‘We need more people with guns at the CHAZ…’
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Antifa and other radical groups are now the proud owners of a six-block radius in the heart of Seattle that has been renamed the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.”
Seattle @MayorJenny is allowing a dangerous situation to fester. #Antifa militants have taken over & created an “autonomous zone” in city w/their own rules. Police precinct abandoned. Antifa set up barricades to create a border. Calling for volunteers to provide armed guard. pic.twitter.com/ksQI4NI5kP
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 9, 2020
The rioters are barricading the area and stationing armed guards around the zone—all with the blessing of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.
We need more people with guns at the CHAZ
— Seattle Antifa (@RainCity161) June 10, 2020
Some Twitter commenters noted the irony that the group, which has waged virulent open-borders protests in the past, had decided to erect walls of its own.
Activists build their own barricades to protect themselves pic.twitter.com/ilGct7ZVQ6
— Alex Garland (@AGarlandPhoto) June 9, 2020
The group—which also has ties to the Black Lives Matter movement—reportedly coerced police into abandoning their East precinct with the support of some of the city’s top leaders.Councilwoman Kshama Sawant allegedly used her key to unlock City Hall and allow them inside, according to the Gateway Pundit.
Despite the fact that both Sawant and Durkan are radical leftists, there appears to be a rift among the city councilors, with the activists demanding Durkan’s resignation over her past support of law enforcement.
The main objective appears to be forcing the city to defund its police department.
“Two years ago, there was a police contract up for the vote,” Sawant said during a speech Tuesday, according to the anarchist rebels’ blog.
“It was a bad contract. It was a racist contract,” she continued. “It was going to roll back the limited accountability measures that were hard fought for by community members.”
@cmkshama speaks to the crowd at 12th and Pine. pic.twitter.com/sbVTQ2phgv
— Alex Garland (@AGarlandPhoto) June 9, 2020
Signs posted around the area largely seem to signal support for the movement, reported Townhall writer Julio Rosas.
Some of the signs posted around the area. One calls for the defunding of the Seattle PD and the dropping of all charges against protesters. Another says, “The cops will always be racist because capitalism requires inequality.” pic.twitter.com/hhmHL9q113
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 9, 2020
One provides the link to a petition that demands a 50% cut in police funding while also demanding spending on a number of social-justice-related programs and amnesty for the rioters.
“The cops will always be racist because capitalism requires inequality,” says the accompanying message.
Another sign, from Seattle Central College, offers support including aid, food and water to the rioters.
According to conservative journalist Andy Ngo, in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, there is some precedent. Ted Wheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon, allowed a similar anarchist takeover in 2018 during protests over Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
When antifa can’t achieve a full revolution, they take over a small area in leftist cities to carry out their utopian commune experiment. It ends in neighborhoods being destroyed & occupiers forcibly dispersed because of health hazards. They leave the filth behind for others. https://t.co/JWBntUW2zd
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 9, 2020
Portland is continuing to deal with the cleanup, including human waste and discarded hypodermic needles, that resulted after the five-week occupancy.
“Not only did it become a biohazard site w/intravenous drug abuse, the local businesses & residents were terrorized,” Ngo wrote in a recent tweet comparing the two. “Tax payers had to pay for the extensive cleanup.”
Ironically, despite the insurrection—which was reportedly a peaceful transfer of power—the activist groups, in coordination with the far-left American Civil Liberties Union and the Democrat law firm Perkins Coie, also filed suit against the city over the police’s alleged use of excessive force, including tear gas, as a deterrent while having their secured area encroached upon.
The suit complained that the deterrent measures impeded several people with disabilities—including one with asthma and another who had mobility issues—from fully enjoying their First Amendment freedoms guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution.
Given the sympathetic stance of Seattle’s leaders toward the insurrectionists, the suit is likely to be settled and assist the radicals in transferring the wealth of Seattle’s taxpayers to the radical rioters without ever going to trial.
It remains to be seen whether Seattle’s capitulation to the anarchist demands will lead groups to attempt similar overthrows in other cities.