An antifa-affiliated homeless activist group, Oly Housing Now, forcibly occupied an Olympia, Washington hotel in an attempt to pressure lawmakers to offer more places for the homeless.
The invaders used knives, batons, hatchets, and other weapons to intimidate staff and guests of the Red Lion hotel, One News Network reports.
At least one employee was assaulted, and both guests and staff were forced to shelter in place for several hours, KEPR reports. Oly Housing Now had paid for 17 rooms for one night, ostensibly to provide the rooms to homeless people. Instead, the activists stayed in the rooms, refusing to leave the next morning. They took over the hotel, forcing 40 guests unrelated to the criminal activity to remain in their rooms or shelter in the basement or stairwell.
“Olympia has led on responding to homelessness, on coordinating shelter and other basic needs,” Mayor Cheryl Selby said during a virtual hearing. “The tactics used today by Oly Housing Now are unproductive and won’t make the mission more attainable.”
Ten of those participating in the hotel takeover were arrested.
“What makes Antifa so effective and actually difficult to counter is that they are made up of networks of decentralized and autonomously-run organizations,” investigative journalist Andy Ngo told The Daily Caller. “But for the most part, they are very regional and independent of one another, so that makes dismantling them very difficult.”
Many people incorrectly assumed Antifa would disappear once former President Donald Trump left office, but the activists have indicated they do not support President Joe Biden any more than they supported President Donald Trump. The activists are demonstrating they will continue to riot and cause unrest regardless of the political party of the sitting president.
“Since it was known in November that Biden had won the election, there have been around a dozen riots in the Pacific Northwest, and the Pacific Northwest is particularly where they are most active—Portland and Seattle,” Ngo said.
On the day of Biden’s inauguration as president, leftist activists targeted Portland and Seattle for rioting and unrest, Budget and Tax news reports. In Portland, rioters hit the Democratic Party headquarters and the local building housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. Radicals also attacked the ICE building in Seattle.
Antifa will continue to cause unrest because there have been almost no consequences on them for all their illegal and violent activity, Ngo told Fox News. After months of setting fires, vandalizing buildings, and attacking people physically, 90 percent of those responsible have had their charges dropped by local authorities. The activists are intentionally demonizing police and forcing defunding of law enforcement, to create a power vacuum that they intend to fill.
Multnomah County (Oregon) District Attorney Mike Schmidt has refused to prosecute 91.56 percent of those arrested for rioting in Portland since May of 2020, KOIN News reports.
“I ran on a campaign of talking about mass incarceration, talking about the overuse of the criminal justice system, talking about using jails in lieu of addiction treatment and mental health,” Schmidt told KOIN News. “And I won with 77 percent of the vote, so I think Multnomah County is really on board with that message.”
“This current DA in Multnomah County thinks what’s politically correct is all that matters,” said Clackamas County DA Mike Foote.
