The King County, WA prosecutor has filed a first-degree murder charge against a teen who is not in custody and whose whereabouts are unknown, in the June 20 slaying in Seattle’s so-called “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone, and there are details in this case that ought to raise a fury with the gun ban lobby, but so far there hasn’t been a peep.
The suspect is identified as Marcel Levon Long, 18—born on Sept. 30, 2001, according to court documents obtained by Liberty Park Press—and he apparently has fled the state. He is wanted for the murder of Lorenzo Anderson, 19, the first of two black teens killed in the CHOP Zone, where, according to a document, “On order of Seattle government officials, this became a police free zone.”
The CHOP Zone is described in court documents as an area that “included food, supplies, medics, and individuals who put up tents and maintained a presence 24 hours a day. There was also a security force of heavily armed individuals who were not affiliated with law enforcement.”
If he is the triggerman, Long would not be old enough to be legally carrying a concealed .40-caliber handgun, which he allegedly drew from a pocket and chased Anderson before shooting him fatally. Long and Anderson apparently had a dispute in 2019 that included a fight.
Nobody under age 21 can get a concealed pistol license in Washington state, and since March 16, neither Seattle Police nor the King County Sheriff’s office has accepted CPL applications from qualified citizens, using health concerns related to the COVID-19 outbreak as their excuse. Several complaints about this have flowed to the Second Amendment Foundation office in Bellevue from citizens who have bene unable to submit a CPL application for more than four months.
There is no provision in state law that allows the application process to be suspended because of a health emergency.
The “heavily-armed individuals” providing alleged “security” in the CHOP zone might present another problem to the tongue-tied gun control movement. There was a controversial video of a man handing out semiautomatic rifles from a car to at least one unidentified young man. There was no background check and obviously no waiting period as required by provisions in gun control Initiative 1639, supported overwhelmingly by Seattle-area voters.
In Washington state, the constitutional right-to-bear-arms provision does not protect “authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.” This does not mean it is illegal, it’s just not protected by the state constitution, which does protect the right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself or the state.
As noted earlier, Seattle is home to the billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobbying group, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility. The group has been mute about CHOP zone armed security, although the Alliance did support protesters in Portland, Oregon several days ago, which brought a blistering reaction from the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
According to KOMO News, the local ABC affiliate, “investigators believe (Long) immediately fled Washington state following the deadly shooting.” According to court documents, bail for Long has been set at $2 million, but they’ve got to find him, first.
It was Anderson’s murder, and the slaying of a 16-year-old several days later that prompted Seattle police to clear out the CHOP zone after an occupation by protesters that lasted more than two weeks.
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