- In the Capitol Hill neighborhood of
Seattle , anautonomous zone is taking shape – and the police aren't welcome. - Protesters established the space, known as the CHAZ, on Monday evening.
- It's quickly become an experiment in a police-free community.
- As the predominantly Black leaders of the CHAZ look to keep the space sustainable, expelling the police marks "a principled victory" for the community, one protester told Insider.
The scene near the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct was tense on Monday afternoon. Crowds of anti-racist protesters stood off against a wall of riot-ready police officers.
"I was fully prepared to get the s--- kicked out of me," Jack, a protester who asked Insider to withhold his name out of fear of police retaliation, told Insider. "They had shields, they had tear gas, they had mace in hand," and "a couple of SWAT guys with rubber-bullet guns."
It looked like the standoff might quickly morph into a melee, and protesters were prepared for it: Since late May, they've withstood police violence. Even after Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan banned the use of tear gas for 30 days, police still fired it into crowds. Protest organizers are now suing the city for what they allege was "unnecessary violence against peaceful demonstrators who are speaking out against discriminatory police brutality."
But at the standoff, the tense atmosphere was unexpectedly defused.
A lieutenant came out to the line and said, "Just give us 45 minutes and we'll get out of your way," Jack recalled. "Whoever was leading the protest said, 'No. You have eight minutes and 46 seconds,'" the same amount of time that Derek Chauvin knelt on Black man
The police decamped from the East Precinct, in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, and an autonomous zone was established in its wake.
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, or CHAZ, has become a symbol of people-powered victory and a future without police, Jack said. Jack lives a few blocks outside the zone's proper boundaries but said it's already made the community much better.
"There is a very positive spirit in the air," he said. Occupants are reading poetry and making art, distributing free food widely, including to the homeless, and engaging in open-forum debates about the future they want to build.
Though some protesters have stood in front of the empty precinct with "long guns," Jack said, to prevent anyone from entering the building, there isn't any enforcement around the perimeter of the CHAZ.
Nonetheless, police aren't showing up.
"Everybody I've talked to feels significantly safer knowing that there aren't there aren't police on the streets," he added.
Police presence was initially ratcheted up in reaction to protests after George Floyd's death
Like much of the country, Seattle became a site of tumult and terror after Floyd was killed.
Before the CHAZ was established, there was "a heavy police presence all over Capitol Hill," Jack said. "They'd been using university parking lots, [grocery-store] parking lots, and public parks as a staging area for all of their gear, all of their buses to make mass arrests."
The police violence that Jack and others experienced was deeply traumatizing, he said. Since Floyd's killing, police used tear gas and flash bangs on crowds, especially near the East Precinct. The daily clashes would begin in the evening and end by around 2 a.m.
Over the first week of protests, at least 82 people were arrested, local news reported. It's unclear how many of those were protesters. The Seattle Police Department did not respond to Insider's request for comment.
"It's intimidating. Even though I'm not in the CHAZ, from my apartment I could see police donning all their riot gear. And it was nice to not have to look at that," he said. "It makes you not want to go home because I don't want them to necessarily see where I live. They could find me later."
Expelling the police force is the first step toward a different, non-violent future, a different protester told Insider earlier this week. The CHAZ leadership, which is almost entirely Black, is exploring ways to keep the space from "fizzling out," Jack said.
When Trump jeered Durkan for what he described as a space full of "ugly Anarchists" who "must be stopped IMMEDIATELY," she fired back.
"Lawfully gathering and expressing first amendment rights, demanding we do better as a society and provide true equity for communities of color is not terrorism — it is patriotism," she said.
FreeCapitol Hill, an anonymous collective, put forth 30 demands to the city. Other demands are sprawled across the CHAZ in spraypaint.
For now, expelling the police is "a principled victory," Jack said.
"People get the feeling that they've removed an occupying force," he added.
- Read more:
- 'It's reminiscent of Occupy': Protesters in Seattle have established a communal 'autonomous zone' to prove they don't need police
- San Francisco's mayor wants to outlaw tear gas and stop police from responding to non-criminal calls
- Scotland votes to end export of tear gas, rubber bullets, and riot gear to the United States
- Even if Derek Chauvin is found guilty of murdering George Floyd, he's still eligible to receive a $1.5 million pension
- 'The cop in me wants to kick my own ass': NYPD officer reportedly apologized to fellow police for kneeling at an anti-racist protest