The local NPR station, KUOW, reports on a clash between virtue and profit:

The Seattle-based boutique ice cream company, Molly Moon’s, has filed a federal lawsuit against the city of Seattle over alleged revenue losses during and after the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone, also known as CHOP, in 2020.

The local ice cream chain claims the city violated its constitutional rights by creating a “government-authorized invasion” and acting with “deliberate indifference towards the safety and property” of its store. The suit is seeking an unidentified amount in damages.

During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protest, the Seattle Police Department left the East Precinct headquarters. Protestors then occupied a 10-block area surrounding a Molly Moon’s location.

The suit alleges that SPD’s decision to “abandon and close off” the area encouraged a “hostile occupation of the neighborhood.” It added that it left the neighborhood “unchecked by police, unserved by fire and emergency health services, and inaccessible to the public.”

I remember. It didn’t motivate me to zip over there on the bus to stroll around, I have to admit. Capitol Hill (the larger neighborhood surrounding the CHOP) is always a bit raffish, seedy, noisy, grubby on and around Broadway, but part of the joke here is that the rest of it contains some of the oldest biggest grandest mansions in the city, dating from the early 20th century when magnates were flaunting their magnatehood. I guess that’s “multicultural” yeah?

Due to fears of more violence and safety concerns, the store closed for multiple days. In the past, CEO Molly Moon Neitzel stated that she supports police reform.

In a statement, Molly Moon said the suit is not meant to undermine protestor’s messages.

Cool cool. Can you say “having it both ways”?

H/t Sastra