SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The CHAZ Has Become America's Fascination
The Stranger describes it as an "anti-capitalist police-free Vatican City inside Capitol Hill." The New York Times deems it "part street festival, part commune." President Donald Trump alludes to it, via tweet, as a bastion for "anarchists" who "must be stooped [sic]."
Seemingly overnight, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone—or, "the CHAZ," as everyone's calling it—has become a local and national fascination. It was only Monday that the Seattle Police Department loaded up trucks and ditched the East Precinct at 12th and Pine, the site of tear gas-clouded confrontations between officers and Black Lives Matter-inspired protesters in the days after the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd. Protesters have since barricaded and transformed a cluster of city blocks into a mostly peaceful enclave of free food, face coverings, resistance art, educational town halls, and even some live music. Seattle Police Department chief Carmen Best says she's heard of armed people patrolling the area and businesses having to pay "protection" fees, but as of this writing, no formal police reports related to either situation have been filed.
At a time when cities are mulling the defunding and, in a few cases, abolition of their police departments, some people might be looking at Seattle's police-free movement with a mix of amusement and genuine curiosity: Is this communal version of the American experiment a blip, or is it a preview of what's to come in other population hubs this summer? For many, however, the questions are more fundamental: How long will the CHAZ (or the People's Republic of Capitol Hill, or Free Cap Hill, depending on your sign preference) stick around? And what are its aims?
Raz Simone, a local rapper, has apparently taken a leading role in declaring a several-block area of a residential Seattle neighborhood to be an independent revolutionary state called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (The CHAZ). Simone and a few friends, armed with several guns and a megaphone, have declared themselves the new police. He came to national attention on Wednesday when a video of him assaulting someone over graffiti came to light online.
[...] The president tweeted Wednesday and Thursday morning that the area has been taken over by a "Terrorist Warlord" and "Domestic Terrorists."
See also: The Future of Capitol Hill's New Autonomous Zone Is Predictable
Businesses Extorted? Armed Checkpoints on Capitol Hill? Yes, and Also Mercer Island Is for Sale
An Exceedingly Chill Day at the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @06:19PM (28 children)
What hemocyanin said, plus the following points:
The first thing these open border activists did was build a wall and start policing their border. Days after these "defund the police" activists took control, Raz Simone declared himself the police and began attempting to extort protection money from local businesses. After they allowed homeless people to take all their food they began soliciting for donations of vegan meat substitute on social media. As for their farm, Lysenkoism revisited and we'll know they achieved "real communism" when they start starving.
It's an fabulous advertisement for civil society without being a reality TV show. Tucker Carlson did a fantastic
news segmentcomedy skit [youtube.com] on the worlds newest nation the other night. What a time to be alive.(Score: 4, Interesting) by looorg on Friday June 12 2020, @07:22PM (7 children)
So ACAB until you are in control and then among the first thing you do is to wall yourself in and start policing your area? One just can't help but to laugh at the logic and contradictions.
So is everyone on the "inside" ok with this or are they in essence being held hostage or thrown out of their homes by these cultists? Have they been disconnected from the postal-, power- and sanitation services yet? Since they are technically then not part of the city or "our" society anymore.
With support from the outside I guess they could make it thru the summer, unless it turns into a sanitary issue that risks spreading. But come winter this little science experiment will most likely be a thing of the past.
So if there is no law enforcement how long will it take for the druggies and hookers to set up shop inside? What is the goal? To become some sort of Christiania?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @08:25PM (6 children)
Where was that sentiment during armed insurrection [wikipedia.org]?
I find it quite interesting that you weren't so concerned when armed insurrectionists took over public lands, yet mostly unarmed folks are a threat to our society.
You can't have it both ways.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by looorg on Friday June 12 2020, @08:49PM (5 children)
How do you know what I thought about that event? Stop putting words in my mouth to fit your agenda.
But since you brought it up -- when can we expect the feds and the police to come in and clear the CHAZ? Otherwise why can only the "mostly" unarmed (insert whatever they are) occupy land in the middle of a metropolitan city without LEO coming in and restoring order? Is that just reserved for white people that likes guns out in the boonies?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @09:04PM
Well, based on the statements of the duly elected mayor [twitter.com], I'd say "never."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @09:05PM (3 children)
So. What *did* you think about the armed insurrectionists taking over Federal land?
Please. Do tell.
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @09:42PM
Sounds like another episode in the long-running dumbasses vs assholes soap opera.
Copenhagen is a food group, right?
(Score: 2, Interesting) by hemocyanin on Friday June 12 2020, @11:01PM (1 child)
I'm not him, but my thought was that it was quixotic, moronic, and lame. That said, there are some differences to note between Malheur and Capital Hill:
-- The Malheur occupation maybe displaced a few workers but my understanding was that the buildings were unoccupied, certainly not used for permanent habitation.
-- CHAZ is impacting approximately 500 residents. In these days of cancel culture and mobs, I would expect them to not say anything negative about the occupiers lest they be branded "literal nazis" just because they want to get their mail delivered and trash removed.
-- The Malheur occupation ended in a death which many on the woke left cheered but appears to be an instance of trigger happy cops starting shit.
-- The violence out of CHAZ is internal and though not so severe as that at Malheur, assaults and domestic violence are not exactly minor either.
-- Malheur aint exactly nowhere, but you can see it from there.
