Seattle drug crisis is 'hell on earth' ahead of the World Cup

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]And let me just tell you, this is going to be a really hot situation. Continue to record. If I think it's too crazy, I'll be like, "Hey, let's chill out."

[00:00:07]But we're good for now because I think these are the moments that need to be captured. I man, the mayor is essentially trying to protect the downtown tourist corridor that's like Third and Pine, Third and Pike. It's, you know, this, you know, square radius.

[00:00:22]and all the problems like the open air drug use, the homelessness, it's being pushed out into the neighboring areas like Chinatown ID, Belltown. So, I wanted to show you sort of the ecosystem, the drug addicts, the dealing, the the tents that are here in Belltown. We're going to then walk just a few minutes, you know, down the street and you're going to see Pike Place Market. It's going to be so beautiful.

[00:00:44]Then you walk or we're going to have to drive in this case, 5 minutes to Chinatown ID and then you're going to see Hell on Earth. So would the idea be that you could walk from Pike Place to the stadium where the FIFA World Cup will be going on and you wouldn't see the worst spots?

[00:00:58]>> That's correct. Whether you walk, whether you take public transportation, the city will give guidance and and probably a map like they did during All-Star weekend a few years ago under Mayor Bruce Herrell, the former mayor of Seattle. So there's going to be that type of guidance, but there are some unintended consequences of that. Number one, some of the businesses uh get left out when, you know, tourists are told to only follow a certain path, right? For example, the last time around during the All-Star uh game, Chinatown businesses got totally shut out. So, I know some of them are going to be telling Mayor Wilson, "Hey, we can't go through part two of that cuz it's going to be devastating for our businesses cuz keep in mind where all the games are going to be played. It's going to be in Sodto.

[00:01:38]It's going to be in Lumen Field. It's only minutes blocks from Chinatown ID.

[00:01:42]That's the traffic and business they need. I walked this street last night with Andrea and it was full of people using and just hanging out at night. But today, right across the street is Seattle PD. They've obviously cleared off this block, but they're just up the block.

[00:01:55]>> We're starting our look at Seattle's efforts to contain the city's homeless crisis in the Belltown neighborhood.

[00:02:01]With me is independent journalist Jonathan Cho, who covers homelessness for Discovery Institute, and Tom Wolf.

[00:02:07]Tom was a drug addict who once lived on the streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin District. He now uses that personal experience to go around the world talking about the failed policies that have led to such bad homeless and drug crises in places like California and Washington State and what he thinks should be done instead.

[00:02:25]>> So you've been to Seattle, I mean several times now, you know, working with WeHeart. How is the city progressing? I mean, under the new mayor, do you feel like there's any progress or no?

[00:02:34]>> No, it's it's hard to to say that there's been progress. I was at 12th in Jackson yesterday. The area looks like San Francisco did in 2021 where we had open drug scenes of hundreds of people getting high on fentanyl, selling stolen goods. You had prostitution. You have trafficking happening. Uh so I it's hard to say that progress has been made.

[00:02:55]>> I mean, look what's going on. By the way, fancy Italian restaurant, a well-known Seattle Italian restaurant.

[00:03:01]Oh, >> and now you're dealing seeing somebody who's completely doing somersaults because they're zonked out of their minds.

[00:03:06]>> Fentanel, baby. I mean, this is this is Belltown, just minutes from the downtown core.

[00:03:12]>> Oh, and it has that smell.

[00:03:14]>> Yeah.

[00:03:14]>> That same smell that the tenderloin has.

[00:03:17]>> Ma'am, are you okay?

[00:03:18]>> Yeah, I'm okay.

[00:03:18]>> I saw I saw you just take a tumble.

[00:03:20]>> Yeah, I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.

[00:03:22]>> Okay.

[00:03:25]Look at this. I mean, you got people brand new Adidas sneakers on the ground.

[00:03:28]You got tents. I mean, people are just making themselves at home right now.

[00:03:32]Okay. So, here's one of the most infamous permanent supportive housing units run by Plymouth Housing. It's the Lewon Scargo right here. Look where it's located. You have homeless drug addicts in here. Look at the shades. It's an absolute disaster inside. This is where I did that expose with Andrea Suarez of Weheart Seattle. This one building is probably responsible for half the issues out here.

[00:04:02]It is crime, chaos, and death every single day. An ambulance every single day, multiple times a day. And this is >> taxpayer funds.

[00:04:10]>> They get taxpayer funds from the state and from the feds. This is Plymouth Housing. And it's millions of dollars in tax.

