During debate, Trump claims Seattle protesters dismantled CHOP on his account

Former President Donald Trump referenced Seattle’s Capitol Hill Organized Protest during the presidential debate Thursday night, falsely claiming the protest zone dismantled after he threatened to send in the National Guard.

During the debate, Trump defended his response to protests that broke out the summer after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, saying “They took over big chunks of Seattle. I was all set to bring in the National Guard. They heard that, they saw them coming, they left immediately.” In fact, the zone was swept after several weeks in 2020 by Seattle police and other agencies.

Trump also said protesters “ripped down” Portland and Minneapolis during the summer of unrest.

“We’re not going to let this happen in Seattle. If we have to go in, we’re going to go in,” Trump told Fox News in 2020. “Let the governor do it. He’s got great National Guard troops … But one way or the other, it’s going to get done. These people are not going to occupy a major portion of a great city.”

Shortly after the protest zone was occupied, Trump tweeted: “Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!” The day after, Trump apparently deleted the tweet and published a new tweet without the “stooped” typo.

He also threatened “serious force” against any similar zone in Washington, D.C. Twitter hid his message behind a warning label saying Trump violated the company’s policies forbidding abusive behavior.

“It is unconstitutional and illegal to send the military into Seattle,” then-Mayor Jenny Durkan said at the time. “There is no imminent threat of an invasion of Seattle.”

After two people were killed near CHOP, heavily equipped officers and tactical vehicles cleared the area under an executive order by Durkan, and threatened to arrest anyone who stayed behind. Dozens of protesters were arrested.