Seattle Business Owner Sues City Over CHOP, Previously Described It as ‘Peaceful Protestors’

A business owner who voiced support for the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, or CHOP, during its existence and barred armed officers from entering her stores after it ended is now suing the city and filed a tort claim against it for actively participating in CHOP and having the police abandon its local station. Molly Moon Neitzel operates a chain of Molly Moon's Ice Cream in Seattle. Her lawsuit filed against the city on June 7 in federal court seeking damages argues that its decision to abandon the East Precinct station during the 2020 riots and unwillingness to enforce the law during the occupation "subjected businesses, employees, and residents of that neighborhood to extensive property damage, public safety dangers, and an inability to use and access their properties."