Anarchy (the good kind) in Seattle

June 9, 2020 9:47 AM

Last night, protestors captured several blocks of the Capitol Hill neighborhood in Seattle after police abandoned the East Precinct, which had been the epicenter of the worst police-vs-protestor clashes over the past week. Mutualists, voluntaryists, and other anarchists are now supplanting police and other city services in the "Free Capitol Hill" autonomous zone.
posted by Jacqueline (47 comments total)

This is a breaking/evolving news story that hasn't received much mainstream media coverage yet, so please post more links if you've got 'em, thanks!
posted by Jacqueline at 9:49 AM on June 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

Freetown Christiania was born out of similar circumstances 50 years ago, and is still going strong!!
posted by growabrain at 9:53 AM on June 9, 2020 [10 favorites]

Important to note: this is the same spot where the other day someone drove through the crowd and shot and wounded one of the protesters who fought to stop him. Once he was out of his car he walked to the police line and their riot shields while flashing a thumbs-up. The cops did not move in this whole incident except to take the guy into their line in a spectacularly mild "arrest."

Turns out his brother works at the precinct.

This Twitter thread by @spekulation has a great account of the incident.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:12 AM on June 9, 2020 [34 favorites]

It's bad enough that the shooter is a cop's brother. Just want to note that the author of that Twitter thread posted a correction about the "thumbs up" gesture; the man is actually pointing behind him.
posted by henuani at 11:10 AM on June 9, 2020 [6 favorites]

VICTORY TO FREE CAPITOL HILL! VICTORY TO THE PEOPLE OF THE LIBERATED 3RD PRECINCT! May they be only the beginning.
posted by Krazor at 11:37 AM on June 9, 2020 [6 favorites]

Freetown Christiania was born out of similar circumstances 50 years ago, and is still going strong!!

A lot of the wikipedia information (first link) is dead wrong, and lets just say I can't edit there, but if you need advice about running a free state I have some perspectives.
posted by mumimor at 11:51 AM on June 9, 2020 [6 favorites]

Do share, Mumimor! Now is the time to lend your perspectives!
posted by Krazor at 12:04 PM on June 9, 2020 [7 favorites]

Where to begin? I actually tried to write a book once, but got distracted.
One of the things I realized very early on, in a different squatter community, is that everyday life doesn't disappear in an anarchy. There's still plumbing, food, childcare, and millions of other little things to deal with. And all of that has to be organized. In many ways, Christiania is a very well-organized community, in some ways a role model for surrounding Copenhagen. And in some ways it is kind of funny to see how they have to invent everything that already exists from scratch again, and see how it works out.

One of the things that often irritates me about the press about Christiania (and the wikipedia site), is that people imagine that the inhabitants didn't obey the general laws in Denmark or pay taxes or pay for utilities. Apart from the first chaotic years, they always have done all of these things.
posted by mumimor at 12:20 PM on June 9, 2020 [29 favorites]

Another fun fact is that even people who think they are radical socialists or anarchists are often driven to their wits' end by the reality of decision-making in Christiania. I won't say it's hard, but it's different.

And then something that confuses many younger people: when Christiania was created, no one wanted the land or the buildings. Thousands of people had left Copenhagen for the suburbs, including the military, and nobody saw the site as particularly valuable. For the first 20 years or so, the people who were against Christiania were against it for purely ideological reasons. No one thought of the economic dimension. For a contemporary comparison, think of Detroit.
posted by mumimor at 12:43 PM on June 9, 2020 [17 favorites]

why do they loot ?
posted by robbyrobs at 12:53 PM on June 9, 2020 [5 favorites]

That's so interesting! Thank you for taking the time to explain. To be quite honest, I had never heard of it before.

Speaking of the practical realities of these kinds of these self-organized communities: Dallas, TX is close-ish to my hometown. It was only a few years ago that I read that before Dallas was permanently settled (after running out the original inhabitants of the area, to be sure) there was supposed to be a utopian socialist community called La Réunion, but the colonists who lived there didn't bring anybody with the know how to reliably produce food for them or otherwise keep up with the infrastructure needed for the community to survive.

That said, let's get some carpenters, plumbers, and electricians up there ASAP!
posted by Krazor at 1:00 PM on June 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

Additional good reporting from the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, in case The Stranger isn't your cup of tea. Support local journalism!
posted by WedgedPiano at 1:01 PM on June 9, 2020 [10 favorites]

I'm a little reluctant to post this here given recent police actions against protesters, but I was in the crowd directly in front of the path of the car that attempted to drive into protesters- maybe 50 ft away. It was unclear what was happening at first, but the crowd mostly held their ground when this happened. That's in contrast to the protest downtown last Saturday, where every flashbang sent hundreds stampeding and things felt very out of control. After the shooting, there was then an extended standoff in which the police demanded access to the person who had been shot via megaphone, a protester continuously refused via megaphone, and the medics on hand responded to the situation and carried Daniel out without involving the police. The crowd chanted to the police, WE DON'T NEED YOU! It was something else.

I've been to many protests for BLM and other causes over the years, and these have a totally different feel. There have been a ton of people wandering through the crowd or stationed in tents giving out resources- water, snacks, cough drops, masks, earplugs, and medical attention. The fire department came to hand out supplies. Protesters are exceedingly kind toward each other- I watched someone intercept a tossed water bottle HARD with his head and smile and laugh it off to the person who had thrown it to another protester. Nearby businesses have reopened to provide bathrooms, and residents have been providing parking and shelter.

The crowd is also looking out for each other at the expense of their own safety. The same night as the car incident, a 21-year-old woman was hit in the chest with a stun grenade and people ran to her, into the tear gas (which, by the way, Mayor Durkan had promised wouldn't be used for 30 days), to rescue her. She's now in critical condition. A biker friend of mine has been at the front lines daily because, in his words, "I can take a punch when the time comes." It sucks that it's come to this but it's also really giving me confidence in humanity.
posted by quiet coyote at 1:01 PM on June 9, 2020 [94 favorites]

Take care, quiet coyote
posted by mumimor at 1:06 PM on June 9, 2020 [14 favorites]

This is my neighborhood, quite literally as I’m a block from Cal Anderson. It’s been heartening to finally see a strong pushback against militarized police. SPD’s incessant instigation of violence has really hardened my attitude against them.

I saw this post circulating on Reddit, and I found the image to just capture our mayor’s current attitude extraordinarily well. She’s just the worst. Tear-Gas Jenny’s got to go.
posted by los pantalones del muerte at 2:00 PM on June 9, 2020 [10 favorites]

This is amazing. I watched a little of it unfold on twitter last night and it seemed for sure that the cops were planning on blowing up their own precinct ("we have credible arson threats" = "we are making credible arson threats") while it was still surrounded by protestors. I'm glad they decided not to.
posted by bleep at 2:24 PM on June 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

I watched someone intercept a tossed water bottle HARD with his head and smile and laugh it off to the person who had thrown it to another protester.

Well, at least you can be pretty confident that guy isn't an undercover cop.
posted by tobascodagama at 3:21 PM on June 9, 2020 [3 favorites]

A Flower Blooms In Troy
posted by the man of twists and turns at 3:44 PM on June 9, 2020 [1 favorite]

The punk/art house I lived in during college modeled itself after the temporary autonomous zone theory of Hakim Bey and others; a house leader named Charlie was nicknamed CHAZ to rhyme with TAZ, and this makes me want to cry happy tears. Seattle people on twitter are calling it a "flux zone" and I'm smiling so hard. Stay safe, Seattle. <3
posted by moonlight on vermont at 6:11 PM on June 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

This harkens back to the WTO protests in Seattle in late 1999, when cops in riot gear instigated several nights of baffling, surreal havoc on Capitol Hill, including a standoff at (I think) the selfsame East Precinct building. I've never looked at the police the same way since.
posted by baseballpajamas at 7:17 PM on June 9, 2020 [10 favorites]

Political map of Capitol Hill, June 8, 2020
posted by mbrubeck at 8:32 PM on June 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

So, this is a beautiful picture of one hell of a moment:
“It's not that we don't have umbrellas. We just never met a storm worthy of one. Until this week.” -Seattle

And then, someone showed me a closer look of the cop side of the pic.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 8:40 PM on June 9, 2020 [6 favorites]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Autonomous_Zone
posted by Jacqueline at 10:31 PM on June 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

My neighborhood for many years. A huge thank-you to all the people showing up to make a difference. Time to bring the long-standing differences between Seattle's people and -some- of the cops to an end.
posted by Twang at 11:48 PM on June 9, 2020 [2 favorites]

And then, someone showed me a closer look of the cop side of the pic.

