Andrew Buncombe, The Independent•June 11, 2020
The protests have drawn many hundreds of people to the Capitol Hill neighbourhood of Seattle: Getty
https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/activists with bullhorns, there were artists painting designs on the street.
There were stalls collecting donations for the homeless, others offering vegan curry. There were people posing for images in front of a boarded-up police station, while others sat on the grass. There were people of colour, and there were white people, lots of white people.
But the “ugly anarchists” denounced by Donald Trump on Twitter that very morning? Could it be they existed only in his imagination.
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, six city clocks close to the centre of Seattle that has become the focus of a protest in the wake of the death of George Floyd, may be many things. Yet an attempt to take over, or occupy the city it is not.
“I think that is a ridiculous circumstance by which they even presented the narrative. This is not an autonomous zone. We’re not trying to secede from the United States,” said a protester called Maurice, asked about the president’s comments.
“None of us are anarchists, as we’re trying to use legislative processes to change the mayor’s narrative for our community. We’re attempting to gain equity. We don’t have guns. There’s very few people who are utilising their second amendment rights.”
The death in police custody last month of Mr Floyd, 46, an unarmed African American men, has sparked protests, most of them overwhelmingly peaceful, across the nation and around the world.
Four police officers involved in the arrest of Mr Floyd were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. One was charged with second degree murder, while the others with aiding his death.
Meanwhile, as communities across America have tried to reform their police departments and make them truly answerable to the police they are supposed to serve, Mr Trump has sought to project himself as being the “law and order president”. Having been been criticised for suggesting Mr Floyd might be looking down haply from heaven at recent employment numbers, the president has also gone head to head with mayors and governors he believes are being to soft on protesters.
Among those he attacked was Washington state governor Jay Inslee, and Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan, both Democrats. Two weeks ago, a peaceful protest in the centre of Seattle turned violent and more than 50 people were arrested after damage was done to a series of buildings.
Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
June 11, 2020
The mayor imposed a curfew and then proceeded to work with police and community leaders to try and secure calm.
More recently, Ms Durkan told the city police’s chief, Carmen Best, an African American woman, to withdraw unformed officers from the so-called East Precinct, which covers Capitol Hill, a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood known for its buzzy bars and nightlife.
Thus was born Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, (CHAV), a cross between a sit-in, a protest and summer festival. The zone claims to have no direct leaders, although it has a website.
In recent days, protesters have been organisng teach-ins, and showing Ava DuVernay’s 13th, a 2016 documentary that explores the history of race relations in the US, and takes its name from 13th amendment to the constitution, which abolished slavery.
“Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST,” Mr Trump had tweeted.
Ms Durkan was quick to respond. “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker,” she said.
A spokesperson for Mr Inslee told The Independent of Mr Trump’s comments: “The president’s claims, as usual, are false.”
Felisha Tyson, a personal trainer, said she been struck by the number of white people who were at the protest, and said it had started to “feel like a block party”.
Yet she said people of colour had a number of white allies in Seattle, just as there were white people who choose to look the other way. “There are going to be a lot of new organisers working in the days ahead,” she said.
Her friend, Ronelle Wheeler, said the city and state had a long history of racism. Yet many people acted as though they were not impacted by it, or its consequences.
Ms Tyson added: “My dad and my uncle tell me crazy stories from the 70s, with police brutality by the Seattle Police Department.”
Silas Korvjund-Zacharov, 23, a metal worker, was sitting outside a tent close to a community garden that had been established in the ground of park.
He was white, and wanted to show his solidarity with the protesters, he said.
Asked about the president’s description of the protesters as anarchists, he said: “My problem with that is anarchy means chaos, are we creating chaos here or are we creating more of a sense of unity.”
He added: “Unfortunately, Donald Trump is one of the biggest morons I’ve ever heard of. He does not know the proper definitions of most things he says. Anarchy is chaos. What we are here trying to do is promote equality and unity in the community.
Seattle protesters set up 'autonomous zone' after police evacuate precinct
SEATTLE HAS A BIG ANARCHIST COMMUNITY
Daniella Silva and Matteo Moschella and Tim Stelloh,
NBC News•June 11, 2020
"THIS SPACE IS NOW PROPERTY OF THE SEATTLE PEOPLE" reads a giant black banner with red lettering at the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," an area around the abandoned police precinct that demonstrators moved into, setting up tents with plans to stay.
The Seattle Police Department vacated the East Precinct on Monday night, and protesters against the killing of George Floyd and police brutality established the zone, known as CHAZ, and changed the boarded-up building's sign to read "Seattle People Department."
