In an address posted to the Seattle Police Department (SPD) YouTube channel on Thursday, Police Chief Carmen Best spoke directly to SPD officers and attempted to comfort them for all their hard work amid a difficult situation following the abandoning of SPD's East Precinct a few days ago.
"We are all going through one of the toughest times ever in the history of the Seattle Police Department," Best said. "I know how incredibly difficult these past two weeks have been for you and for your families. To say 'thank you' will never probably be enough, but thank you."
SPD officers and police officers around the country have faced a mountain of backlash for the actions of a few bad apples in uniform.
The six blocks around SPD's East Precinct was taken over by far-left activists, including the precinct, which was reportedly abandoned on Tuesday. Best was very clear in deflecting blame for the abandonment of the precinct, although she didn't assign blame to any one person or group in particular.
"The decision to board up the [East] precinct, our precinct, our home, the first precinct I worked in, was something I had been holding off," Best also said. "You should know, leaving the precinct was not my decision."
Best went on to applaud the job of SPD officers who took orders to stay - while being "pelted with projectiles, to be screamed at, threatened and in some cases hurt" - until the call was made to board up and abandon the area.
The area, now referred to as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), has seen the leftists inhabiting it implement some of the very things they typically rail against, including a border wall and armed security.
For Chief Best's full statement, watch below: