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John McDermott, owner of Car Tender, which is located just outside Seattle’s CHAZ
KIRO7<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
By Lee Brown
\nNew York Post<\/p>\n
An auto shop owner on the edge of Seattle\u2019s\u00a0cop-free CHAZ\u00a0<\/a>\u00a0says police refused to help as an angry mob stormed his property \u2014 forcing his son to pull a gun to protect them, according to video and reports.<\/p>\n John McDermott\u00a0told KIRO 7 News<\/a>\u00a0that he initially tried to detain a protester Sunday night who stole cash and set a fire in his Car Tender business on the edge of the so-called \u201cCapital Hill Autonomous Zone.\u201d<\/p>\n His son, Mason McDermott, helped tackle the suspect, who \u201ctried to cut me with a box cutter,\u201d he told the station, showing large slits in his jeans close to his crotch.<\/p>\n Other protesters soon arrived \u2014 and video on social media shows the mob eventually knocking over a section of fencing, running in to confront the owners and angrily demand the return of the original suspect.<\/p>\n McDermott told the station he repeatedly dialed 911 for both police and fire crews. \u201cAll told 19 times,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He was \u201cheartbroken\u201d when they \u201cfinally said that they weren\u2019t going to send somebody,\u201d he said. \u201cI mean, they are the cavalry,\u201d he told the station.<\/p>\n He said he eventually had to let the initial suspect go free to avoid \u201cmayhem beyond mayhem\u201d \u2014 and his son pulled a firearm to protect them from the mob, some of whom were also armed, they said.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just trying to protect his business,\u201d a local reporter\u00a0said in a livestreamed video<\/a>\u00a0as he noted the gun during the attack. No shots appeared to have been fired.<\/p>\n Mason said the near-disaster was proof that the \u201cmayor and governor need to get their act together\u201d over the area.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody showed up when literally our lives are on the line,\u201d Mason said, stressing they still felt at risk from further attacks.<\/p>\n Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said Monday that officers responded \u2014 but \u201cobserved the location from a distance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey did not see any signs of smoke or fire or anything else and they did not see a disturbance,\u201d so they didn\u2019t go in, Best said,\u00a0according to the Seattle Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins said he was investigating why his crews did not respond.<\/p>\n He said the force needs police clearance to enter the CHAZ \u2014\u00a0also known as \u201cCHOP,\u201d<\/a>\u00a0or Capitol Hill Organized Protest \u2014 but insisted the auto shop was in fact just outside the restricted area.<\/p>\n Protesters first claimed the space nearly a week ago after storming a now-abandoned police precinct within it during unrest over the\u00a0police killing of George Floyd<\/a>. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan pulled cops out of the building and the area in an attempt to de-escalate the mobs of protesters and offer a space for discourse.<\/p>\n President Trump has for days\u00a0pressured Seattle authorities<\/a>\u00a0to break up the area, calling the demonstrators \u201cdomestic terrorists\u201d and \u201canarchists.\u201d<\/p>\n