Seattle’s LGBTQ community members say they hope that this Friday’s World Cup “Pride Match” between Egypt and Iran, two countries where homosexuality is criminalized, can be an opportunity to change minds.
Seattle, WA
Seattle crime may have just killed a massive residential project
Kevin Corbett, the CEO of Plus Investment (USA), waited over eight years for a master-use permit to build a 46-story residential tower near Pike Place Market. But he’s indefinitely paused the construction over the Seattle crime crisis.
“Unfortunately, I don’t see us going vertical anytime soon with the continued public safety concerns in the neighborhood,” Corbett told the Puget Sound Business Journal. “Open-air drug markets are still visible day and night on Second and Third Avenue. I know the city needs more resources, but I don’t see much new downtown commercial development happening until there is a stronger crackdown on these illegal activities.”
The Pike Towers project was slated to be two glass towers, one 46 stories and the other 16 stories. A rendering of the project, per the Real Deal, suggests ground-level retail.
More from Jason Rantz: Prominent Seattle business leaders fed up with crime plaguing city as major Starbucks shuts down for safety
Why did the developer pause a massive construction in downtown Seattle?
It’s not surprising that a developer would pause a project in the downtown core. While tourism is recovering thanks to cruise season, the area can still feel like a ghost town with many workers still remote. Perhaps “ghost town” is less appropriate than zombie wasteland where fentanyl addicts waste away near the most used metro and light rail stops downtown. It’s fueling the area’s crime crisis.
Homeless addicts openly buy and use their drug of choice, usually fentanyl but sometimes meth, across the downtown core. Some stand tall, swaying back and forth, stuck in their high. Others have bodies contorted into shapes and positions you didn’t think possible. Others are so blissfully high, they don’t even notice the oozing, festering wounds on their arms or legs.
There’s trash everywhere. The smell of urine near on 3rd between Pike and Pine is so pungent you can taste it in the back of your throat. It’s what tourists first experience if they walk to Pike Place Market or take the light rail from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Locals don’t want to even walk near the area. Why would they want to live there?
Is there a plan to address Seattle crime?
The residential project already had to pivot because of the deteriorating conditions in downtown. Originally slated as condominiums, the project switched to rentals. But now the project is paused, leaving needed housing units off the market because of city mismanagement from the mayor’s office.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has prioritized building more housing in the downtown core. Rather than address concerns from developers like Corbett, however, Harrell seems more interested in transforming offices — vacant because of the crime crisis — into housing. They’re “practically begging” developers to take on these office-to-housing conversion projects by offering incentives that they should be offering all developers. It’s a foolish plan that will only further stall downtown’s resurgence.
About a third of offices remain either empty or available for sublease in the downtown core. By replacing the office space with housing, you’re ensuring the downtown core won’t be able to attract businesses again. This effectively displaces businesses to other Seattle neighborhoods where they won’t have the same access to the metro or light rail for commutes. Worse, it could encourage businesses to stay remote.
More from Jason Rantz: Seattle restaurant owner ‘lost all faith’ in city after 23rd break-in
Where’s the media coverage?
Normally, news of such a high-profile project being put on pause would generate media coverage. For this one, not so much. It’s been relegated to business and real estate outlets.
Local media, like The Seattle Times, have gone out of their way to not blame the crime crisis for the problems in downtown Seattle.
Reports in The Seattle Times in June painted grim pictures of the commercial and residential real estate market in downtown Seattle. One article pointed to astonishingly low price tags for previously pricey commercial buildings, including the near-empty Pacific Place Mall and the Downtown Hilton. A second article noted the price of homes downtown is trending lower than the costs citywide.
Other reports noted that downtown housing prices took a nosedive and are now cheaper than the citywide average.
But these reports blamed COVID-19, not even mentioning the Seattle crime crisis.
More from Jason Rantz: King County Public Defender director aims to stop many prosecutions, pay criminals instead
Sounding the alarms over Seattle crime
It’s not just projects that are quietly put on pause that should worry locals. High profile business leaders have been sounding the alarms about downtown as well.
Jeffery Judson-Baker, Investment Manager at Lake Union Partners, recently penned an open letter about the conditions downtown. He blamed the crisis on “misplaced compassion” that left “addicts to rot in doorways and the mentally ill to suffer on the streets.”
“I’ve had these conversations for a long time, kind of behind closed doors,” Judson-Baker explained on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “Business leaders are often doing things behind the scenes, lobbying with local groups. Those are all things we certainly do, and at a certain point, me and my peers have just gotten fed up.”
‘This person’s fully naked, running around the street, screaming at six in the morning’
Judson-Baker said a recent walk from his home in Pioneer Square to a business meeting prompted his letter.
“I get up early in the morning and I wake up to somebody having a manic episode right outside my door, screaming at nothing,” he explained.
An hour later, it happened again.
“This person’s fully naked, running around the street, screaming at six in the morning,” he said.
He said his walk to a light rail station was a tour of human misery.
“Every person I see is either folded in half, looking for drugs, having a mental breakdown or asking for money to go, who knows,” he recalled. “And I finally get to the Third and Cherry light rail station, and there’s human waste in front of it, needles, people sleeping directly in front of the escalator, as you’re watching all of these commuters that are coming to the CBD core, which is dying actively. You see office occupancies way down.”
He called the area a “war zone.” And he’s speaking up because he loves his city and doesn’t want to see it continue to deteriorate. Now, he’s waiting for more local leaders and the mayor’s office to act.
Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, formerly known as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
SEATTLE — Seattle police are investigating a shooting that left a 17-year-old boy injured early Thursday morning in the High Point neighborhood.
At about 12:48 a.m., dispatchers received multiple reports of rapid gunfire near Sylvan Way Southwest and Southwest Morgan Street.
Officers arrived and found a 17-year-old boy suffering from a gunshot wound to the hip area. Medics transported the teen to Harborview Medical Center in serious but stable condition.
Before officers located the victim, they found a car that had crashed and become disabled near Sylvan Way Southwest and Delridge Way Southwest. Police said multiple suspects were seen running from the vehicle through a nearby Home Depot parking lot.
Officers cordoned off the area and searched for the suspects with assistance from the K-9 Unit, but were unable to locate them. Police recovered the vehicle and impounded it for processing.
During the incident, gunfire struck at least three vehicles and two buildings. No other injuries were reported.
Officers processed multiple nearby scenes and recovered evidence before clearing the area. Detectives with the Gun Violence Reduction Unit will lead the investigation.
Seattle, WA
Council eyes street barricades in fight against violence, sex trafficking in north Seattle
SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council is expected to vote next week on a plan that would give the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) the authority to close off street access for public safety reasons.
The proposal comes after months of outcry from residents in north Seattle who say sex traffickers and sex buyers are looping through the streets surrounding Aurora Avenue North.
The street-closure proposal passed the council’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday and is expected to be voted on by the full council next week.
“I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say the crime has gotten much worse, much more violent, and much more predator,” said District 5 councilmember Debora Juarez. “I think that we do have the authority to shut down a street for bullets flying and endangering the lives of those who live there.”
Frustrated neighbors have installed their own homemade barricades after a spate of gun violence between sex traffickers in May.
RELATED | SDOT removes street barricades near Aurora Ave; neighbors doubtful of temporary measures
Councilmember Bob Kettle says street closures will help tamp down sex buying in certain areas, but he emphasizes it must be accompanied by an increase in outreach and enforcement.
“We have to have a sustained effort,” Kettle told KOMO News. “My concern is for every action, there’s a reaction. We need to take this flex and then really attack it … because if we do just a bit and our attention wanders, we could have this conversation three months from now and we’re talking about the same thing.”
A 15-year-old boy was shot near 95th Street and Aurora Avenue North around 10:45 p.m. last night. The teen initially claimed he had been shot while walking down the street, but investigators now say he was shot by a passenger in his car.
RELATED | Seattle police say ‘drive-by’ on Aurora Ave. was actually passenger shooting teen driver
Kettle credited the city’s Real Time Crime Center cameras with helping investigators quickly piece together the events of the shooting.
“Just as important to finding out what happened, the cameras help police determine what did not happen,” Kettle said.
According to Seattle police data, reports of shootings and shots fired in the north precinct area are at their lowest levels since 2021.
Through the end of May, there were 48 total reports of shootings or shots fired, with one fatal shooting and seven nonfatal injury shootings.
That’s down from 63 total reports of shootings and shots fired – one fatal and seven injuries – in 2025; and 64 shootings or shots fired reports – one fatal and 17 injuries – in 2024.