Mind explaining the joke? I don't get it.
posted by tobascodagama at 7:12 AM on June 10, 2020 [5 favorites]

Maybe it’s trying to trivialize the show of force by the police by showing that the police behind the front line are all on their phones, and clearly aren’t worried about/paying attention to what’s going on right in front of them? I’m not quite sure I get it, either.
posted by KGMoney at 9:51 AM on June 10, 2020

Yeah, they're standing around looking at their phones in the face of an allegedly imminent threat from an unarmed crowd.
posted by scaryblackdeath at 9:56 AM on June 10, 2020 [4 favorites]

This is very close to where I used to work. My favorite Seattle bar, Linda's, is right outside the zone. I used to go to Linda's back in the late 90's and early 2000s, at the time people were not sure about the place, if it was just a hipster bar for straights, but now it's probably considered one of the stalwarts of Capitol Hill and in danger of being gentrified out itself. Cap Hill has really changed immensely in that time but it warms an old punk's heart to see people doing something different during this time of rebellion.
posted by chaz at 10:34 AM on June 10, 2020 [2 favorites]

The Demands of the Collective Black Voices at Free Capitol Hill to the Government of Seattle, Washington
posted by GalaxieFiveHundred at 12:14 PM on June 10, 2020 [3 favorites]

Day 2-ish: The Autonomous Zone is ruled by Raz Simone, local rapper, AirBNB superhost, and rifle-toting warlord.
posted by save alive nothing that breatheth at 9:34 PM on June 10, 2020

I disagree with about 10 of these, but the other 20 or so seem pretty on point.

It's amazing to see what Seattle protesters have accomplished. Will be interesting to see where it leads. Tear Gas Jenny is going to stick though, she's done as Mayor
posted by Windopaene at 10:30 PM on June 10, 2020

Edit, after the window. 10 of these are things that just will never be possible to have actually happen. I can see how they are trying to make a point with a particular demand, but, retrying every case of every person of color, is just completely crazy. And would just not be possible, for justice system mechanical reasons, and would be subject to so many judicial challenges for so many other reasons...
posted by Windopaene at 10:50 PM on June 10, 2020

I mean you never start bargaining with only what you think you can get.
posted by Zalzidrax at 12:02 AM on June 11, 2020 [5 favorites]

I can see how they are trying to make a point with a particular demand, but, retrying every case of every person of color, is just completely crazy.

If you can see their point, then they aren't completely crazy. Figuring out why it's difficult is one of the the first steps to figuring out how to make it happen. Laws can be changed. Mechanics are human made, and challenges can be fought. Structural racism is made of people. Start imagining.
posted by Mister Cheese at 7:05 AM on June 11, 2020 [2 favorites]

Well, they've got the Big Cheeto's attention. I hope the people never stoop.
posted by fryman at 9:21 AM on June 11, 2020

If the enforcers are acting outside their lawful authority, and the courts sign off on it, the courts, too, are acting outside their lawful authority. If the decisions of the courts are illegitimate, then the courts themselves are illegitimate. As this is patently evident, I'm not sure what the problem is. Reviewing every case is the bare minimum for Truth and Reconciliation.
posted by ob1quixote at 9:50 AM on June 11, 2020 [1 favorite]

This leaves a bad taste in my mouth. They're a group of mostly white kids cosplaying as revolutionaries, and they're drowning out the message of BLM to center their own anarchist-ish voices. It just seems lazy -- they're LARPing without putting in the work to make sure that their actions are supporting the broader movement -- and it's becoming a flashpoint that I worry will ultimately be used to undermine everyone else.
posted by leslietron at 12:25 PM on June 11, 2020

No surprise that most of the people in CHAZ are white. Seattle, like the rest of Washington state, is overwhelmingly white. Most BIPOC in the city live in south Seattle, a good ways away from Pike/Pine, since the CD has almost completely gentrified. I looked to see what the South Seattle Emerald had to say about it and they seem supportive.
posted by Sublimity at 3:42 PM on June 11, 2020 [5 favorites]

