When an alleged Seattle rape survivor shared her harrowing story, the reaction from the left was a bit less than civil — all because of the fact that the accused rapist was a homeless man.

The story originally made headlines last year, when a man named Christopher Teel was accused of raping a woman in the bathroom of a Seattle Volkswagen dealership.

KOMO-TV reported that the accuser claimed Teel followed her into the dealership’s restroom in on May 14, 2018, locked the door, then forced open the stall and forced her out.

Teel allegedly told the victim, “you want this, God wants this.” He has not pleaded guilty to the charges of rape and unlawful imprisonment, but KCPQ-TV has reported court documents indicate he’s admitted to having committed the rape. He goes on trial this month.

Recently, the alleged victim contacted Seattle City Journal contributing editor Christopher Rufo about shooting a video regarding the crime.

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Rufo has reported extensively on Seattle’s homeless problem and, as he notes, Teel “had arrived from Texas as a transient and was evading multiple warrants, but the city-sanctioned encampment welcomed him without conducting a criminal-background check.”

“Nearly a year later, the victim, Lindsey, contacted me. After being raped, she had approached city leaders and met with the sitting councilman for nearly an hour but was received, she says, with dismissiveness,” Rufo wrote in a piece for City Journal published last week.

“Teel’s crime against her did not fit the preferred narrative of compassion for the homeless, so the political class downplayed it,” Rufo wrote. “By the time Lindsey reached out to me, she was ready to speak out.

“Lindsey asked me to create a short documentary so that she could tell her story in her own words. I’ve worked for more than a decade as a documentary filmmaker, but my interview with Lindsey was one of the most wrenching I’ve ever done.

“She walked me through the details of the attack and her deep frustrations with the political leadership that created the conditions for the crime to occur and then resisted making changes even after her story broke.”

The interview is difficult to watch. We warn you, graphic material ahead. Viewer discretion is advised.

“I arrived a few minutes early to my appointment that morning,” Lindsey says in the video. “I went up the ramp into the women’s restroom. I was in there I would say no longer than about 15 or 20 seconds before I heard the restroom door open.”

“He grabbed me by my throat and my shoulder and he threw me down on the ground in front of the handicapped stall and we fought for several minutes,” she continued.

She also talked about her frustration with how city officials handled the alleged crime and how they’ve handled the homelessness issue in general.

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“I think we need to all acknowledge what we’re doing isn’t working — what we’re doing right now is actually harming the city,” she said. “And we need stronger leaders. And strong leaders, in my opinion, are out there.”

The video made an immediate impact, Rufo wrote.

“We edited the film together and posted it to Facebook on April 22. That evening, it was the lead story on all four local Seattle news networks and had reached more than 35,000 people on social media,” he wrote. “The public renewed its call for warrant checks at city-sanctioned encampments. Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan condemned the assault and commended ‘the courage of a survivor of sexual violence to speak out.’”

Not everyone was supportive, however, as Rufo noted, and the liberal backlash was ugly.

One of the critics was local journalist Erica Barnett.

The agenda (Rufo’s and KIRO’s) is to create a false link between a policy—”allowing” homeless people to live outside of government camps or jails—and rape of a (not coincidentally) attractive, blonde woman, who could be “your” daughter, sister, cousin.

— Erica C. Barnett (@ericacbarnett) April 23, 2019

That the victim signed up for this voluntarily is beside the point. It is the responsibility of media not to repeat false narratives credulously, even if they are presented in well-lighted studios and with many tears.

— Erica C. Barnett (@ericacbarnett) April 23, 2019

Barnett would note that Rufo is a conservative activist — which is true, but she’s also a liberal activist and what we’re discussing here is the story of a sexual assault survivor.

The idea that it shouldn’t be reported because it might reflect badly upon the homeless or because it might be triggering for rape survivors is, well, patently absurd. (She also managed to work Trump into her thread, too, because why not?)

Seattle Councilmember M. Lorena González echoed the idea that this wasn’t newsworthy.

