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Fifth Column

My terrifying five-day stay inside Seattle's cop-free CHAZ

2020-06-21

h/t Instapundit
[NYP] - On June 8, Seattle police frantically loaded what they could from the east precinct onto trucks and cars. Within hours, they boarded up and abandoned the station. That night, left-wing protesters from Black Lives Matter and Antifa declared ownership of the six-block neighborhood in the middle of the Pacific Northwest’s largest city. They named their new territory the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," or CHAZ. No laws or rules applied here except for one: "No cops allowed."

During five undercover days and nights in the zone, I witnessed a continuing experiment in anarchy, chaos and brute-force criminality. In order to avoid being exposed as a journalist — several reporters have been barred or expelled — I slept and showered outside the zone. (Those inside have no showers but they do have portable bathrooms.)

Ugh. Prepare for the reappearance of long-erased diseases.

I took meals, and most of my water breaks, elsewhere because I was reluctant to remove my mask and risk being recognized. Every day I entered the zone twice through its semi-porous borders — once in the early afternoon, and again after sundown, staying until the wee hours.

Crime has surged inside and outside the zone.

...CHAZ occupants, ranging from several hundred to 10,000 depending on the day, with many openly armed, control all of the Capitol Hill neighborhood near downtown. The neighborhood is the heart of Seattle’s gay and counter-culture district, and is densely filled with businesses and apartment buildings. CHAZ now claims all of it.

...A large team of volunteers assembled to designate themselves "security" for CHAZ. Many of them wear patches signaling they’re part of the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club,

...Antifa’s gun-toting wing, also known as Redneck Revolt.. They’re the ones whom Project Veritas recently revealed as having pretended to be neo-Nazis at the 2017 Charlottesville, Va. Unite The Right rally...

a far-left militia-type organization named after the radical abolitionist. Last year, one of the group’s members carried out an armed attack on an Immigration, Customs and Enforcement facility in Tacoma, Wash. Police said that Willem van Spronsen tried to ignite the 500-gallon propane tank attached to the facility. He was killed by police.

...Lacking agreed-upon leadership, those who have naturally risen to the top have done so with force or intimidation. For example, rapper Raz Simone, real name Solomon Simone, patrols CHAZ on some nights with an armed entourage. Simone, originally from Georgia, has an arrest record for child cruelty and other charges. He usually conducts his patrols carrying a long semi-auto rifle and sidearm. Last weekend, a live stream recorded Simone handing another man a rifle from the trunk of a car.

...Those unfortunate enough to have homes or businesses within CHAZ — an estimated 30,000 residents — have no say over their new overlords.

...kind of like being Jewish in Nazi Berlin...

Residents have discreetly voiced their concerns to local media. Gunshots and "screams of terror" at night have been reported. A resident of an apartment building came out twice to ask protesters to leave the alley where the entrance is. They brushed him off.

Every business and property inside CHAZ has been vandalized with graffiti. Most messages say some variation of "Black Lives Matter" or "George Floyd," but other messages call for the murder of police. Most businesses are boarded up. "ACAB" — all cops are bastards, an Antifa slogan — is written over them.

Businesses outside CHAZ are also suffering.
Whenever people talk about civil rights, one of the most important ones "the right to call a cop" (part of the "common defense") is never mentioned. I guess, air is never noticed unless missing.

Posted by:g(r)omgoru

#6 #4 Local property taxes will be due at some point. Some of that tax money goes for police and fire services and street repair. Are the residents still on the hook if they are not receiving said services?

Of course.

No sympathy from me, most of 'em voted for or sympathized with this crap.

Posted by: charger 2020-06-21 14:31

#5 #2 I am sure under cover agents are in there gathering intelligence. When the feds hit they will know who, when, how to hit and it will happen quick and fast.

Don't forget "the sealed indictments".

LOL.

Posted by: charger 2020-06-21 14:30

#4 Local property taxes will be due at some point. Some of that tax money goes for police and fire services and street repair. Are the residents still on the hook if they are not receiving said services?

Posted by: SteveS 2020-06-21 13:49

#3 Hope the 'residents' have stopped paying US federal and state taxes.

Posted by: Iblis 2020-06-21 13:13

#2 I am sure under cover agents are in there gathering intelligence. When the feds hit they will know who, when, how to hit and it will happen quick and fast.

Posted by: Sonny Brown5411 2020-06-21 11:31

#1 This sort of thing works great in an African village where all your wealth is in your hut or in a nearby field. If the bulk of your wealth is in a bank and investments, just jeave and sue over the loss of your home. Who to sue? Soros, the mayor of Seattle, the police chief. The owners of the WaPo and NYT. Lots of choices.

Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-06-21 07:55

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