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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: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 12 2020, @07:56PM (7 children)
But, we already knew hemo was an idiocy?
OK, Boomer!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by hemocyanin on Friday June 12 2020, @09:05PM (6 children)
Keep going. Right now I'm a common formulation of GenX liberal (*) with a lot of disappointment in the old (Boomer) and new (Millennial) hippies who've moved from merely annoying woowooshit into fanning the flames of racial division and tribal war, but if you want to make me an enemy rather than listen to valid criticism -- if you want to force me to choose a side -- then don't be surprised if I don't choose your side because when I do the math, when I look at cancel culture and all the rest, the woke left looks way more dangerous than your average Republican (and the ones I know, are not the social issue dinosaurs you lot try to make them out to be).
So you can take your pussy hats, your knitting wars, your Raz Simones, your suppression of speech, your twitter mobs getting people fired for wrongThink -- and just stuff it where the sun don't shine.
(*) pro-freedom, pro-gay rights, pro-choice, atheist, anti-war, anti-surveillance state, equality for all -- probably not the majority of GenX but not rare -- the type who once subscribed to Skeptical Inquirer and such.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @12:04AM (1 child)
Looks like all your beliefs are right there on the "far-right" Libertarian political platform [lp.org]. Probably the Green platform [gp.org] as well.
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Saturday June 13 2020, @03:13AM
I've voted both Green and Libertarian, more Green. I do part ways with the woke-left and the libertarians/greens on open borders.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @04:56AM (3 children)
Cancel culture is a nonsense phrase, that is called "freedom of association." If some business no longer wants anything to do with some asshole that is not your business to decide whether their choice is right or wrong.
Suppression of speech? Please cite these instances of people being prevented from publishing their opinions. All I see are platforms enforcing their terms of service for PR reasons. I don't always agree, but their freedom to moderate their own platforms is their own. Amazing how these protestations only manifest when conservatives are getting the axe. Never heard such complaints from you during other such instances of institutions biased against minorities/gays/etc.
You claim to be a GenX liberal, however you're only getting bent out of shape now that bigots are getting booted from platforms. What about all the minorities jailed unjustly? Non hetero sexuality harassed? These are still real issues. Did you protest the kids in cages? Cause that is 100% more of an issue than some racist assholes losing their twitter account, or getting fired for being hateful pricks.
Maybe you should research the paradox of tolerating the intolerant. As long as Constitutional rights are not violated there is no problem, just angry assholes trying to stir up righteous anger for terrible reasons.
(Score: 1) by hemocyanin on Saturday June 13 2020, @10:04AM
Well, I never voted for Obama. First time because I didn't believe he was the peace candidate he claimed to be. Second time because he proved he was the warmonger I thought he would be. Nor did I vote for Trump. So yeah, I've never voted for kids in cages.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 13 2020, @06:32PM (1 child)
oh now the Bolsheviks believe in freedom of association? what about anti-discrimination, affirmative action laws?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 14 2020, @11:42PM
I've never been a big fan of those either, but until we fix some of the other systemic issues they really don't bother me. There is very little impact on "white" people, other policies like H1B visas and outsourcing are way bigger so go yell at some "kings of capitalism" and advocate for worker protections and then we can talk.
Til then you're just another conservative hypocrite.