Seattle built concrete barriers along Aurora Avenue after seven shootings in April and eight more in May — many tied to the city’s exploding sex-trafficking trade.
Mayor Katie Wilson, a self-described socialist, replaced resident-placed planters with permanent traffic barriers in response to the violence, The Seattle Times reported Thursday. Business owners say the solution misses the problem.
“I’m so tired of the B.S. [Suspects] get out the next day” even after being arrested.
“Oftentimes it requires that we ask a survivor to come and do one of the hardest things in their life, to come into a courtroom and sit across the table on the witness stand from the person who caused them irreparable harm,” King County senior deputy prosecutor Alexandra Voorhees said. “[The average age of those entering] commercial sex work is between 12 and 15 years old.”
“I’m so tired of the B.S.,” car repair shop owner Adam Elhaj said after an arsonist torched three cars at his shop last April. He said suspects “get out the next day” even after being arrested.
Police said many of the shootings are tied to the sex trade. Residents placed planters along side streets in May to block street-level prostitution. Wilson later replaced them with concrete traffic barriers — a move that received mixed reactions.
“You can’t drive in a straight line anywhere anymore,” Rich’s Custom Upholstery owner Moe Pilgrim said. Greenwood Radiator Services owner Ron Linson said one customer recently asked, “Should I wear a bulletproof vest?”
On Aurora Avenue North, recent shootings and a more visible presence of sex workers have business owners on edge. https://t.co/KJTSWJ4cTr
— The Seattle Times (@seattletimes) June 11, 2026
Wilson has faced mounting criticism over public safety and homelessness. Her homelessness advisor resigned in May — the same day she announced plans to add 1,000 new shelter beds by year’s end.
“We are talking about doing a quick assessment of what it would look like to more permanently block off certain streets,” Wilson told Fox 13 Seattle when asked about Aurora Avenue’s human trafficking surge. “These are the immediate fixes, no illusion that things like this are solving the longer term problem, but we are trying to take immediate action to improve conditions in the neighborhood because it’s unacceptable.”
Wilson’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
