by Bob Walsh
That
lawless section of Capitol Hill in Seattle known as The Zone seems to
be dying of its own accord. "The Authorities" went in yesterday and
started removing the street barriers with little or no objection from
the denizens of The Zone. As far as I know the cops have not reoccupied
the cop shop yet, but that will come. Eventually.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Not so fast there, Bob.
CHOP
avoids the chop: Defiant occupants of Seattle's cop-free zone rebuild
barricades and fortify their compound just MINUTES after the city
attempted to reclaim the 'war zone'
Daily Mail
June 30, 2020
Protesters at Seattle's 'occupied' protest
zone rebuilt barricades just minutes after the city tore them down
Tuesday following two fatal shootings in the area.
Demonstrators
have occupied several blocks around the Seattle Police Department's
East Precinct and a park for about two weeks. Police had abandoned the
precinct following clashes with protesters calling for an end to police
brutality.
But by Tuesday morning
crews were working to pull down the barriers. A handwashing station was
also removed after concrete barricades were cleared by Seattle
Department of Transportation workers at the intersection of 10th Ave.
and Pine St.
Protesters
were then filmed lining up plastic barriers, couches and trash cans in
attempt to replace the blocks. DailyMail.com has contacted both the
police and the Mayor's office on how they plan to deal with the area
going forward.
City employees were seen
handing out flyers to the campers at nearby the Cal Anderson Park
telling them they had to be out of the park by noon today. They also
provided numbers and information about finding shelter.
The
apparent move to dismantle parts of the area follows the shooting death
of the unidentified 16-year-old boy in the early hours of Monday
morning. A 14-year-old was also critically injured when eyewitnesses say
armed security inside the zone fired 300 rounds.
Volunteer medic Marty Jackson had described the area as an 'active war zone' and said: 'I don't think we're gonna stop here.'
He told KUOW it
was CHOP's own armed security who fired at the car driven by the teen
after it crashed into a barrier, killing him and critically wounding the
14-year-old.
Warning people not to
come to the CHOP zone, Jackson added: 'Because now it's like pretty much
an active war zone. Now you have security and medical always looking
around waiting to see the next.'
City workers on Friday tried to remove makeshift barriers erected around the area but stopped their work after demonstrators objected.
Seattle Department of Transportation Director Sam Zimbabwe said the city was not expecting to clear out the barriers in front of Seattle police's East Precinct on Tuesday.
But despite what the city officials have said about clearing out more concrete barriers, protesters are mobilizing just in case.
A
CHOP security person who refused to give his name told DailyMail.com
exclusively: 'We are getting ready for anything. We don't trust the city
or the police. If they try to come back and remove more barriers they
are going to get pissed off of us.'
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