SEATTLE—Local journalist and Lynnwood Times contributor, Jonathan Choe, and his bodyguards, were physically assaulted while covering the Pro-Palestine encampment in the University of Washington’s Quad on Tuesday, May 7.
Journalists working for KOMO News, who were covering the event Tuesday, also reported witnessing physical fights break out and their news camera lenses being vandalized with spray paint.
Choe was working as a reporter covering the Charlie Kirk speaking event at the University of Washington on Tuesday, May 7, for Turning Point USA when he decided to take advantage of being on campus to film video of the encampment for his social media channel on X, @choeshow.
Founded by staunch Republican and pro-Trump radio talk show host/internet personality Charlie Kirk in 2012, Turning Point USA is a nonprofit organization that advocates for conservative politics on high school, colleges, and universities nationwide.
UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON: Here is a full timeline of the events that took place yesterday at @UW outside the final “Live Free” tour event with @charliekirk11.@choeshow | @TPUSA pic.twitter.com/1DkiQizsNK
— FRONTLINES (@FrontlinesTPUSA) May 8, 2024
Choe told the Lynnwood Times he was taking video of a tent that read “All Fascists Must Die” when about 20 people swarmed him and his crew, some bearing black umbrellas with his home address written on them, others wearing riot gear with shields made from plastic garbage cans spray painted with the universal symbol for anarchy.
When the crowd grew physical, assaulting Choe and his crew with umbrellas and signs, one of his bodyguards pushed a protester away to gain distance and that’s when things became violent, he said.
“That’s when the melee ensued,” said Choe. “They jumped on us from behind me and one guy literally tried to grab me, and I had to pull a few swings to get him off me, then I just started running. I was fully prepared to defend myself, but I didn’t want to do that.”
Choe said he witnessed not a single police officer or campus security guard on site, which he emphasized was the “real issue.”
“The UW leadership and administration know the violence is happening, they know Jewish students aren’t being allowed to walk through this area, they know ANTIFA has infiltrated this along with professional far-left activists. The vast majority here aren’t even students and yet they’re still allowing this to happen is an epic failure of leadership, said Choe. “Governor Inslee needs to take back this University and call in the National Guard.”
More scenes of violence at the University of Washington Tuesday evening. Students leaving the Charlie Kirk event in Seattle were greeted by a mob of Antifa lunatics who flooded the Quad. They carried weapons and started numerous fights. How much longer will @UW President @amcauce… pic.twitter.com/cP8c5CtewN
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) May 8, 2024
When asked why he believes ANTIFA has “infiltrated” the encampment Choe said he witnessed ANTIFA stickers all over the quad. ANTIFA is a radical far-left, anti-fascist, anti-racist group. Former President Trump labelled ANTIFA as a terrorist group in 2020 for their often unorthodox ways of protesting.
Choe informed the Lynnwood Times that he recognized many people at the encampment from when he was covering CHAZ in Capitol Hill, an anarchist commune that erected in the wake of the George Floyd murder in 2020 by former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin.
“This is no longer about Palestine. This is no longer about the Israel/Hamas war. This is about some opportunist who have decided to infiltrate and hijack this movement and what they ultimately want to do is disrupt America,” said Choe. “That’s what these anarchists and far leftist activists, and ANTIFA do. They want to destabilize America; they blame all of America’s problems on white supremacy and capitalism and they seized this opportunity the same way they did the BLM riots. They’re not standing for Black lives; they’re standing for their own agenda and that’s to cause chaos.”
Seattle Police Officers eventually showed up after Choe and his team were assaulted but Choe said it was “too late.”
“I’m glad they did how up but they should have been there to prevent this from happening,” said Choe.
When he offered to walk the police officers into the encampment to point out who attacked him, they refused to step foot in the quad, he said, which he thought was “really bizarre.”
Our TPUSA Frontlines team is doing fine after being chased and assaulted by Antifa lunatics at the University of Washington on Tuesday. Why school leaders haven't cleared this encampment is beyond me. It's been infiltrated and compromised by professional far-left activists. They… pic.twitter.com/vfzHf6D82g
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) May 9, 2024
Choe said the extent of the injuries he and his crew withstood involved several bruises and gashes that resulted in severe bleeding. He told the Lynnwood Times there was so much blood on his jacket he needed to change to continue his reporting assignment. His cameraman even required medical attention.
“We’re just trying to do our job and report what’s going on,” said Choe.
Choe informed the Lynnwood Times that several people were blockading certain individuals from entering the quad and members of the media were required to “check in” to a tent to gain access to the encampment.
Additionally, he said protesters blocked off several entrances to the university campus in protest of the Charlie Kirk event.
“Keep in mind this is a public university. They’ve [University of Washington administration] allowed these people to take over everything and now they’re going to determine who can go in and who can’t? It’s ridiculous,” said Choe.
On Tuesday, Seattle City Council candidate Tariq Yusuf (@tariqajyusuf)draped himself in a Hamas keffiyeh, masked up with his Antifa comrades, and assaulted our TPUSA Frontlines crew at the University of Washington. He also got in our face and made menacing gestures several times.… https://t.co/ZduefaqDwq pic.twitter.com/mLDPcH0syI
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) May 9, 2024
The University of Washington issued the Lynnwood Times the following statement:
“Our priority Tuesday was to ensure the safety of all students, faculty, staff and visitors to our campus during what we anticipated could be a tense day. We took proactive steps to maintain distance between opposing groups. Unfortunately, a relatively small number of individuals and groups who went looking for confrontations found them and we have received some reports of altercations.
“Given the circumstances, through good planning and the fact that the vast majority of people participating in various activities sought to exercise their free speech rights without violence or aggression, we reached a largely peaceful conclusion to the night.”
“We continue to monitor the encampment situation and will respond as appropriate to maintain a safe and secure environment for our campus community.”
Jonathan Choe has made a name for himself in Seattle’s independent “guerrilla” journalism scene for his aggressive reporting of Seattle’s drug and homeless crises. He informed the Lynnwood Times that Tuesday’s incident has not influenced how he plans to do his job in the future other than “bring more bodyguards.”
Editor’s Note: Updated May 9, 2024, 1:13 p.m. to include a statement issued by the University of Washington.
One Response
Antifa have been, and remain, the filthy hypocrites and cowards of the left. Their “anti-fascist” name is meaningless; they use tactics as bad and worse than those that they claim to despise to keep people with opposing views from speaking, to keep them from seeing into encampments (where the Keffiyeh Kooks Klan seem likely to chant for death to Israel/USA as “ceasefire” for their terrorist brethren), and to use mob tactics on single and/or unarmed people consistently. I truly hope that they are both exposed and prosecuted for the harassment and damages they cause…at the very least. In a perfect world, they’d be packed up with the more vicious “protesters” and shipped to Gaza.