Since then, hundreds of people have been gathering in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, where the atmosphere has been part peaceful protest, part commune, with speeches, distribution of free food, live music, a community garden and late-night movie screenings.
Wednesday night, the atmosphere was "like a block party," Omari Salisbury, a citizen journalist who has been documenting the zone, told NBC News on Thursday morning.
Hundreds of people were out in the protest zone, some playing Frisbee, some enjoying music from a live band and some enjoying a late-night screening of "Paris Is Burning," a documentary about underground LGBTQ dance culture during the mid- to late 1980s. People painted BLACK LIVES MATTER in the middle of the street and renamed two streets BLACK LIVES MATTER Way and BLACK LIVES MATTER Square.
"It was a very jamming situation," he said.
Salisbury said many of the people who have been protesting live and work in the community.
"This is a highly progressive and resilient neighborhood, and they were the protesters," he said. "Outside people come along during the protests, but people who live across the street from the precinct were the people who were at the barricade. People who own businesses over here were at the barricade because of the use of the high level of tear gas," he said.
https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/activists with bullhorns, there were artists painting designs on the street.
There were stalls collecting donations for the homeless, others offering vegan curry. There were people posing for images in front of a boarded-up police station, while others sat on the grass. There were people of colour, and there were white people, lots of white people.
But the “ugly anarchists” denounced by Donald Trump on Twitter that very morning? Could it be they existed only in his imagination.
The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, six city clocks close to the centre of Seattle that has become the focus of a protest in the wake of the death of George Floyd, may be many things. Yet an attempt to take over, or occupy the city it is not.
“I think that is a ridiculous circumstance by which they even presented the narrative. This is not an autonomous zone. We’re not trying to secede from the United States,” said a protester called Maurice, asked about the president’s comments.
“None of us are anarchists, as we’re trying to use legislative processes to change the mayor’s narrative for our community. We’re attempting to gain equity. We don’t have guns. There’s very few people who are utilising their second amendment rights.”
The death in police custody last month of Mr Floyd, 46, an unarmed African American men, has sparked protests, most of them overwhelmingly peaceful, across the nation and around the world.
Four police officers involved in the arrest of Mr Floyd were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. One was charged with second degree murder, while the others with aiding his death.
Meanwhile, as communities across America have tried to reform their police departments and make them truly answerable to the police they are supposed to serve, Mr Trump has sought to project himself as being the “law and order president”. Having been been criticised for suggesting Mr Floyd might be looking down haply from heaven at recent employment numbers, the president has also gone head to head with mayors and governors he believes are being to soft on protesters.
Among those he attacked was Washington state governor Jay Inslee, and Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan, both Democrats. Two weeks ago, a peaceful protest in the centre of Seattle turned violent and more than 50 people were arrested after damage was done to a series of buildings.
Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump)
June 11, 2020
The mayor imposed a curfew and then proceeded to work with police and community leaders to try and secure calm.
More recently, Ms Durkan told the city police’s chief, Carmen Best, an African American woman, to withdraw unformed officers from the so-called East Precinct, which covers Capitol Hill, a rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood known for its buzzy bars and nightlife.
Thus was born Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, (CHAV), a cross between a sit-in, a protest and summer festival. The zone claims to have no direct leaders, although it has a website.
In recent days, protesters have been organisng teach-ins, and showing Ava DuVernay’s 13th, a 2016 documentary that explores the history of race relations in the US, and takes its name from 13th amendment to the constitution, which abolished slavery.
“Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before. Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stopped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST,” Mr Trump had tweeted.
Ms Durkan was quick to respond. “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker,” she said.
A spokesperson for Mr Inslee told The Independent of Mr Trump’s comments: “The president’s claims, as usual, are false.”
Felisha Tyson, a personal trainer, said she been struck by the number of white people who were at the protest, and said it had started to “feel like a block party”.
Yet she said people of colour had a number of white allies in Seattle, just as there were white people who choose to look the other way. “There are going to be a lot of new organisers working in the days ahead,” she said.
Her friend, Ronelle Wheeler, said the city and state had a long history of racism. Yet many people acted as though they were not impacted by it, or its consequences.
Ms Tyson added: “My dad and my uncle tell me crazy stories from the 70s, with police brutality by the Seattle Police Department.”
Silas Korvjund-Zacharov, 23, a metal worker, was sitting outside a tent close to a community garden that had been established in the ground of park.
He was white, and wanted to show his solidarity with the protesters, he said.
Asked about the president’s description of the protesters as anarchists, he said: “My problem with that is anarchy means chaos, are we creating chaos here or are we creating more of a sense of unity.”