[00:04:17]>> Millions and millions of dollars.

[00:04:18]>> I want to stress, just to draw a contrast, in San Francisco, we have one permanent supportive housing organization that got $169 million from the city and county of San Francisco.

[00:04:28]And in their housing sites, they've had 119 overdose deaths.

[00:04:34]And people die of drug overdoses inside. Now, >> I promise you that's happening there.

[00:04:39]>> Yeah, it is. We have the data from King County. King County data shows that people are dying behind closed doors in housing pretty much at the same clip now that they're dying on the streets of drug overdoses. Let that sink in. A lot of the social service agencies have been dumped in Belltown as well. And and a lot of the problems, the 911 calls, the crime, the chaos, the death, it all spills out into the community.

[00:05:08]>> And I'll show you a lot of these facilities that are causing the problems or the vast majority of the problems.

[00:05:13]Hey, there you go. Seattle PD right on Q. This is one of the most egregious situations, Brandy, because right here at the corner of Third Avenue and Blanchard, and I've covered this area now for years, this is the headquarters, the HQ for REACH, a taxpayerf funded homeless outreach group. They're responsible to get these men and women off the men and women off the streets. Yet, they can't even handle the street crisis in front of them.

[00:05:43]>> Do you see the irony in that? I mean, look at this >> brand new tent. So, somebody's giving the giving out these tents for free, by the way. Right. These are brand new. And this is Reach. Hey, how you doing, girl?

[00:05:54]>> And actually, it's Friday. Reach is open right now.

[00:05:57]>> I mean, I I reach I >> They haven't They haven't trespassed me yet. If you want to go in, but this is reach.

[00:06:04]>> Well, this is it. It's It's Friday.

[00:06:05]They're open. I I've spoken to the program coordinator, and she even admits that it's a problem. It's a challenge for them.

[00:06:13]I mean, look at this. So, so here here's the crazy ecosystem I'm talking about.

[00:06:18]So, you got Reach, okay? You got tents in front of Reach. They're the ones supposed to be helping the homeless men and women off the streets. And then you have you've got Plymouth Housing.

[00:06:31]This is another lowincome permanent supportive housing facility. It's supposed to be Yeah.

[00:06:36]Right here. Plymouth Housing Group.

[00:06:39]Now, this isn't one of the crazy drug dens, you know, that we've featured in the past, but it's run by them. And there are a lot of problematic people here. Supportive housing, SRO's, and then the service providers. And of course, that attracts all the people that are unsheltered.

[00:06:54]>> Yeah.

[00:06:55]>> And so you have large, you know, whole swasts of blocks where people are just living in squalor on in tents waiting for a service provider to come by and give them a sandwich, give them a blanket, maybe some socks, maybe a free crack pipe. Look over there real quick, guys. The YW.CA. A lot of uh you know, vulnerable people living here, formerly homeless, drug addicts. And again, there's an ambulance in front there. And uh Jason Rants recently did a story where he called out the black market of stolen goods being sold out front there.

[00:07:23]But this again, this whole ecosystem, we're now at third and Lenora. And look, look at these rocks.

[00:07:28]>> You think these rocks are here? This is what's considered hostile architecture, but it's to keep away the homeless encampments. It's really seems like meth has come roaring back. How you doing, man?

[00:07:40]>> So, you have the downtown Seattle association folks, right? Always out here invest trying to keep things clear.

[00:07:45]But, you know, I mean, who >> Michelle, what are you doing here?

[00:07:53]You didn't get your apartment? What are >> you talking about? I have apartment.

[00:07:57]>> You do? You still have it?

[00:07:58]>> Six years. Cho.

[00:07:59]>> Okay. Okay.

[00:08:00]>> Talking about Cho.

[00:08:01]>> Michelle, I just want to know if you need anything. I didn't know you What do you need? I didn't know you were back out here. Okay, Michelle, I didn't I'm so sorry. I didn't know you were out here.

[00:08:09]>> Thank you. Like, I really can't, too.

[00:08:15]>> Michelle, can we get some outreach to you right now?

[00:08:18]>> I need a cigarette. I need a pack of cigarettes.

[00:08:20]>> Anyone have a cigarette? That lady struggles with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. She has housing in that building right back over there, but she lives out here on the street because that's a common thing for people with mental illness. they can't be inside a lot of the time. So really in her case, she needs to be institutionalized, but we as a society just don't fund those kinds of things anymore. So the backs stop to that is supportive housing, which she is in, but yet she's here on the street. So what does that tell you? Cigarettes, brand new pack, and a lighter in case you need a you got you got a lighter, Michelle, how do we get you back into your apartment right now?

