{"id":208865,"date":"2020-06-16T07:26:50","date_gmt":"2020-06-16T07:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=208865"},"modified":"2020-06-18T06:38:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-18T06:38:11","slug":"seattles-chaz-presided-over-by-a-champagne-socialist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=208865","title":{"rendered":"Seattle\u2019s CHAZ Presided Over by a Champagne Socialist"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">The firebrand behind Seattle&#8217;s CHAZ: Councilwoman and socialist Kshama Sawant, 46, who is refusing to let cops into the six-block zone lives in an $800,000 home but has railed against gentrification of Seattle<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Kshama Sawant, 46, has been described as a leader in the creation of Seattle&#8217;s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>The city councilwoman has urged fellow activists not to allow cops back into the six-block zone set up in the center of the city<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Indian-born Sawant worked as a software engineer before migrating to the US, where she was &#8216;radicalized by the inequality and poverty&#8217; that she saw\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>Sawant became the first socialist to be elected to Seattle&#8217;s City Council in 2013; she recently endorsed Bernie Sanders for President<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>However, she has come under fire for railing against gentrification while being married to a Microsoft engineer; she is also reported to live in a $800K home\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\"><strong>One Seattle Times columnist has compared her to the Queen in Alice In Wonderland, because of her &#8216;off with their heads&#8217; political style\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">Andrew Court and Jennifer Smith \u2013 Daily Mail.com June 13, 2020<\/h1>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">A software engineer turned firebrand socialist has been named as the leader of a movement which has pushed police out of six-block area of central Seattle, known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_208866\" style=\"width: 300px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sawant.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-208866\" class=\"wp-image-208866\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sawant.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"290\" height=\"387\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sawant.jpg 634w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Sawant-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-208866\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kshama Sawant. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Indian-born Kshama Sawant, 46, who now serves on the Seattle City Council, is encouraging activists in the CHAZ &#8216;to hold out on giving back the precinct to cops or allowing officers inside the barricaded region&#8217;, according to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/seattle-councilwoman-police-precicnct-community-control-permanent\"><strong>Fox News<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The CHAZ was established on June 8, after protesters took over Capitol Hill&#8217;s East Precinct building, sending members of the Seattle Police Department fleeing<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Sawant tweeted Friday: &#8216;Our movement needs to urgently ensure East Precinct is not handed back to police, but is turned over permanently into community control. My office is bringing legislation to convert East Precinct into a community center for restorative justice.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">She further stated: &#8216;The movement has been undaunted in the face of horrific violence from Mayor Durkan&#8217;s police. Congratulations, solidarity!&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">On Tuesday, Sawant used her position as a councilwoman to lead hundreds of protesters into City Hall, where she reportedly unlocked the building and let 300 people stage an hours-long takeover of the building.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_208867\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Armed-protestors.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-208867\" class=\"wp-image-208867\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Armed-protestors.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"340\" height=\"376\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Armed-protestors.jpg 634w, https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Armed-protestors-271x300.jpg 271w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-208867\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sawant led a protest to City Hall on Tuesday where she reportedly unlocked the building and let 300 people stage an hours-long takeover of the building. Armed protesters are pictured during the march. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The group called upon Mayor Durkan to resign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Sawant is known for her militant and uncomprising style of politics, prompting one <a style=\"color: #ccffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seattletimes.com\/opinion\/the-times-demand-dialogue-and-action-not-distractions\/\"><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Seattle Times<\/span><\/strong><\/a> columnist to liken her to the Queen in Alice in Wonderland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">&#8216;She had has one answer to every question, and it is always some form of &#8216;off with their heads&#8221;, the writer stated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">In 2013, Sawant became the first socialist to be elected to the Seattle City Council. She describes herself as an &#8216;an activist who brings a passion for social justice to her work as a public servant&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">According to her official government biography, Sawant was born in Mumbai, India but relocated to the United States in the early 2000s after working as software engineer.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">&#8216;Upon arriving in the US, the richest country in the world, Sawant was surprised and radicalized by the inequality and poverty that exists here,&#8217; the biography reads.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">She pursued a PhD at North Carolina State University before relocating to Seattle.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Sawant joined the Socialist Alternative in 2006 and became a councilwoman in 2013. She recently endorsed Bernie Sanders for President.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">The ex-software engineer also made headlines by vowing to give up a majority of her six-figure salary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">She has boasted of only taking around $40,000 of her pay and &#8216;donating the rest to building social justice movements.&#8217;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">However, Sawant has not escaped criticism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">Her reported marriage to a high-powered Microsoft engineer, Vivek Sawant, raised eyebrows given she railed against the gentrification of Seattle.\u00a0The pair divorced in 2014.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">According to <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a style=\"color: #ccffff; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/mynorthwest.com\/970342\/dori-kshama-sawant-tax-filings-con-artist\/\"><strong>MyNorthwest<\/strong><\/a><\/span>, Sawant &#8216;lives in a house that is worth between $800,000 and $900,000 and has over a half-million in equity&#8217; in the property.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #ccffff;\">DailyMail.com has contacted Sawant&#8217;s office for comment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-8417543\/Kshama-Sawant-46-helped-create-Seattles-CHAZ-refuses-let-cops-six-block-zone.html\">Continues \u2026 <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When she\u2019s not in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, Indian-born Kshama Sawant lives in a home worth between $800,000 to $900,000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-208865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-Behind_The_News","category-Current_Affairs"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=208865"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":208868,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/208865\/revisions\/208868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=208865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=208865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=208865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}