Welcome to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
Hello! Did you see Trump tweeting about anarchists/domestic terrorists taking over Seattle and what to know what the heck is really going on? Lucky for you, I’ve compiled everything I know about the events that led up to the creation of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (that’s capitol with an O, not an A), the rumors that led to Trump’s tweets about it, and what’s really happening there. I myself am a lifetime Seattle-area resident and a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement and the autonomous zone. I have reviewed a lot of footage documenting the big events in this timeline when I wasn’t there myself.
The #CHAZ came into being after BLM protesters on Capitol Hill were met with tear gas and other police brutality nearly every night for over a week because the SPD was blocking off an area around their East precinct, perhaps in fear of a repeat of Minneapolis. On the first night (6/1), SPD filled the area with tear gas after a pink umbrella went slightly over the police barricade and a cop grabbed it, resulting in a brief scuffle and then pepper spray, flashbangs, and tear gas were deployed as the crowd panicked.
After that, protesters returned to the same spot every night to face off with police and demand accountability. SPD found some excuse to attack the crowd almost every night for eight days, filling the area, including homes, with tear gas again and again.
On 6/7, there was a very scary incident in which a man tried to plow his car into the crowd of protesters at Cal Anderson. He was slowed by two people holding up part of a police barricade that had been torn down by protesters, and then a hero named Daniel Gregory ran up to the driver window, which was open, and tried to stop the man from driving any further. The driver shot Gregory in the arm, he fell back, and medics rushed forward to help him.
The gunman, identified as Nikolas Alexander Fernandez, then got out of the car with the gun in his hand. He held it out with his trigger finger pointed out, off the trigger, and two extra magazines appear to be taped to the gun in footage of the incident. He walked around his car, then made his way through the crowd and directly to the police line. Footage shows him saying something to the police and pointing back toward the crowd, and the SPD riot cops move forward and surround him, looking the whole time toward protesters, with one National Guard member pointing a firearm at the crowd. Fernandez is then taken by the arm and escorted peacefully around the corner and out of sight.
Gregory is alive and healing, having suffered a broken arm, and his GoFundMe for hospital bills was quickly funded and then some. Fernandez has been charged with felony assault.
A few hours later, police again tear-gassed protesters extensively, which came less than three days after Mayor Durkan announced a 30-day ban on its use, she suddenly reversed course. On 6/8 the SPD cleared valuables out of the precinct, boarded it up, and left.
After hearing some speakers, the crowd returned to the precinct. Concerned about rumors of Proud Boys on the way and the possibility of the cops returning, they used the barricades left behind by the SPD to build their own defenses. The Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club provided security.
The PSJBGC is what the right is referring to when they talk about armed security at the CHAZ. They do carry firearms, believing them the only way to defend anti-racist protesters against armed white supremacists, and have done so at many protests in Seattle. The members who were there when the SPD abandoned the East precinct asked the crowd if they wanted them to leave and were met with a resounding “NO.”
It was a tense night monitoring police scanners and hearing reports about a group of 20–30 Proud Boys making their way to the autonomous zone. However, they never materialized and were never seen by anyone on the ground except (supposedly) by the SPD. Many on the ground and online suspected it was a lie to get the crowd to scatter or instigate violence.
Meanwhile, protesters and volunteers set up free food/supply tables and medic stations around the area. They created memorials and covered the walls in beautiful art. The precinct was left unburned due to fears that fire could spread to nearby homes and businesses.
The next day (6/9), people gathered in the CHAZ to listen to speakers. Seattle councilmember Kshama Sawant introduced and then led a march to city hall, where Sawant let the crowd inside with her key and they had more speakers and some chanting, then left.
Back at the zone, people set up a projector and watched the documentary 13th. No violence was reported. There were many passionate voices airing their concerns about where the movement should go from there and about opportunists possibly co-opting.
By 6/10, the autonomous zone had released an extensive list of demands. There were more speakers, including representatives from the local Duwamish Tribe. Multiple people on the ground reported everything being super chill and helpful and working on community projects:
Right-wing conspiracy theorists are actively spreading lies about the CHAZ. No, it has not “run out of food.” Volunteers have been so overwhelmed with donations from people and local businesses that they’ve asked people to stop donating. Plus, you can just walk out and get food.
Some of the rumors were started by the SPD itself. No one on the ground has reported anyone asking for ID to enter or whatever, and it makes no sense that anyone there would do that. People are free to come and go as they please.
The SPD also claimed that they had received reports of people in the area demanding money from businesses to operate like some sort of extortion racket. This claim seems to have originated from local conservative pain in the ass Ari Hoffman. Hoffman claimed to be quoting police in a blog post making the claims, and then the SPD used that to try and back up the claims they supposedly made in the first place.
Here’s an extensive Twitter thread on misinformation intentionally spread by the SPD:
The CHAZ has also not been declared a sovereign nation or anything else like that. There is no “warlord” in charge, and calling a Black man such a thing is super racist. Some of the food is vegan but meat is allowed. Don’t be absurd.
The only violence that has occurred in or around the CHAZ has been two incidents of people trying to ram their cars into crowds. The first time, a few blocks away, a car approached the crowd at an alarming speed and then suddenly turned into a parking garage shortly before reaching them. It does not appear that the driver has been identified.
The next day, a car nearly plowed into a group of youth protesters who were saved by a protective bicycle line. A bike was crushed, but no one was hurt. This is another reason protesters put up barricades around the area — there have been many reports of people using their cars to attempt to harm or murder protesters across the U.S.
Local media has been reporting on unsubstantiated rumors tossed out by the SPD like they’re true and without coming to the CHAZ to see for themselves what it’s really like. It’s simply a community space operating without having to worry about police violence.
Right-wing agitators are using one single video of a disagreement about the placement of some art in which one individual carrying a large gun on his back appeared to push someone, perhaps resulting in a brief scuffle that was quickly de-escalated by others. Organizers active in the CHAZ are aware of the individual and many have expressed concerns about this and other behavior from him, but he is not the leader of the CHAZ, the general movement around it, nor is he a “warlord,” you racists.
So that’s pretty much everything you need to know about that. If you hear or read something alarming, check your sources. The right desperately wants to mischaracterize this movement because it’s a threat to them and what they want. If you want to see for yourself, check the tags #CapitolHillAutonomousZone, #SeattleAutonomousZone, #CHAZ, and #seattleprotest on Twitter as you can often find videos and livestreams showing what’s really happening there. If you’re in the area, visit any time! There’s usually something happening and still plenty of free food.
The SPD wants to take the East precinct back, so see it while it’s still there. Black Lives Matter!
