Hundreds of migrants, most from Africa and Venezuela, swarmed into Powell Barnett Park in Seattle on Monday and hastily erected a tent encampment before issuing a list of demands including free housing, food, and other needs.
The park, situated in Seattle’s Central District neighborhood, was invaded in a planned takeover by more than 200 migrants who brought in wood pallets and erected tents on top of them.
One of the migrants, Republic of Congo Central African native Don Tstay, told the media they plan to stay until their demands are met.
“So far they haven’t kicked us out, and we plan to stay until we get housing,” Tstay said according to KOMO-TV.” He added that “the government” needs to give them housing, work permits, and other freebies.
Discovery Institute Senior Fellow Jonathan Choe noted that it seems the entire incident was choreographed because a group of “far-left activists” were already on hand to begin helping the migrants fulfill their demands.
ABSOLUTE MADNESS: Monday evening, more than a hundred migrants invaded Seattle's Central District and took over Powell Barnett Park, a popular play area for kids and dogs. There are now more than 30 tents set up on a grassy area and wooden pallets are scattered everywhere.… pic.twitter.com/2ud0Uk9BPp
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) April 30, 2024
Tsay admitted that they are being guided by activist groups, but refused to tell KOMO the name of the groups.
He noted that he and his fellow migrants were kicked out of their free housing at a motel in Kent when city funding ran out and the motel owners turned out all non-paying residents. And since then, these activist groups have been planning the next moves for the evicted migrants.
KOMO confronted the managers of Quality Inn in Kent but were told that no migrants had been evicted.
Venezuela national Adriana Medina told Fox News that the camping is “very, very difficult for everyone. … Even now, we don’t know how much time we’re going to have to camp. … We don’t have these answers. We can’t tell anyone what we’re doing because we don’t know ourselves.”
Another migrant insisted that he and his fellow illegals are “the future of America.”
“They have children who were born here, they have kids who are in school here. They are the future of America,” said Republic of Congo native Samuel. “They’re asking for support to be able to stay here.”
The station was also told by a migrant in the encampment that he wants the government to give him money while another said the government needs to give him a place to live.
City officials of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office insisted they were taking the demands seriously and are working with the migrants to acquiesce to their needs.
“It is not healthy nor safe to camp in a park, and we will continue to create connections to appropriate resources as available,” a statement read according to KOMO.
The left-wing activists are also attempting to elicit donations of tents, blankets, and tarps from the public.
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