Rantz: Seattle drug dealers claim ‘right’ to sidewalks—threaten locals who complain

In Seattle, drug dealers don’t just poison addicts in the open. They now scream at police and residents that they’re entitled to occupy street corners like they own them. That’s not exaggeration—it’s exactly what one Belltown resident told me after confronting dealers outside the business she also manages.

“When the police showed up and confronted the dealer, he [one of the drug dealers] started to yell and scream that he was ‘entitled’ to be there,” the resident explained to The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM. She requested anonymity. “He told me we were a bunch of entitled [expletives] and actually threatened me, saying I was going to be in trouble and that he was coming back for me.”

This is how brazen the drug market has become. Fentanyl pushers act like they’re running a legal franchise, and City Hall is too feckless to stop them. This particular neighborhood is considered a SODA zone—Stay Out of Drug Area.

The resident told me the confrontation happened just last Friday. She said she wasn’t scared so much as exhausted. “I swear, just disappointed, really, that this is ongoing and it’s every day. I’m just tired.” Two hours after talking with The Jason Rantz Show on Seattle Red 770 AM, the woman reports someone overdosed outside her business. Seattle Fire was able to revive the addict.

The police response? They “moved them along.” Dealers and addicts simply strolled toward Blanchard Street—only to return hours later.

Meanwhile, residents couldn’t even access their own homes.

“They were not allowing people to come in the door, and the door is now damaged,” she explained. “It’s not closing properly. They are blocking the entrance to people’s apartments, residences.”

This is Seattle under Democrats’ rule

This is what passes for public safety in Bruce Harrell’s Seattle. Councilmember Bob Kettle, whose district includes Belltown, has been missing in action while his neighborhood spirals into a fentanyl free-for-all. The so-called SODA zone is a bad joke: the city has only secured five SODA orders in this stretch of Belltown, as of last month. There are more dealers operating there before lunch on any given day.

I’ve seen it myself. On five of six visits to Third and Blanchard over two weeks, I witnessed open-air drug sales. They’re not even hiding it. Police might boast about “routine arrests,” but residents know better: the same dealers are back the next day, laughing at the system that refuses to punish them. Because while some may be arrested, judges don’t seem eager to keep the suspected drug dealers behind bars.

The city will send Downtown Seattle Association “ambassadors” to power wash sidewalks stained with foil and vomit. That’s not law enforcement—it’s janitorial service for criminals. As soon as the water dries, addicts light up again and dealers reclaim their corners.

Drug dealers own Belltown

When a drug trafficker can threaten a local business manager without fear of police, declare his “right” to sell poison, and face no real consequence, the problem isn’t just addiction. It’s government surrender. Progressive policies decriminalized public drug use, judges hand down slaps on the wrist, and prosecutors look the other way. Dealers got the message: Seattle won’t stop them.

The result is a neighborhood that feels occupied by criminals, not residents. Apartments are unsafe, storefronts are closing, and families are chased off the sidewalks. Belltown was once a thriving entertainment district. Now it’s known for fentanyl smoke and blocked apartment doors.

The tragic part is that so many Seattleites are being worn down into resignation. They expect the threats, the blocked doors, the addicts passed out on their steps. They’ve learned not to expect help from Mayor Bruce Harrell or Councilmember Bob Kettle.

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