Rantz: After New Orleans terrorist attack, Seattle should harden soft targets like Space Needle

The New Orleans terrorist attack on New Year’s day, where a vehicle plowed through crowds on Bourbon Street, leaving at least 15 people dead and dozens injured, is a chilling reminder of how vulnerable our cities are to calculated acts of terror. Seattle is especially vulnerable.

Seattle’s progressive policies, focused more on virtue signaling than pragmatic solutions, leave us ill-prepared for terrorist threats. Seattle, much like New Orleans, prides itself on being an open, inclusive city. That’s wonderful in theory. But in practice, it often translates into a complete disregard for basic security measures and a dangerous naivety about the threats we face. We’ve seen how these shortcomings play out, from the CHAZ/CHOP debacle to the routine understaffing of our police force, courtesy of defunding efforts championed by local progressives.

National news: Suspect identified in New Orleans attack that left at least 15 dead

Reports suggest the alleged terrorist, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, used a vehicle as a weapon—a tactic that requires little sophistication but achieves maximum devastation, so long as it’s allowed to happen. Security bollards were not in use before the attack because they were being upgraded for the upcoming Super Bowl, according to city officials. The FBI has also since revealed potential accomplices and uncovered explosives planted throughout the city, something that seemed relatively easy to do. This should prompt every city in America to reevaluate its preparedness. But will Seattle heed this warning?

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After New Orleans terrorist attack, Seattle should reevaluate our many soft targets

As authorities scramble to piece together the motives and broader networks involved in this horrific act, we should come to terms with an undeniable truth: America’s largest cities are soft targets ripe for exploitation. And cities like Seattle are no exception.

Our city’s soft targets are everywhere: public markets like Pike Place, heavily trafficked pedestrian areas like Westlake, and large public gatherings at events like Seafair or the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. On New Year’s Eve, the Space Needle is one giant soft target.

Despite these potential vulnerabilities, little is done to truly bolster security beyond adding more police officers. The reality is we only have so many officers because Democrats previously gutted the department—leading to record slow response times and leaving officers stretched so thin that proactive counterterrorism measures feel like a luxury.

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has hemorrhaged officers over the past few years due to a toxic combination of anti-police rhetoric, overregulation, and inadequate support from city leaders. Fewer officers mean fewer eyes and ears on the ground to spot potential threats. If a coordinated attack like the one in New Orleans were to happen here, how confident are we in an understaffed SPD’s ability to stop or contain it?

It was easy for anyone to drive or walk into or around last night’s Space Needle fireworks show at the Seattle Center. Similarly, anyone who wished to do harm could have easily done so at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Westlake. SPD takes our safety seriously but are they being put in a position to be reactive or proactive?

Selective concern over terrorism

The problem isn’t just reactive; it’s also preventative.

Democrat leadership has shown little interest in intelligence-sharing initiatives or partnerships with federal agencies like the FBI to monitor and disrupt extremist activity — unless it’s tied to white supremacists or right-wingers. Current efforts led by Democrats to target extremist groups is almost entirely focused on a threat that hardly exists (white supremacist terrorists) because it benefits them politically. They try to tie the extremism to President-elect Donald Trump. Meanwhile, they purposefully ignore left-wing extremist groups like Antifa, which Democrats continue to pretend does not exist.

At the same time, the city’s sanctuary policies, while politically fashionable, create loopholes that bad actors exploit. The city, county, and state sanctuary policies are nothing more than a billboard to terrorists that they’ll be protected here. By refusing to cooperate with federal immigration authorities, Seattle risks becoming a haven for individuals who might wish to do us harm.

Critics will call this fearmongering or say we’re hardly going to be targeted. But reality has a way of vindicating those who take threats seriously. And while it’s certainly true that terrorist attacks such as what happened in New Orleans are rare, aren’t major cities chosen because they’re least expected to be a target? Who thought New Orleans would have been chosen for a terrorist attack over New York or Washington D.C.?

Seattle should step up protections against terrorist attacks

Seattle’s obsession with being a “progressive utopia” often blinds it to common-sense security measures.

Vehicle-ramming attacks are not new; they’ve been a go-to tactic for terrorists worldwide for years. Yet, how often do we see protective barriers installed in high-risk pedestrian areas? How many large-scale events have comprehensive security plans that include measures to prevent vehicular access? Not enough. At the Christmas tree lighting ceremony, there were some bollards placed on the sidewalk but the street was blocked by wooden signage and slacker employees.

The New Orleans attack should be a wake-up call. This means fully funding the police and restoring the SPD to a level where it can not only respond to emergencies but also focus on counterterrorism efforts. It means investing in infrastructure—from bollards to surveillance systems—to harden soft targets.

Progressives in Seattle may balk at these suggestions, crying “militarization” or “violation of civil liberties.” After all, Seattle activists just killed technology to help mitigate gun violence in high-crime areas but of contrived fears that it would bring more police to “neighborhoods of color,” as if it was the police who were dangerous. The people of Seattle deserve better.

The New Orleans attack is a tragic reminder of what happens when we fail to take threats seriously. Seattle’s leaders have a choice: learn from this incident and act decisively or bike down a path of willful ignorance.

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