Jonathan Choe

Where are they now? Last month, Governor Jay Inslee (@GovInslee) took a victory lap after spending millions of dollars to close down the Myers Way encampment(with the swimming pool) and house many of the homeless for the next year. But some of them are now spending time at a new West Seattle encampment nearby doing drugs and simply hanging out. For the past few weeks, I followed and interviewed these men and women. It was a rare glimpse into what happens after someone exits an encampment. Many of them are thankful for the apartments. But they also say the building is like a “sterile warehouse” with “no community” and “too many rules.” They also say cameras and security are constantly Read More ›

Exclusive Tuesday evening, witnesses say a man carrying a gun unloaded at least 30 rounds in the direction of people sitting on the steps behind DESC’s Navigation Center (@DESCSeattle) in Little Saigon. One homeless man in his 50’s was hit in the buttocks. Victim stumbled to the corner of 12th Ave & Weller St where first responders arrived and took him to Harborview Medical Center for treatment. Apparently he was not the intended target. Shooter is still on the loose. The Navigation Center is one of several problematic homeless shelters in or around Chinatown-ID. It remains a major blight on the community since it feeds the open air drug market right around the corner and continues to attract addicts to Read More ›

Slow Night Just hours after a shooting near 12th Ave & Jackson St. Tuesday evening, the open air drug den and black market of stolen goods only had around 60 people. Most nights this place is packed with more than 100 peeps. How low are you willing to go if you are trying to flip a stolen toy kitchen for $10 bucks? For real. I want to say the city’s new drug bill is working, but we’re just in the “educational” phase. No one is really being arrested for smoking fentanyl. They’re just being told to move along. CM Tammy Morales (@CMTammyMorales, @TammyMoralesSEA) voted against this watered down drug bill. But she has no solutions to address this on going Read More ›

Bailing Out Government Again At this point, most of us know about the incredible exploits of We Heart Seattle (@weheartseattle.) This homeless outreach group is consistently one of the most impactful in the region because of the dynamic leadership of Andrea Suarez. She continues to mobilize volunteers and also empowers the men and women living on the streets to help clean up encampments. This weekend, Suarez and her crew focused on one of the most problematic corridors in North Seattle, removing around one million pounds of trash. But they barely scratched the surface. The WSDOT (@wsdot) right of ways in this part of Seattle are now overwhelmed with tents and structures. From Northgate to University District, it’s almost like the Read More ›

Interpreting Homeless Law Once again, I asked Burien Deputy Mayor Kevin Schilling how the city is interpreting the landmark ruling Martin V. Boise that says cities cannot enforce anti-camping ordinances if there aren’t enough homeless shelter beds available. This piece is frequently cited and misinterpreted by FAR-LEFT activists and other homeless advocates against SWEEPS. Even King County Executive Dow Constantine (@kcexec)weaponized it earlier this year and blocked sheriff’s deputies from assisting during the Burien dog park encampment removal. But Schilling makes it very clear, nowhere in the law does it say the offers of shelter must be in the city where the homeless are camping. In other words, if there is an open shelter bed in nearby Seattle or Renton, Read More ›

What’s Next Burien After weeks of contentious debate and public comment, the Burien City Council finally passed a “no camping” ordinance this week. This common sense bill was first championed by CM Stephanie Mora (@CmStephaniemora) and ended up being a close 4-3 vote. Now the heavy lifting begins. More than 60 people remain at the Ambaum Blvd encampment. I went there again this week. The open air drug use and trash is out of control. And sadly, Burien PD has taken multiple reports of young women being trafficked out of this encampment. Meanwhile, listen to Deputy Mayor Kevin Schilling describe what Highline Public School Dist. is doing in response to this situation. The city is now in talks to bring Read More ›

Watch the clip here. Jonathan Choe joins host Jesse Watters on Fox News to react to Seattle residents who say they aren’t aware of the city’s drug or crime crisis.

Positive Signs Neighbors in Little Saigon are thrilled to see Seattle Police patrols Tuesday afternoon near 12th Ave & Jackson St. They say officers are trying to make clear distinctions between people simply waiting to catch the bus VS. the drug addicts smoking fentanyl and selling stolen merchandise on the corner. Need more of this each day.