When reporting on #sexual #assault and #violence, “The responsibility of the media is to ask what does this illustrate and what solutions does this point to?” says @ericacbarnett. And to “not sensationalize or create fear” in communities that may already be triggered. #SAAM

— Councilmember M. Lorena González (@CMLGonzalez) April 24, 2019

Rufo, however, had no problem describing what the rape story illustrates:

“The reality: city-sanctioned encampments in Seattle have become magnets for crime and violence. According to the Seattle Times, when the city opened a low-barrier encampment in Licton Springs, the police recorded a 221 percent increase in reported crimes and public disturbances,” he wrote.

“Neighbors witnessed a dramatic rise in property destruction, violence, prostitution, and drug dealing in the area. According to King County Jail statistics, homeless individuals are 38 times more likely to commit crimes than the average citizen (the homeless represented 0.5 percent of the population but 19 percent of jail bookings last year).

“Seattle’s activist class seems, then, to have more compassion for transient criminals than for the victims of their crimes. Lindsey’s story should be a clarion call for everyone who cares about violence against women,” he added.

“But in the tortured logic of intersectionality, the story of a homeless rapist demands ‘context,’ while the white, blonde, middle-class target of his assault is an unsympathetic victim.”

The stories of the havoc that swelling homeless populations are causing in liberal cities have become all too commonplace. Yet liberals insist the homeless are victims of some kind — even at a time when the country’s economy is providing more jobs than there are workers to fill them.

Meanwhile, liberals hector endlessly about the need to believe any woman who comes forward with a report about a sexual assault (even if there’s no evidence).

Yet when the sexual assault allegation involves a woman and a homeless man, the politics of liberal victimhood clash in their own contradictions.

Apparently, the love and support that the left provides to victims of sexual assault only goes so far.

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Do you think peace can be made with the North Koreans?

A couple from Northern California’s attempt to relocate a nearly 200-year-old oak tree from one of their properties to another one has resulted in a $586,000 fine. The judge who slapped them with the fine cited the couple’s “arrogance” and “complete disregard” of legally binding conservation terms in his defense of the stunningly steep punishment.

The couple owned two adjacent properties, one of which included a conservation easement upon which the 180-year-old oak tree was located. (Note: Oak tree pictured above is not the one removed.) The tree was under the protection of a conservation agreement which the judge says the couple “knowing[ly] and intentional[ly]” violated.

“The case against Peter and Toni Thompson reportedly started in 2014, when a concerned neighbor reported heavy equipment and digging on a property protected under a conservation easement,” CBS San Francisco reported Wednesday. “Court documents show a Sonoma Land Trust official found more than 3,000 cubic yards (2,300 cubic meters) of dirt and rock had been removed and a 180-year-old oak tree had been uprooted.”

The couple attempted to relocate the tree and others to another home they had built on an adjacent property. Unfortunately for the tree, and the couple, the attempt to keep it alive in the relocation process failed. Not only did the tree die, a dozen or so others and vegetation along the path they bulldozed died as well. ABC News reports:

The heritage oak was uprooted and bound so that it could be dragged to an adjoining ranch where property owners Peter and Toni Thompson had built a new estate home. That heritage oak and two others the landowners sought to move over a haul road they bulldozed through the previously undisturbed site all died, along with a dozen more trees and other vegetation, according to court records.

According to the Sonoma Land Trust, the couple also dumped soil onto the protected land from a lake they dredged on their adjacent property.

In response, the Sonoma Land Trust sued the couple for violating their conservation contract, and a superior court judge agreed, condemning the Thompsons for their “arrogance” and “complete disregard” for the easement terms.

Sonoma County Superior Court Judge Patrick Broderick agreed with the trust that the Thompsons committed “knowing and intentional” violations of their conservation deal, ABC notes. Broderick also made a point of blasting the couple for having “demonstrated an arrogance and complete disregard for the mandatory terms of the easement.”

The $586,000 fine is intended to go to restoring the damaged property — though obviously sans the irreplaceable 180-year-old oak.

