There is a story being reported out of Tacoma Washington which could easily come to the Lakes Region in New Hampshire. It is a sad tale of ignorance. The story goes that on Christmas Eve, a group of homeless activists paid for 16 rooms in a Travelodge hotel in Fife, Washington.
Fife abuts Tacoma. It’s about 20 miles south of Seattle just off I-5. There were 48 people inside 18 rooms in the hotel as of Monday the 28th, with 60 protesters outside, chanting “we’re not leaving.” They hadn’t paid since and they refused to leave. That number had been reduced to 15 rooms by Tuesday, according to KING-TV.
Rebecca Parson is a local socialist and spokeswoman for the activist group Tacoma Housing Now. Socialists take the position that there should be no ownership of property. All property belongs to the collective. Here’s how it works… She told The Tacoma News Tribune:
“We wanted somewhere for people to stay warm and dry and get showers and stay as safe as possible… We paid for the first night and now we’re demanding that the city and county pay for the other nights we’ve been here…”
Doing the right thing the wrong way
The problem with this action isn’t that homeless people got rooms. It actually has nothing to do with homelessness. It has to do with theft. Parson and Tacoma Housing Now stole income from the Travelodge. Travelodge is not a socialist motel. So, they intentionally stole from the business owner. That’s what not paying for your motel bill is. Theft. They took what is not theirs. Egalitarian motives do not mitigate this fact.
Parson made assurances the hotel’s owner he will receive payment for the rooms. The issue is: The money just wouldn’t be coming from her group even though they rented the rooms. It also will not be coming from any of the homeless people staying there. Parsons expressed the socialist view of the situation saying,
“… we are bringing business to the hotel. We paid for the first night…”
Here’s the thing with this social justice action. Pierce County officials say they haven’t been in discussion with Tacoma Housing Now. So, how are they to pay for the stay? Well probably by defunding the police, of course, among other things.
Business owners are people too
What does the motel owner think about the situation? It seems he is not operating a socialist motel. He told The News Tribune and KING TV,
“I’m just devastated… Because of the protest, I have nothing else. I was barely getting through this pandemic, and now this. This Christmas, the Grinch came… My concern is their protest and that [that] shuts me down. All my real paying customers, the people that were supposed to be booking on all these channels, they’re not going to book. I have zero reservations today. And I had two yesterday. They all got canceled…”
Originally, Fife Police didn’t deal with the occupation aggressively. Apparently, the police Chief must be getting paid by socialists not the business owners. Fife Police Chief Pete Fisher told The News Tribune,
“We’re trying to see if we can work out a resolution without having to take law enforcement action… We’re talking about people with medical issues, cold weather that are homeless. So we are trying to work with our neighboring agencies to see what we can do in the form of relief, relief or temporary shelter.”
And why do we pay taxes?
The motel owner wasn’t happy with the response. He said, “They are keeping me hostage. No one is out to help me. It’s complete lawlessness.” I guess we should be happy the Pacific Northwest is keeping their homeless Antifa members there but…
Then in a media release, Fisher admitted it was:
“clear from this incident that [the department’s] procedures were inadequate for a group set on criminal behavior to hold a business and a City hostage.”
“On 12/30/20 at approximately 1100 hrs, members of the Fife Police Department responded to the Travelodge and, at the request of the business owner, gave lawful orders for all subjects staying at the Travelodge that had not paid for rooms, to leave the property. I am pleased to report that all subjects illegally occupying the Travelodge have voluntarily left the site.”
“Along with Public Health Officials on scene that provided assistance to subjects that identified as Covid-19 positive, the City of Fife also worked with regional resources to provide a bed, shelter, and alternative housing opportunities.
“Additionally, the criminal investigation is ongoing for the subjects who illegally occupied the property, which could include felony level charges.”
Social justice warriors always try to maintain the moral high ground
Jason Rantz at KTTH-AM pointed out, Tacoma Housing Now isn’t happy with the police showing up at the hotel. Parson took issue with the word “voluntary.”
Parson told KING TV,
“It’s a total joke and an Orwellian use of the word ‘voluntary,’ because the police were at the hotel threatening people with felonies, and they’re now going on the record in news articles saying they might charge us with felonies… So I don’t know what world we live in where threatening someone with felonies if they don’t leave, and then they leave, is that voluntary? Of course not. It was not voluntary…”
The point isn’t to debate the proper use of “voluntary.” The issue is people illegally commandeered a Travelodge. They did not pay for their rooms. Consequently, they were asked to vacate. Upon refusal and were told they were committing a crime which they knew or should have known without being told. They were told they had to leave. Call it voluntary or involuntary. The theft came to an end when the squatters left under police observation.
Lessons learned
Fife Police should have removed the occupants earlier. We can be thankful they did it at all. They are pretty close to the CHAZ in Seattle. Like most or all hotel owners, the Travelodge owner’s struggling right now because of the pandemic. The Northwest’s social justice warriors have no socialist motel.
Is Tacoma Housing Now directing business to the Travelodge, nope. The only thing happening is the motels regulars are being driven away. With that comes financial damage. Now Travelodge is also acquiring a bad reputation. Who wants to stay where this stuff is going on?
Here’s the thing. Marxists do not respect property rights. They believe they have an entitlement to use whatever they want. Whenever they want. Because they want to. That’s social justice. It is also why there are no socialist motel. No one has the right to deny access to anyone… ever… for any reason. Whether it is Antifa, Anarchists, BLM or any of the myriad other groups they hate western civilization. They plan to tear it down bit, by bit, by bit.
Is this a problem? Marxists are in favor of identity politics as their favored method of redistribution of wealth… your wealth. This is not an esoteric discussion on a university campus any longer. These are action items coming your way. Which side are you on? There are no neutrals.