Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ): All you need to know about Seattle's self-declared police-free commune
Earlier this week, a six-block wide area of Capitol Hill around the East Precinct Police building, on 12th Avenue and E Pine Street, was claimed by protesters to be the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone after Seattle police retreated from the neighborhood. Police Chief Carmen Best confirmed that her department evacuated the precinct on Monday evening, June 8, as an exercise in “trust and de-escalation.”
Since then, the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, also known as CHAZ, has become a place where police officers are forbidden, food is free and documentaries are screened at night. Hand sanitizers and gas masks are distributed for free and the first documentary aired was Ava DuVernay's '13th', which focused on the fact that the nation's prisons are disproportionately filled with African-Americans.
The Zone has invited the ire of Republicans with Texas Senator Ted Cruz stating that the Zone was "endangering people's lives," as US President Donald Trump demanded that Governor Jay Inslee and Mayor Jenny Durkan "take back" the Zone, saying if they did not do it, he would do it for them.
However, Durkan hit back in a news conference, saying, "We do not need anyone, including the president, to try to sow further divide, further distrust, and misinformation." She added, "The threat to invade Seattle, to divide and incite violence in our city is not only unwelcome, it would be illegal."
What is the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and should you take it seriously?
CHAZ stretches north to East Denny Way, east to 13th Avenue, south to East Pike, and west to Broadway. All of Cal Anderson Park falls inside the zone.
Protesters used blockades and fences to create staggered barricades at intersections. At the entrance of the Zone's territory are signs reading "You are Entering Free Capitol Hill" (in reference to Northern Ireland's Free Derry autonomous nationalist area. There are also signs declaring, "You are now leaving the USA."
The East Precinct building had the word "people" spray-painted over the word "police", now reading as the East Precinct People Department.
There is no centralized system of governance in the CHAZ as occupants want to create a neighborhood where the police are no longer necessary. Shortly after the CHAZ was established, a blog post containing a list of 30 demands appeared online, including the abolition of the Seattle Police Department, a retrial of all People in Color currently serving a prison sentence for violent crime, "by a jury of their peers in their community," the de-gentrification of Seattle and rent control, fund community health and education, among others.
A giant street mural, saying "Black Lives Matter", is being painted on East Pine Street between 10th and 11th while many of the protesters have adopted a pink umbrella as an unofficial emblem.
However, the autonomous zone is still being provided support by the Seattle government. Portable toilets were provided by the Seattle Department of Transportation. Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) is picking up debris and trash, and has cleaned graffiti that displayed hate, racist, and vulgar language or concepts, and has arranged for garbage cans and portable toilets to be placed in the vicinity for use by demonstrators.
The Parks Department (SPR) is helping with garbage and debris clean-up, weeding and tree trimming, repair of damaged garden beds and removal of graffiti. The Seattle Police Department will continue to answer 911 calls throughout the city, including those serviced by the East Precinct.