Napolitano: Why Seattle business owners' lawsuit over CHOP zone likely won't succeed

Seattle residents and business owners' lawsuit against their city will likely only have a political solution: to vote the leadership that allowed the occupation of their community out of office, Fox News senior judicial analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano stated Thursday.

In an interview on "Fox & Friends" with hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt, and Brian Kilmeade, Napolitano explained that while he was aware of the "reprehensible conditions that existed" in a Seattle neighborhood, a legal precedent would potentially overrule their grievances.

"The state has a duty, it has a moral and legal obligation to provide basic safety services: fire, police, EMS. But, when this has happened in the past -- when people have said, ‘the police didn't protect me, the police didn't protect my property, the police didn't get the bad guy,’ [do] you know what the Supreme Court has ruled?" he asked. "It's not their obligation to do so."
"So, as much as my heart is with the plaintiffs in this case, the remedy will be political. That is: vote out of office the people [who] allowed this to happen," he told the "Friends" hosts. "But, I don't think this lawsuit will…see the light of day."

According to reports, numerous Seattle businesses – including an auto repair shop, a tattoo parlor, and a property management company – sued the city Wednesday, alleging city officials were complicit in allowing an “occupied protest” that has made them feel unsafe in their neighborhood.
Organizers of "CHOP" -- part of the widespread rioting and demonstrations that followed the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis -- said they sought to establish a “police-free” area in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district.
Since the occupation began June 8, the area has seen shootings, vandalism and other crimes.

“(T)his lawsuit is about the constitutional and other legal rights of plaintiffs – businesses, employees and residents in and around CHOP – which have been overrun by the city of Seattle’s unprecedented decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood, leaving it unchecked by the police, unserved by fire and emergency health services and inaccessible to the public at large,” the lawsuit says, Q13 FOX reported.

The plaintiffs also allege that their city leaders provided the demonstrators with barriers, public restrooms, and medical supplies -- in effect supporting the "autonomous zone." In addition, the lawsuit asserts that CHOP had worsened conditions for elderly and disabled people in the area.
“The result of the City’s actions has been lawlessness,” Calfo Eakes LLP, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, told the Seattle Times in a statement. “There is no public safety presence. Police officers will not enter the area unless it is a life-or-death situation, and even in those situations, the response is delayed and muted, if it comes at all.”
The Seattle city attorney’s office told local media that it hadn’t yet had an opportunity to review the lawsuit but planned to respond after reviewing it.

Facing mounting pressure, Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan announced Monday that the city would begin dismantling the blocks-long occupied area.
Kilmeade pointed out that in entertaining cutting police funding, New York City's Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio was essentially welcoming a similar atmosphere.

"This will result in a massive loss of property values and I would think if these people are not thrown out of office, people in Seattle will sell their property at a discount because who would want to buy it?" Napolitano wondered. "And, get the heck out of town and go to a place where the government does what it’s supposed to do in return for the tax dollars that it takes from you, which is supply and perform basic services."
“I’ve never seen anything like this, Brian,” he concluded.   
“Neither have I,” Kilmeade replied.