He added: “Unfortunately, Donald Trump is one of the biggest morons I’ve ever heard of. He does not know the proper definitions of most things he says. Anarchy is chaos. What we are here trying to do is promote equality and unity in the community.
SEATTLE HAS A BIG ANARCHIST COMMUNITY
Daniella Silva and Matteo Moschella and Tim Stelloh,
NBC News•June 11, 2020
"THIS SPACE IS NOW PROPERTY OF THE SEATTLE PEOPLE" reads a giant black banner with red lettering at the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone," an area around the abandoned police precinct that demonstrators moved into, setting up tents with plans to stay.
The Seattle Police Department vacated the East Precinct on Monday night, and protesters against the killing of George Floyd and police brutality established the zone, known as CHAZ, and changed the boarded-up building's sign to read "Seattle People Department."
Since then, hundreds of people have been gathering in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, where the atmosphere has been part peaceful protest, part commune, with speeches, distribution of free food, live music, a community garden and late-night movie screenings.
Wednesday night, the atmosphere was "like a block party," Omari Salisbury, a citizen journalist who has been documenting the zone, told NBC News on Thursday morning.
Hundreds of people were out in the protest zone, some playing Frisbee, some enjoying music from a live band and some enjoying a late-night screening of "Paris Is Burning," a documentary about underground LGBTQ dance culture during the mid- to late 1980s. People painted BLACK LIVES MATTER in the middle of the street and renamed two streets BLACK LIVES MATTER Way and BLACK LIVES MATTER Square.
"It was a very jamming situation," he said.
Salisbury said many of the people who have been protesting live and work in the community.
"This is a highly progressive and resilient neighborhood, and they were the protesters," he said. "Outside people come along during the protests, but people who live across the street from the precinct were the people who were at the barricade. People who own businesses over here were at the barricade because of the use of the high level of tear gas," he said.
Image: Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle (Lindsey Wasson / Reuters)
"These are the people in the neighborhood protesting against the police precinct. That's what led to all of this," he said.
Courtney Blodgett, 37, a consultant from Seattle, told NBC News that "CHAZ feels like a breath of fresh air."
"People are friendly, calm, helpful and inspired," she said. "I heard multiple conversations of people who want to help further the area — 'How can I donate food? What else can we do?'
"There are discussions of how we can continue to peacefully push for racial justice," she said. "There is a somber and thoughtful sentiment of the people looking at the many tributes to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Charleena Lyles and other black people killed by police."
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best arrived at the precinct with other officers Thursday morning and inspected the building, while other officers stood outside, Salisbury said.
"The officers on the outside of the building have made it clear — they said that they didn't come here for a police action today, but they made it clear they want the building back, and once they have the building back in their hands, they'll be ready to address any community concerns," he said.
A group of community members gathered outside to watch the scene, Salisbury said.
Salisbury said it was unclear whether the officers would eventually leave the precinct later Thursday or whether some planned to remain in the building later in the day.
Full coverage of George Floyd's death and protests around the country
In an interview with Salisbury, Best said losing the physical presence in the neighborhood has led to a lag in response times to priority calls in the Capitol Hill area.
"Ultimately, we need to have a building and facility where we can come in, service the public, answer calls for service," she said, while recognizing that "there are a lot of folks that have a lot of concerns about accountability and police responses, and those conversations should be going on."
Still, she said, "what we really need to start with is regaining community trust."
President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning that the protesters needed to "get out of Seattle now" and that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, was looking like a "fool."
"These are the people in the neighborhood protesting against the police precinct. That's what led to all of this," he said.
Courtney Blodgett, 37, a consultant from Seattle, told NBC News that "CHAZ feels like a breath of fresh air."
"People are friendly, calm, helpful and inspired," she said. "I heard multiple conversations of people who want to help further the area — 'How can I donate food? What else can we do?'
"There are discussions of how we can continue to peacefully push for racial justice," she said. "There is a somber and thoughtful sentiment of the people looking at the many tributes to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Charleena Lyles and other black people killed by police."
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best arrived at the precinct with other officers Thursday morning and inspected the building, while other officers stood outside, Salisbury said.
"The officers on the outside of the building have made it clear — they said that they didn't come here for a police action today, but they made it clear they want the building back, and once they have the building back in their hands, they'll be ready to address any community concerns," he said.
A group of community members gathered outside to watch the scene, Salisbury said.
Salisbury said it was unclear whether the officers would eventually leave the precinct later Thursday or whether some planned to remain in the building later in the day.
Full coverage of George Floyd's death and protests around the country
In an interview with Salisbury, Best said losing the physical presence in the neighborhood has led to a lag in response times to priority calls in the Capitol Hill area.
