Seattle high schoolers walk through open-air drug market on the way to class, teachers helpless

Footage shared by Discovery Institute journalist Jonathan Choe on Thursday shows several people brazenly using hard drugs and selling stolen goods on a street corner in the heart of the Washington city, all while kids walk by them on their way to and from Summit Sierra High School.

In the video, the reporter can be heard condemning a drug user who was taking "blues," a street term for dangerous pills such as oxycodone that are used in place of heroin, in front of the school, to which she replied, "That school literally just put their sign up, it was not obvious that was a school a week ago."

Despite the recent increase in police presence in the area, the teens said they were being advised by school officials to walk in groups.

"Our basketball team, cheerleading team, they have to have adults all the time walking with them," said Summit Sierra administrator Zuri Aguayo. In the interview with Choe, she said that she wants the government to "do something, it shouldn't be up to us."

Violent crime in Seattle hit a 15-year-high in 2022, according to Seattle Police Department data.

The students, teachers, and parents have largely realized their on their own in dealing with this dangerous problem, the reporter noted. In the footage, a volunteer group formed of members of the aforementioned parties can be seen clearing the sidewalks around the school of drug paraphernalia, including used needles.

"It really is living through America's slums here in Seattle," Choe said on "Jesse Watters Primetime" Thursday. "And this is the heart of the Chinatown International District, an area that's already been marginalized, that already faces so many problems, homeless encampments, drug dens, drug users, and the criminal activity that just comes along with all of this stuff."

While progressive Mayor Bruce Harrell keeps "talking" about "prioritizing" the troubled neighborhood, Choe argued even the additional police officers are "just not working."

"There is no clear blueprint," Choe said on solving the problem. "In fact, the mayor even said during a State of the City address this past week that he's going to do something about it eventually. But we don't know all the details right now. And that's the most frustrating piece on the ground. There's no exact timeline or a strategy and plan."

After seeing the disturbing footage from the Discovery Institute, Choe said the mayor should have put together a neighborhood-cleanup project for the area.

"He's feeling a lot of political pressure and heat there is no doubt because this isn't the only school," he said, noting that other Seattle neighborhoods are experiencing the same thing.

"The John Stanford International School in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood, that's also dealing with a massive encampment that just has been left to linger," Choe said.

"The criminal activity, the drug dens, the homelessness, the enforcement isn't there. Nobody is being arrested or prosecuted. And even if they are arrested and prosecuted, the judges let them out."

After his Fox News appearance, Choe returned to the school and surrounding blocks to observe once again, finding that nothing had changed and "no police" were in sight,

"It was packed again with open-air drug use, sales of stolen merch, and no police in sight. This is what the students and staff face every single day. Why are we jeopardizing their safety and allowing this to flourish? [Whose] rights are more important?," he wrote in a tweet along with more footage.

The video depicted similar scenes of drug users fueling their addictions and selling stolen goods right outside the high school.