After the judge issued the ruling, the couple decided to go ahead and sell their estate for $8.45 million, CBS reports.

The couple is currently seeking a retrial because they say their attorney could not properly represent them as a result of a family matter that arose amid the trial.

“There are so many personal tragic issues throughout this case that were very painful to deal with and actually really affected the ability to tell our side of the story,” Peter Thompson said in a statement reported by ABC. “In our opinion, there’s a lot of evidence that our side of the story really didn’t get a chance to explain.”

A Sydney couple who fed their children a vegan diet were arrested a year ago after their youngest child suffered a seizure. The couple, in court on Thursday, now face up to five years in jail.

When the child had her seizure and emergency services were called, doctors discovered the 20-month-old was severely malnourished, had no teeth, and suffered from rickets. She also had not been vaccinated or taken to the doctor since she was born, nor had she received a birth certificate or a Medicare number.

The Centers for Disease Control suggests that children around the baby girl’s age should weigh around 17 to 30 pounds. The little girl in question weighed barely 11 pounds, less than what a 3-month-old should weigh.

Neither the father nor mother are named in news reports, for legal reasons.

The Australian news outlet news.com.au reviewed court documents, which showed the parents fed their child “one cup of oats with rice milk and half a banana in the morning, and a piece of toast with jam or peanut butter for lunch.” For dinner, the mother told the court she would serve the baby tofu, rice, or potatoes, but since her daughter was a “fussy eater,” she might just eat oats for dinner as well.

“This diet resulted in severe deficiencies in nutrients across the board for the infant, including a lack of calcium, phosphate, vitamin B12, vitamin A, iron and zinc,” news.com.au reported. “Her levels of vitamin D — which can cause bone disease if found to be too low — were ‘undetectable.’”

The calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D deficiencies led to rickets, which weakens the bones.

The mother’s attorney claimed in court documents that she was severely depressed after the child’s birth. The attorney claimed the woman suspected the girl’s father was cheating on her and questioned her skills as a mother. The attorney claimed the mother wouldn’t even leave the house to get groceries.

A psychologist disputed these claims, telling the court on Thursday that medical records showed no evidence of the depression and her own interview with the mother revealed otherwise. The psychologist, Dr. Yvonne Skinner, said the mother had actually bonded with her child and enjoyed spending time with her.

An attorney for the girl’s father said the accused man was not vegan nor anti-vaccination but was being subjected to a “witch hunt” based on that belief. The attorney for the man claimed his client was essentially helpless to save the child, as the mother “dictated” her care. The attorney said the father was the family’s sole provider and did everything – from cooking to driving to shopping.

Judge Sarah Huggett of Downing Centre Court in Sydney dismissed the attorney’s claims, instead reprimanding the father because he is an “educated man” who “could have picked her up and taken her to a doctor.” She said he should have noticed something was wrong because the child, at 20 months, couldn’t walk or talk and “wasn’t hitting milestones.”

After the baby’s seizure, the child spent a month in the hospital and was taken in by a foster caregiver, who said the little girl couldn’t even roll over. After six months away from her parents, the baby was able to crawl and stand and put on 13 pounds.

Presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), who worked for Sanders’ unsuccessful 2016 POTUS race, are teaming up for a Facebook live event at noon Eastern on Thursday to introduce legislation that will target banks and credit card companies.

The Washington Post reported that the bill will include a 15 percent cap on credit card interest rates and would allow states to set their own limits.

“Sanders, the Vermont senator running for the Democratic nomination for president, told The Washington Post in an interview that a decade after taxpayers bailed out big banks, the industry is taking advantage of the public by charging exorbitant rates,” the Post reported.

“Wall Street today makes tens of billions from people at outrageous interest rates,” Sanders said.

Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) will be introducing the House version of the bill.

The Post noted that the bill would most likely not be passed by the Republican-controlled Senate.

“I am sure it will be criticized,” Sanders said of his bill. “I have a radical idea: Maybe Congress should stand up for ordinary people.”

