Critics have called it a block party, but participants are calling it an 'ad-hoc conglomeration of people' in a festival-like environment 'where the only headliner is change.'
The Capitol Hill autonomous zone, CHAZ, is a six-block area of Seattle that was abruptly surrendered and abandoned by police amid clashes with protesters.Inside, people can walk freely among murals, access free food and gather to organize to protest. Critics have called it a block party, but participants are calling it an"ad-hoc conglomeration of people" in a festival-like environment"where the only headliner is change.
The protesters seized a roughly six-block area, including the east precinct, to create an"autonomous police-free zone." Sealed off from outsiders by barricades, patrolled by armed residents, police aren't allowed inside. Slate, a CHOP security leader who didn't provide a full name to ABC News, described CHOP as an"ad-hoc conglomeration of people who want some change" within the police department.
A modified sign for the Seattle Police Dept. East Precinct building, which has been boarded up and abandoned except for a few officers inside, is shown, June 11, 2020 in Seattle.Johnson is not a member of CHOP but has given speeches within the zone and worked with its members. "These protests are protests fundamentally about a policing system that has tried to dominate black Americans through the history of our country. You don't meet those protests with domination. You meet them with listening and with change. This president just wants to distract. If he truly cared about America and the divisions that were happening now, he'd be bringing us together and find ways for us to move forward.
As for the occupation of the police department's east precinct, Durkan said,"The precinct itself is just the building. Our focus is on how do we make sure that policing adapts to this situation." "It's not a protest ... I call it Burning Man," Beach said."It's very disrespectful. The message is totally taken away."
Johnson described the environment in the zone as a block party, which he said is not out of the ordinary for Capitol Hill -- especially during Pride Month, as the neighborhood has a large LGBTQ+ community.
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