"So they take over a big chunk of a city called Seattle. I mean, we’re not talking about some little place, we’re talking about Seattle."

"Have you ever been to Seattle? They took over a big chunk and the governor, who’s radical left — all of these places I talk about are Democrat, you know that, every one of them, every one of them. And I’d have an offer out, I said, 'Anytime you want we’ll come in, we’ll straighten it out in one hour or less.' Now I may be wrong, but it’s probably better for us to just watch that disaster. I flew in with some of our great congressmen... and I said to them, 'Congressmen, what do you think? I can straighten it out fast, should we just go in? No, sir. Let it simmer for a little while. Let people see what radical left Democrats will do to our country.'... They want to defund and dissolve our police departments, think of that.... Hey, it’s 1:00 o’clock in the morning and a very tough — I’ve used the word on occasion, hombre — a very tough hombre is breaking into the window of a young woman whose husband is away as a traveling salesman or whatever he may do. And you call 911 and they say, 'I’m sorry, this number’s no longer working.' By the way, you have many cases like that, many, many, many. Whether it’s a young woman, an old woman, a young man or an old man and you’re sleeping. So what are you going to do, right? So they want to defund. They really do, this as a serious movement. And in Minneapolis, the council’s already passed it. In Seattle, you see what’s going on there, it’s even worse, okay. These people are stone cold crazy. They’re crazy."

From Trump's rally speech last night in Tulsa. (Full transcript here.)

I especially wanted you to notice that he talked about how he saw the political advantage in standing back and letting Seattle and other cities show us all how far they would decline under Democratic leadership. He's ready to go in and help when asked — "Anytime you want we’ll come in, we’ll straighten it out in one hour or less" — but it's also okay if they don't ask. It's to his political advantage, but it's not an advantage he would take. He'd help if asked. But if they want to give him the advantage... well, that's how he spins the disorder. It doesn't hurt him, but he feels bad about it and he's quite capable and willing to help. But they need to ask.

I went back to that part of the speech after I read this article in The Washington Post: "Police enter Seattle cop-free zone after shooting kills a 19-year-old, critically injures a man."

Law enforcement has generally steered clear of the area. But on Saturday, responding to the shooting, a phalanx of armed police officers entered the zone. The Seattle Police Department said in a statement that officers initially had trouble getting to the scene of the shooting because they “were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims.” The police officers’ entry into the zone, filmed by people occupying it, didn’t appear to show violence....

After 2 a.m., the festivities turned violent. One eyewitness described an argument that escalated into a fight and resulted in 10 gunshots. The suspects fled the scene while volunteer medics, who were stationed on the same corner, rushed to treat the victims. Upward of 20 “sentinels,” who provide volunteer security to the police-free protest zone, also responded to the scene....

Omari Salisbury, a citizen journalist for Converge Media, live-streamed on Facebook as the officers approached and announced they were coming to extract a shooting victim. The crowd shouted back: “He’s already gone.” A Seattle Fire Department ambulance was stationed one block away while medics prepared to transport the victims.

Officers, some with riot shields and others with guns drawn, seemed to search the area as protesters chanted, “Hands up, don’t shoot” and followed the roving patrol.

In body-cam footage of the same exchange later released by police, one protester becomes visibly upset by the presence of officers, grabbing his head with his hands and shouting, “Why are guns here?”

Police eventually retreated to their patrol cars. All drove away but one, which a smaller group of protesters converged on and appeared to kick and hit until the vehicle drove off.

[Protester Derek] Jones said the response by the protesters, sentinels and medics was an improvement over police action, which could have further escalated the situation.

“Last night was a complete success story [in dealing] with an active shooter,” Jones said. “Usually in an active-shooter situation when police are involved, they let the shooter run out of bullets and then they get in there. That did not happen here. As soon as there were shots fired, people got actively involved, and there was a medical team on site immediately. We didn’t need sirens and more guns to get the job done.