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The City of Oakland is in such dire financial straits that it is planning to use $2.9 million from state gas tax revenues to keep the city’s lights on, rather than using the money to fix pothole-riddled roads, for which the funding was intended.

The San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday that the city is facing severe financial shortfalls, despite a booming economy that has seen wealthier households relocate from San Francisco across the bay to gentrifying neighborhoods.

The problem is that the city’s costs are rising faster than its growing revenues, thanks partly to pension obligations — an increasingly common challenge for large, Democrat-run cities that made ambitious promises to public sector unions.

As Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf — famous for tipping off illegal aliens to an impending federal law enforcement sweep, in an effort to defend her “sanctuary city” — noted in her recent budget statement to the city council last week:

Though cranes are rising across the skyline and Oakland’s revenues are growing at a steady rate due to the strong real estate market, the City’s expenses continue to rise faster than revenues. Personnel-related expenses, particularly the cost of medical benefits and pensions – as well as insurance, utilities, and fuel costs – are growing at 2-3 times the rate of inflation and revenue growth.

The deficit for this year will be $25 million. As a result, the Chronicle notes, Oakland — which is generously extending benefits to illegal aliens — can barely keep its street lights on.

To deal with the crisis, the city is shifting money from pothole repair to street lighting, even though the money raised by the 2017 gas tax must be used for transportation.

The Chronicle notes that Oakland’s believes that street lighting qualifies:

Enter the state gas tax.

The mayor is proposing to use the $2.9 million to pay for the street-lighting portion of the shortfall, then use the savings to keep the parks open.

According to Article 19 of the state Constitution, gas tax money is to be used for the “research, planning, construction, improvement, maintenance and operation of public streets and highways (and their related public facilities for nonmotorized traffic).”

Oakland officials feel that gives them the cover to use the tax money to light the streets as well.

The city will still apparently have other funds, both from the gas tax and its own revenues, to use for pothole repair — though less than it would otherwise have had.

Republicans attempted to repeal the gas tax hike in a 2018 ballot initiative, but the state government gave the measure a misleading title. As a result, the measure failed, though polls showed a majority of Californians opposed the hike.

The budget notes that the city will spend $150,000 per year on a legal fund to assist illegal aliens facing deportation.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two previously deported sex offenders who tried to sneak back into the United States. The criminal aliens attempted to use groups of migrants crossing the border in New Mexico, officials stated.

In the early morning hours of May 2, agents patrolling the border near the Santa Teresa Port of Entry tracked down a group of migrants who illegally crossed the border. The agents tracked the group’s footprints as they attempted to disappear into the desert after crossing the border. The group consisted of two Guatemalan males and two men from China, according to information provided by El Paso Sector Border Patrol officials on May 8.

The agents transported the migrants to the station where they underwent a biometric background investigation. The agents determined one of the men to be a previously deported illegal alien with a criminal history in Colorado. A Colorado court handed down a two-year prison sentence after the Arvada Police Department arrested the 44-year-old Guatemalan national for “first degree sexual assault.” Immigration officers deported the man following the completion of his prison term.

Agents placed the migrant in detention pending prosecution for illegal re-entry after removal as a sex offender.

Two days later, agents patrolling the bootheel region of the New Mexico border with Mexico encountered another Guatemalan man who had illegally crossed the border. The agents conducted a biometric background investigation into the history of the 36-year-old Guatemalan national. The investigation revealed an extensive criminal history.

Agents learned the Guatemalan man received a conviction from a Santa Clara, California, court for “lewd acts with a child under the age of 14,” officials stated. The court sentenced the man to three-years in state prison. Immigration officers deported the man in 2016. He now faces federal prosecution for illegal re-entry after removal as a sex offender.

“This is an ongoing situation that Border Patrol Agents face in southern New Mexico and El Paso, Texas,” El Paso Sector Border Patrol officials said in a written statement. “Hundreds of parents and children are being encountered by agents after having faced a dangerous trek north while convicted criminals attempt to avoid detection by circumventing agents who are occupied detaining large family groups.”

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.