Seattle police clear protest zone after flares of violence
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[July 02, 2020]
By Lindsey Wasson
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle authorities
moved on Wednesday to dismantle a protest zone that the city's police
chief derided as "lawless and brutal" and which had prompted U.S.
President Donald Trump to call for action against demonstrators.
Officers, clad in helmets and extra protective gear, entered the
"autonomous zone" early and by midmorning had arrested 31 people for
failure to disperse, assault and other alleged crimes, according to the
police department's Twitter feed.
Police moved to retake the zone after Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan
declared the gathering around the police department's East Precinct and
Cal Anderson Park an "unlawful assembly," the police chief, Carmen Best,
said in a statement that highlighted a recent spate of shootings and the
deaths of two teenagers.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr commended Best in a statement for
distinguishing between the right to protest and violent crime in
"restoring the rule of law." Barr did not mention Durkan, a Democrat who
has been a target of the Republican president's ire.
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Harry "Rick" Hearns, a protester who said he volunteered to provide
armed security at CHOP for 24 straight days, told Reuters he supported
the police crackdown "1,000 percent." He blamed the violence on
outsiders who he said had marred an otherwise successful monthlong
occupation.
"We don't represent violence. People brought that to us," said Hearns,
59.
Police were walking in and out of the East Precinct on Wednesday,
re-establishing control. Weeks earlier, they abandoned the building
following clashes with protesters in the wake of the May 25 killing in
Minneapolis of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of that city's
police.
Floyd's death triggered a nationwide wave of largely peaceful
demonstrations against racial injustice and police brutality, giving
rise in Seattle to the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) zone east of
downtown.
"The CHOP has become lawless and brutal. Four shootings -- two fatal --
robberies, assaults, violence and countless property crimes have
occurred in this several-block area," Best said.
Trump has been demanding that local authorities eject the protesters,
whom he labeled "domestic terrorists." Conservative pundits have pointed
to the zone in Seattle to support an argument that protests across the
country were less peaceful than they were being portrayed.
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![](../images/070220pics/news_c5.jpg)
A worker cleans off the word "people" graffitied over the word
"police" at the Seattle Police Department's East Precinct as they
retake the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) area, in Seattle,
Washington, U.S. July 1, 2020. REUTERS/Lindsey Wasson
![](../images/ads/current/fitzpatrick_lda_SPONSOR_2017.png)
Black armored vehicles and baton-wielding officers patrolled the
perimeter of the area that was barricaded with spray-painted
plywood, some marked with phrases like "All Lives Don't Matter Until
Black Lives Matter" and "RIP E Precinct."
Bicycle police employed three dozen bikes to create a barricade at
East Pike and 12th Avenue, allowing city crews to take down
protesters' tents. Some officers sipped Starbucks' coffee, evidence
the operation had met no serious resistance.
The zone had become less crowded and active over the past several
days. Crowds that came by the thousands to listen to speeches about
police brutality and marvel at street art commemorating Black lives
had disappeared, as had medic stations and multiple free food tents.
Businesses in the area, a trendy neighborhood of hipster bars and
boutiques, have been pushing for a tougher stance by authorities.
Attorneys have filed two class action lawsuits against the City of
Seattle, including one aimed at preventing the establishment of
"lawless autonomous zones" in the future.
Lencho Williams, who was roused by police from the CHOP encampment
on Wednesday, said protesters would regroup. He said the movement
had become disorganized when three original demands -- defund the
police, fund the Black community and amnesty for demonstrators --
morphed into 12.
"We're going to be back. If not tomorrow, the next day. You can't
stop a revolution. Black lives matter now and forever," said
Williams, 32.
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(Reporting by Lindsey Wasson in Seattle, Barbara Goldberg in
Maplewood, New Jersey and Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut;
Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Bernadette Baum, David Gregorio and
Jonathan Oatis)
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