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| Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone | |
|---|---|
| 2020 | |
| Common languages | English |
| Government | Organized protest zone |
• Established | June 8, 2020 |
• Dissolution | July 1, 2020 |
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, also known as Free Capitol Hill, was a self-described autonomous zone that existed in Seattle, Washington, USA during the George Floyd protests in Summer 2020. It was created by Black Lives Matter protestors who wanted to decrease the city's police department by 50%.[1] President Donald Trump called the protestors "ugly Anarchists" and demanded that the U.S. government take back the territory.[2] The protestors failed to achieve their demands and the autonomous zone was cleared out by police less than a month after it was established.[3]
Marxists very quickly saw that the CHAZ would not live very long, as there was no way the police or even the federal state would allow this to persist. From the start, the experiment showed that it was an adventurist, spur-of-the-moment experiment with little organisational thought behind it. The CHAZ was established after police abandoned their precinct building in the Capitol Hill area of Seattle, and never amounted to much more than a lively spot to hang out in.
Very quickly, protestors began patrolling the area as a self-formed defence guard. They openly carried weapons and equipment and seemingly anyone could self-elect to become part of this unit, which put some people on edge and led to four shootings in the zone carried out by the self-defence guard. The last shooting, on 29 June 2022, culminated in the killing of an innocent 16 year-old teenager and a wounded 14 year-old,[4] which prompted the city government to send in the police and clear out the zone.
This marked the second homicide at the zone, with another being perpetrated on June 20 2022.[5]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ Corinne Chin, Ramon Dompor, Lauren Frohne (2020-07-04). "‘The Uprising’: Watch how Seattle’s protests have evolved" The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ↑ Tim Elfrink, Derek Hawkins, Marisa Iati (2020-06-11). "Seattle mayor blasts Trump’s threat to ‘take back’ the city after protesters set up ‘autonomous zone’" The Washington Post.
- ↑ Public Affairs (2020-07-01). "(UPDATED) Mayor Durkan Issues Executive Order Regarding Capitol Hill Protest Zone" Seattle Police Department. Retrieved 2022-04-09.
- ↑ David Gutman and Sydney Brownstone (2020-07-08). "‘Everybody down!’: What happened at the shooting that killed a teenager and led to CHOP’s shutdown" Seattle Times.
- ↑ David Gutman, Brendan Kiley, Hannah Furfaro and Mike Carter (2020-06-20). "After early morning shooting in CHOP, occupied area returns to its new normal" Seattle Times.