Capitol Hill Organized Protest

The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, originally Free Capitol Hill, later the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The zone, originally covering two intersections at the corners of Cal Anderson Park and the roads leading up to them, was established on June 8, 2020, by people protesting the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The zone was cleared of occupants by police on July 1, 2020.

The formation of the zone was preceded by tense interactions between protesters and police in riot gear which began on June 1, 2020. On June 1, thousands of Seattle residents were attending a permitted rally event at Westlake Mall in Downtown Seattle, one mile west of Seattle’s east precinct in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Police lined the northeast side of the rally and fired tear gas into the crowd. The event became chaotic and people began moving east toward Capitol Hill where they eventually congregated, angered by the police response downtown. The situation escalated on June 7 after a man drove his vehicle toward a crowd near 11th Avenue and Pine Street and shot a protester who tried to stop him. Tear gas, flash-bangs and pepper spray were used by police in the densely populated residential neighborhood. On June 7, the SPD reported that protesters were throwing rocks, bottles, and fireworks, and were shining green lasers into officers' eyes. The next day, the SPD vacated and boarded up its East Precinct building in an effort to de-escalate the situation. After the SPD had vacated the East Precinct station, protesters moved into the Capitol Hill area. They repositioned street barricades in a one-block radius around the station and declared the area "Free Capitol Hill". The protest area was later renamed the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP).

The zone was a self-organized space without official leadership. Police were not welcome within the zone. Protesters demanded that Seattle's police budget be decreased by 50%, that funding be shifted to community programs and services in "historically black communities", and that CHOP protesters not be charged with crimes. Participants created a block-long "Black Lives Matter" mural, provided free film screenings in the street, and performed live music. A "No Cop Co-op" was formed, with food, hand sanitizer and other supplies. Areas were set up for public speakers and to facilitate discourse, and a community vegetable garden was constructed. However the garden was unable to grow any food, so outside food had to be imported.

The CHOP was a focus of national attention during its existence. On June 11, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan stated that the zone had a "block party" atmosphere; later, ''The New York Times'' contrasted Durkan's words with local business people's accounts of harassment, vandalism, and looting. The CHOP's size decreased following shootings in or near the zone on June 20, 21, and 23. On June 28, Durkan met with protesters and informed them that the city planned to remove most barricades and limit the area of the zone. In the early morning of June 29, a fourth shooting left a black 16-year-old boy dead and a black 14-year-old boy in critical condition. Calling the situation "dangerous and unacceptable", police chief Carmen Best told reporters: "Enough is enough. We need to be able to get back into the area." On July 1, after Durkan issued an executive order, Seattle police cleared the area of protesters and reclaimed the East Precinct station. Protests continued in Seattle and at the CHOP site over the following days and months.

History

Background

Capitol Hill is a densely populated residential district on a steep hill just east of Seattle's downtown business district, known for its prominent LGBT and counterculture communities and its vibrant nightlife. The Seattle Police Department had been protested against in the past. In 1965, during the civil rights movement after Robert L. Reese, an unarmed black man, was shot by an SPD officer, community leaders followed police in "freedom patrols" to observe (and record) their interactions with the Black community. Since 2012, the SPD had been under federal oversight after it had been found to use excessive force and biased policing.

Seattle had been the location of other mass protests, such as the 1999 WTO protests and Occupy Seattle. The city is home to several cultural institutions created by occupation protests, including the Northwest African American Museum, the Daybreak Star Cultural Center and El Centro de la Raza.

Protests over the murder of George Floyd and police brutality began in Seattle on May 29, 2020. Street clashes occurred in greater Seattle for nine days involving protesters, the Seattle Police Department, the Washington State Patrol and the Washington National Guard.

Capitol Hill clashes (June 1–8)

The zone's formation was preceded by a week of tense interactions in the Capitol Hill neighborhood beginning on June 1, when protesters and police in riot gear began facing off at a police barricade near the SPD's East Precinct building after a child was pepper sprayed and police refused to let paramedics treat the child. The SPD used dispersal tactics, including blast balls, flash-bangs and pepper spray. On June 5, Mayor Jenny Durkan and SPD Chief Carmen Best announced a 30-day ban on the use of tear gas.

A group of public representatives (including four City Council-members, a King County Council-member, state Senator Joe Nguyen and state Representative Nicole Macri) joined demonstrators on June 6 on the front lines in response to citizen requests, when officers again used flash-bangs and pepper spray to control the crowd.

On June 7, Police installed sturdier barricades around the East Precinct and boarded up its windows. The situation intensified after 8 pm, when a demonstrator was shot while trying to slow down a vehicle speeding toward a crowd of 1,000 protesters on 11th Avenue and East Pine Street; the driver left the vehicle with a gun and walked towards the police line, where he was taken into custody without incident. It later became known that the shooter's brother worked at the East Precinct. After midnight on June 8, police reported that protesters were throwing bottles, rocks and fireworks. The SPD resumed the use of tear gas (despite the mayor's ban), and used pepper spray and flash-bangs against protesters at 11th and Pine. Over 12,000 complaints were filed about police response to the demonstrations, and members of the Seattle City Council questioned how many weapons had been thrown at police.

