Seattle police cannot return to their precinct
Why? Because Black Lives Matters protesters have ‘occupied’ the Capitol Hill area of the city, where a precinct is based. As part of demonstrations for racial equality in the aftermath of the death of George Floyd, protesters have taken control of Capitol Hill and named it an autonomous zone.
The CHAZ has been deemed a no-go zone for police by demonstrators, who have taken over the police station, and barricaded roads entering the area.
While police have asked for their precinct back, protesters have so far declined, and turned it into a Covid-19 mutual aid headquarters.
The protests and the subsequent annexation of this area of Seattle are part of a wider movement taking place in America which has seen widespread calls to defund the police.
This does not mean to cease the very idea of police, but instead to reinvest the vast quantities currently going into police departments into brutally underfunded community schemes and mental health programmes.
This is what life is like inside CHAZ: the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.
Black Lives Matter protesters have ‘occupied’ Capitol Hill in Seattle, driving away police from their precinct.
This is what life is like inside the autonomous zone. pic.twitter.com/aaT5lAC7no
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) June 12, 2020
