The memorial to Lorenzo Anderson who was gunned down in front of Molly Moon’s during CHOP

One of Seattle’s most progressive small businesses has sued the city over its actions around the CHOP occupied protest that grew from the 2020 Black Lives Matter and George Floyd murder unrest into a dangerous camp that shut down blocks of Capitol Hill’s Pike/Pine core and left two teens shot to death including 19-year-old Lorenzo Anderson who was gunned down in the street in front of the ice cream shop behind the suit.

The Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream LLC v. City of Seattle case was filed this week in federal court.

It is being brought forward by the law firm of Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, the same firm that won a $3.6 million settlement with the city earlier this year on behalf of a slate of Capitol Hill property owners and businesses that sued over “deliberate indifference” from former Mayor Jenny Durkan, the Seattle Police Department and then-Chief Carmen Best, Seattle Fire, and the rest of City Hall over the handling of the camp that took over the streets around Cal Anderson Park in June 2020.

It is not clear why Molly Moon’s was not part of the previous lawsuit. CHS has asked the law firm and owner Molly Moon Neitzel for more details on the new filing.

Filed on the three-year anniversary of the protest camp’s formation, the lawsuit seemingly puts Molly Moon’s in position of demanding the city should have shut down the CHOP protests.

But the complaint filed this week begins with a defense of the protests even as it blames the city for the disorder that followed.

“This lawsuit does not seek to undermine CHOP participants’ message or present a counter message,” the filing begins. “Rather, this lawsuit is about Plaintiff’s constitutional and other legal rights of which were overrun by the City of Seattle’s decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood, leaving it unchecked by the police, unserved by fire and emergency health services, and inaccessible to the public at large, and then materially support and encourage a hostile occupation of that neighborhood.”

“The City’s decision subjected businesses, employees, and residents of that neighborhood to extensive property damage, public safety dangers, and an inability to use and access their properties,” the legal team writes.

We’ve asked Molly Moon’s for a statement on the filing and will update when we hear back.

UPDATE: “At Molly Moon’s we hold race equity at the top of our list of our priorities for how we want to make the world better. Black Lives Matter,” a statement from a Molly Moon’s spokesperson sent to CHS reads. “The lawsuit filed on Wednesday, June 7 is not meant to undermine that important message. It’s seeking indemnification for the significant revenue losses and team morale impacts we experienced during and for many months after CHOP caused by the City of Seattle’s decision to abandon the police precinct and stop responding to public safety needs in our beloved Capitol Hill community.”

Durkan visiting the E Pine Molly Moon’s headquarters in 2017

Moon Neitzel and the company have been known for progressive employment and social policies and have been recognized as a small business leader in King County and the country — with the ear of the mayor’s office. The company was born in 2008 with its first shop in Wallingford before opening its flagship Capitol Hill headquarters a year later on E Pine. It also has a scoop shop on 19th Ave E and has grown to nine locations around Seattle and the nearby.

In June of 2020, Molly Moon’s found its E Pine headquarters on the edge of the front lines of CHOP as SPD, the National Guard, and Washington State Patrol troopers tussled back and forth with thousands of demonstrators on E Pine. The first of the CHOP murders happened right outside the shop. The family of young Lorenzo Anderson finally settled their lawsuit with the city last summer.

In its lawsuit, Molly Moon’s echoes the case of the just-settled suit from property owners and businesses including developer Hunters Capital and the Richmark Label facility at 12th and Pine with complaints of blocked sidewalks, vandalism, and dangers to customers and employees that hurt business, and forced closures. The new suit also cites “reputational damage.”

“The impact on Plaintiff’s business was immense,” the suit reads. “While Plaintiff’s business had been impacted by COVID, Plaintiff’s Capitol Hill location suffered a greater impact to its customer base due to the reputational damage caused by CHOP.”

It contends Molly Moon’s had to close down three times during CHOP — including on July 1st when the city’s police swept in and cleared the encampments and suffered ongoing business losses because of the city’s actions.

The Molly Moon’s lawsuit also accuses the city of “the elimination of basic public safety” around CHOP and providing material support to the protests:

The City provided Cal Anderson Park, a public park located at the center of CHOP, for use as the staging ground supporting CHOP’s occupation of the surrounding area. Supported by the City, countless CHOP participants resided in the park at all times of the day and night, having turned it into a tent city. At any given time, hundreds of CHOP participants camped out in the park. Violence, vandalism, excessive noise, public drug use, and other crimes were rampant within the park, which is directly across the street from Plaintiff’s storefront.

The filing includes complaints about the city’s continued inaction around some aspects of CHOP including the community garden planted in Cal Anderson “in violation of City laws” during the protests that has been allowed to remain by Seattle Parks despite having not received “the approval to remain a permanent fixture as required pursuant to Cal Anderson Park’s historic designations.

While the filing repeatedly expresses Molly Moon’s Ice Cream’s support for First Amendment rights and the “inspiration for CHOP,” it does not document some of the E Pine shop and employee’s efforts in support of the protesters including a June 12th closure “to allow our mooncrew to silently march in solidarity” with a strike organized by Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County.

The suit also does not mention the signs that went up at the store following the July clearance notifying police officers that “Molly Moon’s is a gun-free zone. Please do not come inside if you are wearing a firearm. No guns allowed inside.” The signs sparked a minor media controversy in CHOP’s wake.

Later, Molly Moon’s made a portion of its E Pine space available to the Vivid Matter Collective, artists responsible for the massive Black Lives Matter street mural that remains on E Pine near the shop.

“Again, this case is not about Plaintiff’s agreement or disagreement with the inspiration for CHOP, or the viewpoints expressed by the people occupying that area,” the lawsuit reads. “Instead, it is about the City’s active, knowing endorsement and support of a destructive occupation of a neighborhood to the detriment of the well-being of those who live and work in that neighborhood.”

Conservative media, meanwhile, are licking their chops over the suit from a “woke” Capitol Hill business against the city over the protests. “Delicious,” right wing commentator Ari Hoffman wrote in response to the “anti-cop ice cream shop” suing the city over CHOP.

But for Molly Moon’s, its lawyers say the lawsuit is about the bottom line.

“Because of the conditions created by CHOP, in June 2020 and subsequently, Plaintiff’s customers and its suppliers were deterred from coming to Molly Moon’s,” they write. “Molly Moon’s Capitol Hill location suffered significantly decreased revenue and profits as a direct result of the City’s actions and policies.”

According to the lawyers representing Molly Moon’s, the company has filed a tort claim with the city for an undisclosed amount. The lawsuit is seeking compensation for financial damages to be determined.

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