On the fourth night of protests-turned-riots, the same verse was repeating in Seattle, where things got out of hand, police declared a riot, and used explosives and tear gas to break up the crowds.
In the middle of it was NBC reporter Jo Ling Kent, complete with gas mask. As one skirmish was unfolding, and people were darting in various directions, she was hit with what looks to be firework, likely launched from one of the antifa terrorists. And right before she went live it appeared as though rioters were trying to disable her equipment. You can one woman (?) shrieking “YOU SORRY BITCH!” And it was all caught on video as she was reporting live!
UPDATE (clarification): Given the chaotic nature of the scene, it’s hard to tell exactly who lobbed the firework. Protesters are seen shooting off fireworks just seconds before the object hit her. It’s unclear whether or not that is a line of police way in the background or black clad rioters.
Reminiscent of last weeks quip about the protests in Minneapolis being “mostly peaceful” as buildings burned in the backround, literally at the same time the MSNBC YouTube Channel posted that video, they also posted a video about how “peaceful” the protest was:
Kent later reported that she was alright:
Hey everyone. Thankfully, our whole team is ok and safe. I’m totally fine – my jacket sleeve got singed and that’s it.
So sorry for the curse words.. and thank you for the sweet texts, calls and tweets ❤️ https://t.co/WQdtxU4FIz
— Jo Ling Kent (@jolingkent) June 2, 2020
Of course crazed leftists were quick to blame police and say it was one of the blast balls or some other device launched an officer:
This is SEATTLE.
Police have turned it into a war zone. https://t.co/jScbkC7hyU— Jennifer Scheurle (@Gaohmee) June 2, 2020
Seattle police just fired what appears to be multiple canisters of tear gas directly at @MSNBC news crew. Lots of terror at Cal Anderson Park tonight. @MayorJenny do you approve? pic.twitter.com/m54ep6cv9K
— Bill Broadhead (@billbroadhead) June 2, 2020
Here’s the key moment where the protest went from peaceful to police launching tear gas:
https://twitter.com/stephtseo/status/1267680737915924480
https://www.facebook.com/KIRO7Seattle/videos/2624948471075979/
https://www.facebook.com/KOMONews/videos/205892717097533/
Seattle Police declared it a riot:
Incident commander at demonstration on Capitol Hill is declaring the incident a riot. Crowd has thrown rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers and is attempting to breach barricades one block from the East Precinct.
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) June 2, 2020
The crowd also started popping earlier in the day when several men started accosting a female reporter:
https://twitter.com/KatieDaviscourt/status/1267562837506838529
Comments like this were rolling in:
I'm watching Seattle news. A gay black kid is shaming the lesbian white Democratic mayor for her "privilege" of installing a curfew, saying she's letting the LGBT community down.
Holy shit. I can't wait to move to the reddest area I can find.
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) June 2, 2020
One Seattle city council member openly endorsed the looting:
This is dangerous.
Socialist Seattle Councilmember Tammy Morales defending the weekend violence, telling her comrades on the Council:
"I don't want to hear is for our constituents to be told to be civil, not to be reactionary, to be told looting doesn't solve anything." pic.twitter.com/NVUBfYVrwS
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 2, 2020