It’s probably time to update one of our standard political sayings for the crazy world of 2020. Try this one on for size. “A Liberal Reform Police Chief is just a Law and Order Police Chief who hasn’t had her home vandalized yet.”

That may turn out to be the case with Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best. She’s been working alongside Mayor Jenny Durkan all during the protests and riots, preaching the need to hear the voices of underserved communities, reexamine how they police the community and sniff out racism wherever it may be lurking. And she’s largely been following the media narrative of “mostly peaceful protesters” as the mobs have ravaged the streets of her city. But that seems to have come to an end after the mob showed up at her own house on Sunday night. In a letter she sent to the City Council yesterday, her language took on a markedly different tone. (Washington Times)

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best sent a letter to the city council asking members to “stand up for what is right” after hundreds of protesters descended on her home over the weekend.

“A residence of mine in Snohomish County was targeted by a large group of aggressive protestors late last night,” Chief Best wrote in a letter to the city council made public Monday. “My neighbors were concerned by such a large group, but they were successful in ensuring the crowd was not able to trespass or engage in other illegal behavior in the area, despite repeated attempts to do so.”

On Saturday night, a group of about 200 protesters and dozens of vehicles descended on the quiet street in Snohomish County where Chief Best lives, though she was not home at the time of the demonstration, according to reports.

Reading through her statement, the first thing you’ll notice is that the phrase “peaceful protesters” has been replaced by “aggressive protestors.” Gone is the talk of people “raising their voices.” That’s now been replaced by “other illegal behavior.” Her letter speaks of “violence and intimidation” against elected officials and civil servants, “especially like myself.” She even went so far as to demand that the Council take action to prevent “mob rule.”

Is this the same Chief Best we’ve been hearing from for months now? What happened to political correctness? Keep in mind that this is the same Chief of Police who recently sent a different letter to business owners and residents of the city’s downtown area saying that they were basically on their own when the mobs arrived. But now that the mobs have shown up at her house it’s apparently a whole new ballgame.

This is something that people with a firmer grip on reality have been warning about since the beginning. It’s one thing for the rest of the country to watch the mob violence play out on their televisions when it’s largely contained to the centers of our larger cities. But when the violent crowds begin spilling out into the suburbs, you will see attitudes changing very, very quickly, and demands for a law and order agenda will be heard. Any politicians seen as coddling the rioters will find their positions far less secure.

But is it too late to unring that bell at this point? The mobs have clearly been listening to the media coverage and the statements from easily cowed mayors and governors. They’ve been set loose to smash storefronts and loot businesses, leaving graffiti-covered, burned-out shells in their wake. And few have received more than a slap on the wrist for it. Why wouldn’t they move into the suburbs? There’s plenty of prime real estate waiting to be looted there.

Oh, wait. That’s right. Gun sales have been surging among homeowners. The next phase of this battle may wind up turning quite ugly. But the elected officials who allowed events to spiral this far out of control are far more to blame than anyone but the rioters themselves.

UPDATE: Check out this video of protesters trying to get past residents who are having none of it.
“We are peaceful! You pointed a gun at my face!”

“That’s why you are peaceful.”

https://twitter.com/Doranimated/status/1290473037729587202