Lawless In Seattle: All That CHAZ

A war lord over CHAZ? The inevitable didn't take long this time.

From The American Conservative

By Rod Dreher

Woke protesters took over Seattle’s City Hall before marching back to the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” they created after the city’s police force abandoned its precinct house.

A radical city council member unlocked City Hall and let the protesters in.

What’s happening in the CHAZ? Well:

Andy Ngô

✔@MrAndyNgo

The antifa #CapitalHillAutonomousZone in Seattle has a subreddit set up. They are posting about making homemade chemical weapons, maintaining supply lines, & how to use those armed with guns to push police back. #antifa @FBISeattle

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3:01 PM - Jun 10, 2020

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Meanwhile, in a development that nobody could ever have seen coming, CHAZ has its own warlord:

TheWholeStory@TheWholeStory6

Policing in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone by @RazSimone. There appear to be no body cameras, reports, or oversight and accountability. This was an attempt at de-escalation for spraying paint onto a building which resulted in an alleged assault. #chaz #FreeCapitolHill

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5:10 AM - Jun 10, 2020

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More on Raz Simone the Warlord from Reddit:

The Seattle Police — who, remember, ran away from the precinct — say that they are getting reports that armed people within CHAZ are extorting the people living there. While it is tempting to say these radical fools get what they deserve, the fact is that the authorities in Seattle, and in Washington State, have allowed Antifa to take over a portion of a major American city, and run it according to the law of the street. This is what happens when you let the mob rule.

Washington’s Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee will do nothing. Washington’s Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan will do nothing. If you won’t have President Trump, prepare to pay your respects to Raz Simone.

Just you wait, Blue America: once your local authorities dismantle the police force, it’s gonna be lit. 

Downtown Seattle, May 30

UPDATE:Christopher Rufo reporting from CHAZ for City Journal. Excerpts:

Nikkita Oliver, a radical activist and former mayoral candidate, emerged as a critical voice of the protest movement and assumed a leadership role in the newly declared autonomous zone. After night fell and a light rain began falling, she spoke to the crowd and outlined the ideological commitments behind the occupation. “[We need to] align ourselves with the global struggle that acknowledges [that] the United States plays a role in racialized capitalism,” she told protestors. “Racialized capitalism is built upon patriarchy, white supremacy, and classism.”

The following day, a coalition of black activists associated with the autonomous zone released a more specific list of demands, including the total abolition of the Seattle Police Department, the retrial of all racial minorities serving prison time for violent crimes, and the replacement of the police with autonomous “restorative/transformative accountability programs.” Activists pledged to maintain control of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone until their demands are met—setting the stage for a long-term occupation and the establishment of a parallel political authority.

More:

The city government has not developed a strategic response to the takeover of Capitol Hill. According to one Seattle police officer with knowledge of internal deliberations, the city’s “leadership is in chaos” and “the mayor has made the decision to let a mob of 1,000 people dictate public safety policy for a city of 750,000.” The officer said that Chief Best had dispatched high-ranking police officials to the autonomous zone to establish a line of communication, but the officials were immediately sent away by armed paramilitaries at the barricades. “The tide of public opinion is on the side of the activists and they’re pushing the envelope as far as they can,” said the officer. “It’s not hyperbolic to say the endgame is anarchy.”

Readers in Seattle: is it time to leave?