Police boarded up and vacated the East Precinct during the afternoon of June 8, which Best described as an effort to "de-escalate the situation and rebuild trust". It remained unclear days later who had decided to retreat from the East Precinct, since Chief Best did not admit responsibility. Durkan later attributed the decision to withdraw to an unnamed SPD on-scene commander. Over a year later, a ''KUOW'' report identified Assistant Chief Tom Mahaffey as the one who made the decision, revealing that he had done so without the knowledge of Best or Durkan.

Formation and operation

On June 8, 2020, after the SPD had vacated the East Precinct station, protesters moved into the Capitol Hill area. They positioned street barricades in a one-block radius around the station, and declared the area "Free Capitol Hill".

Mayor Durkan called the zone an attempt to "de-escalate interactions between protesters and law enforcement", and Best said that her officers would look at approaches to "reduce heirfootprint" in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. City Council member Kshama Sawant spoke to occupants of Cal Anderson Park on June 8 and urged protesters to turn the precinct into a community center for restorative justice. Police were not welcome within the CHOP.

On June 10, about 1,000 protesters marched into Seattle City Hall demanding Durkan's resignation.

Observers described early zone activity on June 11 as a hybrid of other movements, with an atmosphere which was "part protest, part commune"; a cross between "a sit-in, a protest and summer festival"; or a blend of "Occupy Wall Street and a college cooperative dorm." According to a June 16 '' Vox'' article, CHOP had evolved into "a center of peaceful protest, free political speech, co-ops, and community gardens" after protesters recovered from their initial confusion over the police decision to leave the precinct.

On June 11, the SPD announced its desire to reenter the abandoned East Precinct building and said that it still operated in the zone; according to Washington governor Jay Inslee, the zone was "un-permitted" but "largely peaceful". The next day, Best said: "Rapes, robberies and all sorts of violent acts have been occurring in the area and we have not been able to get to it." During the early morning of June 12, Isaiah Thomas Willoughby, a former Seattle resident, set a fire at the East Precinct building and walked away; community residents extinguished it before it spread beyond the building's external wall or to nearby tents. Later that day, Durkan visited the zone and told a ''New York Times'' reporter that she was unaware of any serious crime reported in the area. Most of the people interviewed by ''Vox'' had participated in the protests but did not feel safe walking in the area at night, especially in late June. One Capitol Hill resident noted a difference in perspective between outsiders and residents: "I feel a lot of the current 'it's not safe' stuff comes from either people who aren't living in the neighborhood itself or from affluent new arrivals, or from business owners."

Some protesters lived in tents inside the zone. Urban camping was illegal in Seattle at the time but the law was seldom enforced.

On June 13, Black Lives Matter protesters negotiated with local officials about leaving the zone. The CHOP's size decreased four days later (when roadblocks were moved).

On June 15, armed members of the Proud Boys appeared in the zone at a Capitol Hill rally. On June 16, an agreement was reached between CHOP representatives and the city to "rezone" the occupied area to allow better street access for businesses and local services. The next day, KING-TV reported that some residents were uneasy with the occupation near their homes: "What you want from a home is a stress-free environment. You want to be able to sleep well, you want to feel comfortable and we just don't feel comfortable right now." The station reported receiving anonymous emails from other residents expressing "real concerns". On June 18, black protesters reportedly expressed unease about the zone and its use of Black Lives Matter slogans. According to NPR, "Black activists say there must be follow-through to make sure their communities remain the priority in a majority-white protest movement whose camp has taken on the feel of a neighborhood block party that's periodically interrupted by chants of 'Black Lives Matter!

The CHOP's size continued to shrink after several shootings in or near the zone, on June 20, 21, and 23. The ''Star Tribune'' reported on June 22 that at night, the atmosphere within the zone became charged as demonstrators marched and armed volunteer guards kept watch. On June 22, Durkan and Best said in a press conference that police would reoccupy the East Precinct "peacefully and in the near future"; no specific timeline was given. CNN quoted "''de facto'' CHOP leader" hip-hop artist Raz Simone two days later as saying that "a lot of people are going to leave; a lot of people already left" the zone. That day, Durkan proposed a police hiring freeze and a $20 million cut to the SPD budget (about a 5% reduction for the rest of 2020) to compensate for a revenue shortfall and unforeseen expenses due to the pandemic. During a public-comment period, community members said that the budget cut should be larger and SPD funds should be redirected to housing and healthcare.

Twelve businesses, residents and property owners filed a class-action lawsuit in federal court against the city, which they said had deprived them of due process by permitting the zone. Saying that they did not want "to undermine CHOP participants' message or present a counter-message", the plaintiffs alleged that their legal rights were "overrun" by the city's "unprecedented decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood" and isolate them from city services. They sought compensation for property damage and lost business and property rights, and restoration of full public access. Community Roots Housing, a public development authority

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