[00:08:57]>> I need to put some clothes on.

[00:08:59]>> Yeah.

[00:08:59]>> And I need a Uber.

[00:09:01]>> Okay. Are you trying to stay off the fetti right now?

[00:09:03]>> I'm not on no fetti. I've been on a shot for a year, but >> Okay. So, at least you're not doing the fetty. So, >> I smoke weed, [ __ ] >> Weed. Okay. All right, Michelle. I'm going to be back. Okay. Much love.

[00:09:16]>> What' you say?

[00:09:17]>> Much love. Much love. We're here for you. Love you, girl.

[00:09:20]>> I'm not going to be here.

[00:09:22]>> I'm going to say my goodbyes.

[00:09:24]>> Yeah, it was Michelle. She's someone that Andrea Suarez at WeHeart Seattle has helped get off the streets. She has housing through Catholic community charities, but you know, she's she's been a hoarder. She struggled with fentinel, mental illness, severe mental illness. And despite every effort, not one, two, like five chances now over the past 2 three years, and I've documented her story. Uh, Brandy, I'm actually blown away. I'm shocked to see Michelle there. Tom, I didn't know she was back on the streets. This is one of the saddest situations right now, and she's just kind of going on a bender.

[00:09:54]>> The idea here is that housing solves all of this. But that lady that we saw over there in crisis has housing.

[00:09:59]>> Yes.

[00:10:00]>> So there's your evidence. It's like there the evidence is clear. We have a drug and mental health crisis.

[00:10:05]Homelessness is a drug and mental health crisis. When you get down to this point, everybody out here, almost everybody, they either have housing already uh and they're out here because they're drug addicts, because they're mentally ill, because they have no job, they have no purpose. So they come out here to the street and they run game out here. And uh with the kind of drugs that are out here today, tran and fentanyl, they die.

[00:10:28]>> You've got all of these buses here, right? This is a corridor.

[00:10:31]>> This is Third A.

[00:10:32]>> This is Third A. There's uh there are a lot of buses where a lot of the addicts uh jump on for free. They take it back and forth to Chinatown to downtown. They ransack the Walgreens and the Target at Third and Pike. Then they'll jump on the bus and go straight to Chinatown within minutes and sell it on the streets at the corner of 12th and Jackson where we're now headed.

[00:10:54]12 and Jackson, Little Saigon, all part of the Chinatown International District. We're surrounded by drug addicts. This is crazy. Look at this. Look at this guy completely hunched over in the blue hoodie right there between the telephone pole. He's That's a fentinel fold right there.

[00:11:12]They're not homeless. They're out here just to do drugs. I mean, this is the chaos and hell we're going to be going into. The guy in the wheelchair knows me. He's pulling out his cell phone.

[00:11:29]Need a ratchet set.

[00:11:32]>> Good.

[00:11:34]Hey, Grandma.

[00:11:49]To your left.

[00:11:51]What are you selling?

[00:11:55]>> Chocolates. How much are chocolates?

[00:12:00]>> Up, guys.

[00:12:11]>> People look at 12th in Jackson and will immediately think that's a homeless issue. But the vast majority of the people there have housing. But it's turned into a community hangout where people can buy drugs, sell stolen goods, you know, sling more more drugs. So this culture out here needs and this open air drug market needs to be broken up. We need more officers out here. Uh we need more patrols. We need people, you know, we need foot patrols. I I haven't seen any cops. We've been on the streets today.

[00:12:40]>> They've been in cars, but not not but they're not coming out on the on the on the ground. And that's what we need more of here. Otherwise, this continues to flourish. Oh, you put out the fire.

[00:12:49]Thank you. Thank you for putting out the fire. Behind me right now is Summit Sierra High School. It's a Seattle magnet school. It's just a few feet away from this open air drug near 12th in Jackson. Parents, teachers been complaining now for years. Uh, and instead of addressing this and completely getting rid of this, the compromise now is for cops to walk with the kids, escort them to the bus stops after school. So, obviously just a band-aid solution.

[00:13:16]>> If you look at the city maps, the CD is still part of the downtown core, but you don't have the DSA people here.

[00:13:23]>> Mhm.

[00:13:24]>> How come?

[00:13:26]>> Why don't we have the same priority and outreach? How come? Whatever happened to DEI for the Asians?

[00:13:30]>> In the encampments and drug dealing spread out from this central hub of criminal activity, Cho drove me to two nearby parks that have been completely overrun with drug users and dealers.