At Tuesday’s committee meeting, councilmembers pointed out residents are calling for a new police precinct to be built on Aurora Avenue.
Ten years ago, a new North Precinct building was slated to be built at 130th Avenue and Aurora Avenue North to replace the existing precinct building, which was decades old and did not have enough space for the department’s needs.
Led by former councilmember Kshama Sawant, the “Block the Bunker” movement successfully got the North Precinct replacement project killed in city council.
Kettle said the city’s current financial issues make it essentially impossible to bring back a project similar to the one the previous council defeated.
“We have to connect the dots back,” Kettle said. “If we want to know why we are where we are today, we have to look at decisions made over the last two councils.”
Seattle, WA
Iran and Egypt to play in Seattle ‘Pride Match’ despite earlier complaints | The Jerusalem Post
Seattle revels in its reputation as a welcoming place and Pride flags are visible all over the city, all year round. Its June Pride weekend is one of the biggest in the United States.
So, ahead of December’s World Cup draw, it was only natural that local organizers designated the June 26 match to be held in the city as a “Pride Match.”
Then the draw happened — and the two teams scheduled to play the game were Egypt and Iran.
Egypt’s Football Association urged global soccer governing body FIFA to prevent any Pride-related activities, arguing such events clashed with the Muslim-majority country’s cultural and religious values. The governing body in Iran, where same-sex relations can carry the death penalty, filed an objection with FIFA.
Some in Seattle have doubts over the teams in the ‘Pride Match’
But in Seattle, there is no question that the Pride Match will go ahead as planned.
“The World Cup is going to come and go in three weeks,” Hedda McLendon, from Seattle’s local World Cup organizing committee, told Reuters. “The Pride celebration … has happened on this weekend for 50-plus years.
“It is going to happen this weekend, it is going to happen long after the World Cup.”
Some in the city’s LGBTQ community had mixed feelings given the participants, said Jon Cairns, 49, manager of local LGBTQ+ club Kremwerk.
Cairns, however, said his own view was that it provided a platform to promote acceptance that only the world’s biggest sporting event could offer.
“My reaction is let’s have them,” he told Reuters. “International sports is one of the biggest brokers historically of social change and individual rights and freedoms worldwide, including in the U.S.”
He cited black U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens’ four gold medals at the 1936 Olympic Games in Nazi Germany and Tommie Smith and John Carlos’ raised-fist protest in 1968 as moments where “only international sports could reach that big of an audience.”
“They’re not going to turn off the World Cup on state television in Iran or Egypt to block out a Pride flag in the audience,” Cairns said.
The Pride Match is “a host city initiative” and separate of FIFA, a spokesperson for soccer’s governing body told Reuters.
Seattle’s LGBTQ community sees an opportunity
Egypt and Iran’s involvement in the Pride Match is not the first time the World Cup has grappled with stark differences in attitudes between hosts and visitors.
In 2022 World Cup host Qatar, the emir said visitors should “respect our culture” when asked about gay people attending the tournament.
FIFA threatened yellow cards for captains wearing the “OneLove” armband, citing its rules against political slogans. Teams including England and the Netherlands that had been planning to wear the armbands to protest Qatar’s laws against same-sex relationships abandoned the plan.
For Ryan Webster, a 40-year-old lifestyle manager who was at Kremwerk the weekend before Pride, Seattle’s “Pride Match” was an opportunity to show solidarity with people in countries where their sexuality was outlawed.
“I’m choosing to believe that this is our moment to allow the members of the LGBTQ community that come from those countries to have the opportunity to celebrate themselves in totality that they might not have otherwise,” he said outside the club, which will host a watch party for Friday’s game.
Inside, ‘Venus Fengz’ lip-synced to Cher’s “Believe” before introducing fellow drag performers to the stage, clapped and cheered by a raucous crowd.
Fengz, who only wanted to provide their stage name, said Pride coinciding with the World Cup would bring increased visibility, anticipating perhaps some new audience members.
“I think it’s always great for us to be able to share space and share places with people who don’t have the same experiences as us,” they told Reuters.
“Sometimes you just have to be the bigger person and show grace where you can and know that everyone is a human learning (from) different experiences, but also it can get hard — because you’re on the shorter end of the stick, always trying to have to explain yourself around people who don’t grow up with the same worldview.”
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