SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: No moral difference between homeless encampment dealers, Seattle politicians

May 23, 2019, 6:59 AM

Northgate, homeless encampment...

Seattle's Navigation Teams cleans up a homeless encampment in Northgate in January 2019. (Carolyn Ossorio, KIRO Radio)

(Carolyn Ossorio, KIRO Radio)

There was a huge homeless encampment drug bust a few days ago. I don’t think many people were horribly shocked by what was in the camp — felons, guns, $20,000 worth of cash. It was an absolute den of iniquity.

Politicians like Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant want to protect camps like this, despite the fact that we know that teenage girls are being raped, are being used as hookers in these encampments, so that their pimps can buy heroin. This is the kind of third-world squalor happening all around the Puget Sound area.

So finally, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg — who has provided a revolving door for felons, and has de facto legalized small amounts of drugs — says that because of the level of drug dealing in this homeless encampment, he finally is going to crack down a bit.

“The people who profit off of that misery, I have no sympathy for them, and they are going to go to prison,” he told KOMO 4 News.

Why can’t Seattle refuse to coddle drug vagrants like Denver, San Diego? 

That sound-bite made me crazy — “the people who profit off human misery.” What do you think our mayor, city council, county council, and the people at SHARE and LIHI — the people making six figures off the homeless-industrial complex — are doing? We don’t seem to care about that because it’s all folded neatly within our political system.

Think about the people making six figures off the homelessness industry. Think about the politicians who get power because of the homelessness crisis. They keep saying, “We need to raise taxes so we can get more of your money to deal with this problem.” What are those politicians doing? They are profiting off the human misery.

I hate to tell you this, but a lot of our elected officials and the people appointed to these six-figure jobs are morally and ethically not that different from the junkie dealers in these homeless encampments.

If only we could throw the politicians in prison. We spend $100,000 per homeless person per year in the Puget Sound area. Don’t you think there are a lot of them profiting off of that human misery? But if a politician does it, it’s just, “Wink, wink, we’ll all take care of each other.”

The drug dealers and the politicians are the same people.

Satterberg also told KOMO, “I think that most of these large encampments are places where there is daily drug use going on.”

Remember when those community stakeholders told us in a press release that only a small percentage of the people in the encampments were drug addicts? Why would they try to spin that lie? Well, it’s easier to raise our taxes if we believe it’s just for people who are down on their luck. But here, by his words, the prosecutor is clearly acknowledging that the community leaders are lying to us.

If Satterberg comes around, great, but the way we have been dealing with this problem up until now is insane. Finally, it sounds like we are talking tough. Let’s see if we start actually acting tough.

The people he is talking tough about are, morally, very similar to the politicians profiting off of this problem with power, money, connections, jobs for friends, and deals with developers.

Please follow our Community Guidelines

Pickup trucks are submerged along Highway 160 in South Fork, Colo., on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026. (Sout...

Associated Press

Flash floods trigger evacuations in Arizona and Colorado amid heavy rains in southwest

SEDONA, Ariz. (AP) — Flash flooding prompted mandatory evacuation orders in parts of the Southwest on Sunday as heavy rains in the normally arid region have already brought deadly flooding this fall. Officials in the tourist destination of Sedona, Arizona, ordered residents in areas near Oak Creek to leave immediately as flood waters were rising […]

1 hour ago

FILE - A Sahrawi refugee boy stands in the shadow in the Boujdour refugee camp, Oct. 11, 2021. (AP ...

Associated Press

UN’s peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara ends after 35 years following US-Russia standoff

CASABLANCA, Morocco (AP) — The U.N.’s long-running peacekeeping mission for the disputed Western Sahara ceased operations Sunday after 35 years, as a result of a U.S.-Russia standoff at U.N. headquarters over the territory’s future. The end of the mission raises concerns about stability in the region. Rich in minerals and fisheries, Western Sahara is a […]

1 hour ago

Southern California quarterback Jayden Maiava celebrates with fans on the field after the team's wi...

Associated Press

AP Top 25 live updates: Poll shakeup looms after USC stuns Ohio State

No. 1 Miami dug deep to hold off North Carolina and keep its undefeated record intact, but No. 2 Ohio State wasn’t as fortunate. The Buckeyes fell to USC in the biggest upset of the week, setting up another major shakeup in the AP Top 25. Seven ranked teams lost, potentially creating a domino effect […]

2 hours ago

FILE - Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., speaks at the Capitol, Jan. 21, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/R...

Associated Press

Sen. Chris Murphy had a stroke and is in the hospital, his office says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Chris Murphy is in the hospital after having a stroke, according to the Connecticut Democrat’s office. In a statement Sunday, Murphy’s chief of staff, Allison Herwitt, said the senator “started experiencing numbness in his arm while at his son’s hockey game” on Saturday. “He was taken to a local hospital, where […]

2 hours ago

Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to the media during the closing press conference during the EU-Ca...

Associated Press

Canadian Prime Minister Carney reports progress in trade talks with Trump days before US midterms

TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Sunday he had a constructive conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump about a potential trade deal and that negotiators would work in the coming weeks toward an agreement, signaling fresh momentum in a bitter trade dispute just days before the U.S. midterm elections. Carney said the […]

3 hours ago

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, hands out candy at a Halloween event outside the Big Lake Lions Club, ...

Associated Press

Sullivan claims Peltola is ‘still lying’ about campaign’s involvement in Alaska ballot controversy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan said Sunday that he doubted claims by his Democratic opponent that she had no idea her top political aides were involved in recruiting a retired schoolteacher also named Dan Sullivan onto the ballot to confuse voters in a race that could determine which party controls the Senate. Republicans […]

4 hours ago

Dori: No moral difference between homeless encampment dealers, Seattle politicians