"Ultimately, we need to have a building and facility where we can come in, service the public, answer calls for service," she said, while recognizing that "there are a lot of folks that have a lot of concerns about accountability and police responses, and those conversations should be going on."
Still, she said, "what we really need to start with is regaining community trust."
President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning that the protesters needed to "get out of Seattle now" and that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, was looking like a "fool."
Image: Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle (David Ryder / Getty Images)
Late Wednesday, the president called the peaceful demonstrators "Domestic Terrorists," saying they had taken over the city.
Inslee responded to the president's criticism earlier, saying, "A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state's business."
Meanwhile, the scene at the "autonomous zone" remained peaceful and communal Thursday.
Blodgett said that people had been gardening in the new community gardens and that local businesses and faith institutions were offering hot food and drinks and use of bathrooms. Music played in different areas while masked people swayed to the beat. Stations were set up for trash and recycling.
Mayor Jenny Durkan compared the area to past block parties or the city's pride parade, telling reporters during a news conference that it was "really not that much of an operational challenge."
"But we want to make sure the businesses and residents feel safe," she said.
Asked if police planned on returning to the vacated precinct, she said the decision would be based on "an ongoing assessment about when it would be safe and appropriate for them to move in there."
SEATTLE (Reuters) - The mayor of Seattle said on Thursday it would be unconstitutional and "illegal" for President Donald Trump to send military forces there to clear protesters occupying part of the city.
Late Wednesday, the president called the peaceful demonstrators "Domestic Terrorists," saying they had taken over the city.
Inslee responded to the president's criticism earlier, saying, "A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state's business."
Meanwhile, the scene at the "autonomous zone" remained peaceful and communal Thursday.
Blodgett said that people had been gardening in the new community gardens and that local businesses and faith institutions were offering hot food and drinks and use of bathrooms. Music played in different areas while masked people swayed to the beat. Stations were set up for trash and recycling.
Mayor Jenny Durkan compared the area to past block parties or the city's pride parade, telling reporters during a news conference that it was "really not that much of an operational challenge."
"But we want to make sure the businesses and residents feel safe," she said.
Asked if police planned on returning to the vacated precinct, she said the decision would be based on "an ongoing assessment about when it would be safe and appropriate for them to move in there."
Seattle mayor says it would be illegal for Trump to send military to city
VIDEO
Mayor Jenny Durkan's comments at an afternoon news conference came in response to tweets by Trump vowing on Twitter to "take back" the city if local officials did not act.
"It is unconstitutional and illegal to send the military to Seattle," Durkan said.
At the same news conference, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said the protesters could not remain camped behind barricades in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood.
The encampment formed after weeks of protests over the death in Minneapolis of a black man, George Floyd, in police custody.
Coined in 1990 by poet, anarcho-immediatist and Sufi scholar Hakim Bey, the term temporary autonomous zone (T.A.Z.) seeks to preserve the creativity, energy
Dec 12, 2018 - Counterculture guru Hakim Bey is best-known for his concept of TAZ – the Temporary Autonomous Zone. Previous columns have reconstructed ...
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T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone is a book by the anarchist writer and poet Hakim Bey (Peter Lamborn Wilson) published in 1991 by Autonomedia and
Themes · Use in music
by H Bey - 1985 - Cited by 1516 - Related articles
Hakim Bey T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism 1985.
Hakim Bey
Autonomedia, 2003 - Philosophy - 147 pages
'Who is Hakim Bey? I love him!' Timothy Leary'Exquisite...' Allen Ginsberg'Hard-line dada/surrealism' Rudy Rucker'A Blake angel on bad acid' Robert Anton Wilson'Scares the shit out of us' Church of the SubGeniusThe underground cult bestseller! Essays that redefine the psychogeographical nooks of autonomy. Recipes for poetic terror, anarcho -black magic, post-situ psychotropic surgery, denunciations of spiritual addictions to vapid infotainment cults -- this is the bastard classic, the watermark impressed upon our minds. Where conscience informs praxis, and action infects consciousness, T.A.Z. is beginning to worm its way into above-ground culture.This book offers inspired blasts of writing, from slogans to historical essays, on the need to insert revolutionary happiness into everyday life through poetic action, and celebrating the radical optimism present in outlaw cultures. It should appeal to alternative thinkers and punks everywhere, as it celebrates liberation, love and poetic living.The new edition contains the full text of Chaos: The Broadsheets of Ontological Anarchism, the complete communiques and flyers of the Association fo Ontological Anarchy, the long essay 'The Temporary Autonomous Zone,' and a new preface by the author.'A literary masterpiece...' Freedom'A linguistic romp...' Colin Wilson 'Fascinating...' William Burroughs
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