-- CHAZ is in WA's largest city.
So, on the continuum of actions, from helpful to horrendous, Malheur is somewhere past the midpoint on the way to horrendous, and CHAZ is quite a bit farther past it.
We can also look at a different commune the rioters set up as a "sanctuary" -- It's like a tornado went through. https://twitter.com/maxnesterak/status/1271186315476860928 [twitter.com]
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @05:02AM
"I would expect them to not say anything negative about the occupiers lest they be branded "literal nazis" just because they want to get their mail delivered and trash removed."
I guess you don't realize you are outing yourself as an idiot. Best of luck with your continuing idiocy and your belief that you're a liberal. CHAZ is a weird and possibly troubling development, but your approach to them is simply out of touch. Maybe you were a liberal boomer, however now you're just a moderate conservative.
Not racist, not filled with hate, but definitely stuck in the past and prioritizing the wrong things.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @07:36PM (12 children)
To whom, *exactly* are you referring? What *specific* statements advocating for "open borders" have the *specific* people (name names here -- and they better be residing within CHAZ *right now*) made?
Come on. You made a specific accusation. Do you have any evidence to back it up?
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @08:15PM (11 children)
Meet Antifa [youtube.com] defense for CHAZ is provided by the John Brown Gun Club.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @08:36PM (10 children)
What? Are you accusing the Washington State Legislature [wa.gov] of advocating for "open borders"?
I'd point out that at *most* there's one state legislator that represents the Capitol Hill area. What's more, the state capital is in Olympia, not Seattle.
Besides, nothing you posted has *anything* to do with "open borders" (and no one supports that anyway, despite the propaganda/cowardly panic fantasies of Alex Jones and Rush "Where are my opiates!" Limbaugh).
So I'll ask again: who, currently residing in "CHAZ", advocates "open borders"? Let's have names of individuals and references to *specific* published calls for "open borders." I know you'll just post more bullshit, but it just serves to give the lie even more to your disingenuous garbage.
You're talking out of your ass and it smells that way too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @09:34PM (5 children)
Don't know about open borders, but their list of demands did explicitly touch the whole abolish ICE thing, along with the whole bit about policing.
They're not exactly border-friendly, by the looks of it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @09:45PM (4 children)
I can't speak to the specific claims made, but personally I'm against imprisoning children [vox.com] in conditions that would trigger serious legal repercussions if an adult prison treated their *convicted* (remember, these are *children* not even *charged* with a crime) inmates the way these children have been treated.
Whether or not the solution is to get rid of the agency perpetrating these flagrant human rights violations or reforming that agency to make sure it stops, I don't know.
Regardless, making the abuses of ICE an issue is certainly reasonable, and taking an extreme position is pretty normal when you're trying to start a dialogue/negotiation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @10:20PM
No, there would be no legal repercussions. Most county jails are just as bad.
(Score: 0, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @10:59PM (2 children)
Look at my bold text I must be saying somethiing important without ever mentioning that the child cages were built under Obama. 'tard!
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @11:10PM (1 child)
Where was there any mention of any particular administration? And it doesn't matter. Abusing children is wrong no matter who does it.
Invoking whataboutism doesn't change the fact that those conditions are flagrant human rights abuses.
I'd also note that it's been more than three years since the Obama administration left administration of such abuses to others.
Want to blame Obama, fine. At the same time, you should credit him with deporting more undocumented folks than any president before or since.
But it wasn't *just* the Obama administration now was it? But you don't want to talk about that do you. 2016 is long over and the moron *you* elected is now responsible -- she lost a long time ago -- get over it!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @11:45PM
If you want to charge Obama with flagrant human rights violations, take him to court.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @10:56PM (3 children)
You are the one talking out of your ass. I provided evidence, you provided whataboutism and evasion. Antifa is not a horizontally integrated organization, it's vertically integrated like al-queda (literally "the base" - a database of militant Islamist groups according to UK Hansard records). Antifa can be tracked and will be tracked, guess that's bad news for you sweetheart? Enjoy the sedition charges!
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @11:13PM (2 children)
Then you should have no problem naming specific names. What's more, you should be able to identify specific individuals *currently within the boundaries of CHAZ* who have made such statements.
You have done none of those things. And so I repeat myself for the last time: You're talking out of your ass and it smells that way too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @11:48PM (1 child)
You claim the ACAB crew are individualists but they are collectivist, bend and grab your ankles on the way to the nearest shower comrade.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:17AM
I didn't *claim* anything.
I asked for clarification and more specific information about claims made by someone else.
Specifically, I asked who made certain *public* statements. Full stop.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @07:51PM (5 children)
Has Raz started imposing taxes yet?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @09:29PM (3 children)
The security fee some have said he was trying to get businesses to pay.
(Score: 0, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @09:46PM
[Citation needed]
Who said that? Be specific and provide references.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @10:03PM
How many communists are there in the Department of Defense?
(Score: 0, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:30AM
Could it be, . . .
(Score: 2) by legont on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:59AM
He is presumably in talks with the governor about extending the territory and some form of recognition, wich he already got, it seems.
What I wonder about... what stops president Putin from recognizing the new republic? He also could provide some help.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Reziac on Saturday June 13 2020, @02:48AM
If they're actually autonomous. why are they still leeching off city services, like power and water? Well, we'll see what happens when they refuse to pay next month's bills...
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.