after photos courtesy of the King County Sheriff’s Office.

This is at least the third group of protesters police have evicted from a home in the Central District over the last few months.


  • Blue Light

    What differentiates a protester from a trespasser?
    What determines eviction for protest rather than arrest for breaking and entering?

  • TA

    It is a shame that Occupy Wall Street movement has now essentially turned into a random anti capitalism movement.  They are not in their essense the same thing.  What began with a protest related to being disenfranchised with wall street and politics, now is a protest against any private property anywhere.

  • SeattleDem

    Agreed, the before picture of this house is heartbreaking. Occupy was not supposed to be about the destruction of private property.  The Central District is a middle class neighborhood at best and these trespassers have destroyed what will hopefully one day be a good family home.

  • Keith

    Oh no, poor whites are going to have to go get jobs and pay their own rent.

  • Anonymous

    The house was vacant.  This isn’t a boo hoo for some future family.  This hurt the banks, who stole a home from some “good family”.

  • Godwin

    Good riddance. 

  • FrequentPoster

    Why weren’t these people arrested?

  • Blue Light

    From the Seattle Times:  “The homeowner, who lives out of state, was in the process of remodeling
    the property when he was contacted by the City of Seattle about the
    group squatting.”

  • Verd1n

    I trust SPD has their names, addresses (if available), their SSN’s, and other personal data so the owner can come after each and every one for damages.

  • Fred

    Whoops, facts, facts, facts. They always manage to trip up extremists.

  • Fred

    Are they members of a ‘vulnerable community’?

  • FrequentPoster

    So what? They’re burglars. The broke and entered, and they vandalized. But the cops let ‘em go. Why?

  • Local Yokel

    I don’t know.  Were they within earshot of you?

  • Godwin

    It is likely that this particular property was chosen because of politics within the Black community, and the use of white radicals to bolster a particular side of the dispute. These old feuds run deep.

  • answering rhetorical queries

    um, there’s no eviction for protest. there’s eviction for not having a right to possession of the property.  breaking and entering requires proof you did the breaking, likely they had no idea which of them did it, unless you want to spend lots of money on cops impersonating trespassers and wearing wires and such, or maybe make up evidence. 

  • Trevor

    Of course a quote from one of the people evicted would be nice.

  • FrequentPoster

    Occupy was never anything but a bunch of shiftless addicts.

  • FrequentPoster

    And Publicola, the Fact-Free Zone.

  • FrequentPoster

    “Hey bro, pass the pipe!”

    - One of the people evicted

  • News Junkie

    Care to elaborate?

    You mean the landlord had it coming?

  • News Junkie

    What was the point of totally defacing it, unless the property had a history of being owned by one of those Banks or Mortgage divisions they hate so much. 

    I was thinking the SPD and Sheriff’s were being so vigilant with them was they didn’t want more than the Occupiers to start squatting in empty properties. Would have had a real problem on their hands when that barrier was broken. But these dipshits tried to bring as much attention themselves as possible, as if they wanted to be arrested or kicked out. But no one has a clue why they chose that property, other than it being conveniently on 23rd. 

    I agree, the Occupiers killed their own Mission and momentum. They needed more of the actual, suffering lower and middle classes who’ve lost in this Last Recession, not the young Anarchists who show up to everyone of these types of Protests, yet gain no new followers, and give the Police the excuse to crack down on them. 

    That is such a weird part of town anyway. The Central District is the polar opposite of the Hill & Broadway. So close and yet as far away & different from each other as possible.  

  • FrequentPoster

    What was the point of totally defacing it, unless the property had a
    history of being owned by one of those Banks or Mortgage divisions they
    hate so much.

    Remember, these are the same people who set up a meth tent at Seattle Central Community College, and who were eventually kicked out of there because the authorities were worried that their habit of shitting on the lawn where they lived would spread disease.

  • FrequentPoster

    So people can break into and then occupy a house that’s not theirs and trash it, with no criminal penalty? That’s just bizarre.

  • News Junkie

    Oh give it a break. The didn’t shit on the lawn, there was a whole line of port-a-potty’s there, and there have always been homeless people and addicts hanging around that area. You have a problem with their message, fine. Just don’t stoop to slandering them like that.