These folks spent over a week in the street chanting and marching, they were attacked with chemical weapons and grenades for their trouble, 'lazy' is certainly one word for what they've been doing.
posted by StarkRoads at 4:11 PM on June 11, 2020 [7 favorites]

These folks spent over a week in the street chanting and marching

But if your chanting, marching, and anarchist-state-declaring undermines the broader movement, then you’re worse than useless.
posted by leslietron at 5:21 PM on June 11, 2020

It's maybe worth mentioning that the minority-led protest movement which resulted in the CHAZ succeded specifically in spite of high socioeconomic status people, and people from outside the region, trying to dictate the terms of acceptable protest.
posted by StarkRoads at 5:44 PM on June 11, 2020 [8 favorites]

I'm another local who's been to the zone on and off. It's true that there are a lot of white folks, but what I've seen is that the leadership, speakers, and organizations involved are led by BIPOCs.

I don't see that it's been mentioned here, but it's worth noting that the protestors never asked the police to leave the area, let alone grant the movement "autonomy." The cops just straight up left all of a sudden and the protestors just filled in the space because if they didn't, they knew they would never get it back again.

Sure, it's a bit ridiculous, but this wasn't a big planned effort, it was completely improvised, basically in a couple hours. What's amazing to me is that there has been practically zero chaos or serious disagreement about anything. Groups with differing viewpoints aren't fighting or breaking the place up in to sub-states, they're sitting down in couches dragged into the street and talking it out. There are so many donations that the tents and "No Cop Co-op" (which I hope survives the zone) can't accept any more.

Plus there's the outrageously inaccurate coverage from outside the zone, including from local news and the police chief, who repeated totally unsubstantiated rumors (threats to burn the precinct down, a warlord is extorting businesses) and don't seem to be curious about the actual facts. That kind of misrepresentation of Seattle and Capitol Hill in particular (which, being white and progressive, is very sensitive) has galvanized a lot of folks.

I was at a beautiful event last night highlighting BIPOC voices, helping get the word out about a march today, answering questions about defunding the police, etc. It's a lovely thing that probably won't last but everyone here is cherishing it.

Anyway! The thread is old so probably no one will see this but I saw my neighbors weighing in and thought I'd just do the same.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 10:42 AM on June 12, 2020 [25 favorites]

Thanks, BlackLeotardFront.
posted by mumimor at 11:31 AM on June 12, 2020

I can't imagine the people characterizing this as "lazy" white kids playing commune have been following the local Seattle protest news. They've been facing some of the most heavy brutality in the country just behind Louisville and Austin-- endless chemical attacks in residential neighborhoods, family members of cops driving through protest lines shooting people then fleeing into police protection. A particularly horrific story includes a near fatality, where a young brown woman lost her pulse several times after being shot in the chest with a tear gas canister point blank, and medics were bombarded with rubber bullets and more tear gas as they were trying to get her to the ER, on foot and in their own cars. It's a miracle that she's still alive and I almost cried when I found out she was OK enough to talk to reporters, but it was a very, very close thing that the CHAZ wasn't founded on a protester death. These people aren't lazy or uncommitted to the cause. Read up.
posted by moonlight on vermont at 12:47 PM on June 12, 2020 [10 favorites]

> Day 2-ish: The Autonomous Zone is ruled by Raz Simone, local rapper, AirBNB superhost, and rifle-toting warlord.

Warlord? WARLORD? What, was "thug" too obvious a dogwhistle for you? I'm no Simone fan, but damn, try to not regurgitate racist Tucker Carlson sound bites all over the place. It's gross.
posted by Behemoth, in no. 302-bis, with the Browning at 5:04 PM on June 12, 2020 [7 favorites]

Thank you, moonlight on vermont. I've been tear gassed, dodged flash bangs, and choked on pepper spray while protesting in Seattle. But of course wanting a break from the police violence makes me a lazy cosplay revolutionary...
posted by Behemoth, in no. 302-bis, with the Browning at 5:10 PM on June 12, 2020 [5 favorites]

Some people have changed its name to Capitol Hill Organized Protest, by the way.
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:13 PM on June 13, 2020