The Capitol Hill Occupy Protest zone (CHOP) is set to come to an end after Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan said the violence in the zone had become “increasingly difficult” for businesses and residents and as such the zone would be dismantled “peacefully” by the Seattle Police.
Following the protests in Seattle in connection with the killing of George Floyd, some Black Lives Matter (BLM) protesters declared a six-block area in the city of Seattle an “Autonomous Zone”: one free from police and independent from the United States of America. This area was called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ). After significant criticism of the protesters for calling themselves autonomous when they still relied on city water, electricity and emergency services, the protesters later changed the name to CHOP.
The six blocks were centred around a police precinct that had been abandoned by Seattle police after clashes between police and protesters. The protesters refused to allow police into the area and built a fence around it to mark the border.
The protesters claimed the zone was a place for “racial justice” and freedom from police “oppression”.
The occupation received support from both the Seattle mayor and the Washington State governor, with Mayor Durkan saying on Twitter:
“The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone #CHAZ is not a lawless wasteland of anarchist insurrection – it is a peaceful expression of our community’s collective grief and their desire to build a better world. Given his track record, it’s not hard to believe that Trump is wrong, yet again.”
A 17-year-old was shot on Sunday night. After another shooting on Saturday night in the zone, Police Chief Carmen Best said her officers had been confronted by a “hostile crowd” that hampered emergency workers as they tried to reach the victims.
Following these incidents, the mayor has reversed course and asked that the police now move to begin reentering the area.
Image by PixelAnarchy from Pixabay