[00:13:42]>> This is the problem. Lewis Park, the disaster. The park that's been swept so many times, but we'll see if the tents have returned yet because they will.

[00:13:51]>> One of the most beautiful views of the city, too.

[00:13:53]>> Yeah. This little nook. You see the the Seattle Park sign?

[00:13:56]>> Yep.

[00:13:56]>> That nook in there is insane.

[00:13:59]>> How many people would you say are in there?

[00:14:00]>> I mean, this is just the daytime. At night, I'd say more than 100.

[00:14:03]>> Right now, we're probably going to see maybe 20, 30.

[00:14:07]>> At any point, you're not comfortable.

[00:14:09]any point you're just >> And do people know you up here?

[00:14:12]>> Maybe. Look at everyone doing fetty.

[00:14:15]There's fencing foil everywhere. Notice I was just staring at us. So, >> do you go here? Like, does this lead anywhere?

[00:14:21]>> Yeah, there's a path in the back.

[00:14:23]>> Are we going to be okay?

[00:14:25]>> Yeah, >> fellas.

[00:14:39]No, no, I don't need fatty.

[00:14:41]>> It's all good.

[00:14:44]>> Those are the hondos.

[00:14:45]>> Yeah.

[00:14:46]>> Watch your step here.

[00:14:58]>> What's up, bro? How you doing, player?

[00:15:00]>> I remember you.

[00:15:00]>> Yeah. What's up? Good to see you, man.

[00:15:04]Come on, >> Brad. We're going to go up here. Yeah.

[00:15:08]What up, fellas?

[00:15:09]>> You good? You good, girl?

[00:15:11]>> Good to see you again.

[00:15:13]>> What's up, player?

[00:15:21]>> Wow.

[00:15:22]>> What do you think, Brandy?

[00:15:23]>> I mean, it I understand why they choose that location, but this should be a park where people can enjoy it. There's homes right here.

[00:15:34]That's the biggest concentration of active drug use I've seen in 15 years in Seattle in terms of active actually using in the moment.

[00:15:43]>> Not only drug use, you had dealers offer me >> twice.

[00:15:47]>> Twice. And you heard it.

[00:15:48]>> Yeah.

[00:15:49]>> You need some, you need some? You need any? And those are the Hondurans.

[00:15:52]>> This place is out of sight, out of mind.

[00:15:54]It's perfect. Okay, there's even more.

[00:15:55]So >> there's my line bike.

[00:16:00]>> Yeah, go your line bike.

[00:16:06]Hey man, you okay man?

[00:16:08]>> Yeah, I'm fine.

[00:16:09]>> You're using a needle right now? No.

[00:16:11]>> Okay.

[00:16:13]Sorry fellas. We're out of here. Thank you guys. Be safe. Be safe.

[00:16:19]Hey, we got to get going. I've been outed. Start moving now. Don't look back.

[00:16:25]Don't look back.

[00:16:27]He just heard me. He just saw me. I heard him say Jonathan Cho. That's Jonathan Cho.

[00:16:34]We're there's an out here on the right.

[00:16:38]>> The perils of being out with Jonathan Jones.

[00:16:40]>> Yeah. Welcome to my spectac run today.

[00:16:43]>> Yeah, that was a little a little wild.

[00:16:45]>> And you usually do that alone?

[00:16:47]>> I do. I do. I mean, who's going to come with me? This is a massive risk, right?

[00:16:50]>> It is.

[00:16:50]>> It's a safety risk. And that was one of the craziest scenes during the day. I I've I haven't seen that during the day.

[00:16:57]>> Same. I have to say 15 years covered homelessness here in terms of just out in the open. No necessity to hide it.

[00:17:03]Concentration of people selling and using that's that can exist in a first world country is insane. It's a huge risk to do that, right? But if you weren't doing it, nobody'd see it.

[00:17:17]>> Who's going to show the raw realities on the streets?

[00:17:19]>> But we weren't quite done yet. Jonathan wanted to show me one more park that's been taken over by homeless drug addicts. And for the sake of symbolism, it's a very appropriate place to end the story. Look at that.

[00:17:30]Look at that view. Okay, one of the best views of the city.

[00:17:36]People knoding off from drug abuse in a park that should be for kids. This should be packed with kids. Look at that playground equipment. Empty giant tent with people using drugs right there. What a shame. What a disgusting excuse for leadership.

[00:17:55]Wow.

[00:17:58]Wow.

[00:17:59]I don't know if you could get a better picture that defines Seattle than that.

[00:18:03]>> Yeah. This is your shot.