It didn’t take long for the so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (or as they’re also known, the Capitol Hill Organised Protest) to become everything they hate.
Like every nation before them, those organizing CHAZ immediately realized that a nation is defined by their borders. While there’s inconsistent messaging on whether they consider themselves an autonomous society separate from the U.S. or just Woodstock for cop haters, the very first thing they did was define their territory by putting up barricades and setting up checkpoints to screen who is entering. An Airbnb superhost named Raz became the territory’s de-facto warlord and enforced their version of the law with guns (which we assume these leftists oppose in every other context).
The group also evidently didn’t live up to the “autonomous” part of their former name, having to rely on the local fire department to put out one dumpster fire, and local paramedics to help a shooting victim. In the latter case CHAZ’s occupants were at least consistent with their “no cops allowed” policy, which meant that paramedics couldn’t help the victim because cops weren’t able to secure the area. The comrade bled out for thirty minutes and died.
As I calculated following that shooting, CHAZ had become the most violent “nation” on the planet following that single shooting. CHAZ is estimated to have a small population of only 200, implying a murder rate of 500 per 100,000. In 2019 Venezuela was the worldâs most dangerous country with a murder rate of 60.3 per 100,000, 88% lower than CHAZ/CHOP.
Of course, one could argue that this is misleading because CHAZ and/or CHOP has a small âpermanentâ population and many thousands enter their alleged paradise every day. While we donât know how many visitors the zone gets daily, if they get 1,000 they have a murder rate of 100 per 100,000. If their population were as high as 5,000 (which is very unlikely), it would still imply a murder rate of 20 per 100,000, about four times the U.S. average.
Last week, the zone held a segregated black-only event, guarded by white people.
So within weeks we got borders, armed security, segregation, and gun violence. And just earlier this week, the group’s security became what they’re literally there to protest – police shooting unarmed black men.
As the Post Millennial reports:
One 16-year-old is dead and a 14-year-old is in critical condition following a fifth shooting in the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP).
According to witnesses, a white SUV drove into Cal Anderson Park in an attempted drive by shooting and CHOP âsecurityâ returned fire. CHOP âsecurityâ is made up of armed of armed protesters.
However, from pictures on the scene, the windows of the SUV appear to have been rolled up at the time they were shot out calling into question the initial reports.
The 16-year-old killed is African-American.
Another shooting in #CHOP overnight. Witnesses report that a white SUV drove into Cal Anderson Park firing shots, then armed protesters (acting as CHOP security) opened fire on the SUV. Two in critical at Harborview. @SeattlePD is investigating. #Q13FOX pic.twitter.com/7YaayKqsur
— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) June 29, 2020
The aftermath of the shooting at CHAZ on Sunday night that left two critically injured. One, a 16-year-old, has died. https://t.co/O0VJILtasc
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) June 29, 2020
While the narrative from CHAZ is that they were defending themselves against a drive by shooting, there is no evidence whatsoever that these teenagers attempted to shoot at them (nor is there any reason they’d be ideologically inclined to do so either). If the CHAZ narrative is true, why wouldn’t they have posted photos of the guns used for the drive by in the shot-up vehicle to prove as much?
Socialist Seattle councilwoman Kshama Sawant was a bit more creative in her explanation for the shooting, offering the completely incoherent claim that the shooting was caused by “capitalism’s brutality.”
While we may never know what happened because CHAZ refuses to cooperate with law enforcement, it currently appears that someone in a silver SUV attempted a drive by shooting, and then sped off. The vehicle shot up by CHAZ “security” was a white Jeep Grand Cherokee, which could’ve been mistaken for the SUV.
But there’s no need to worry – according to Seattle’s Mayor Jenny Durkan “Seattle is fine. Don’t be so afraid of democracy.”
If that’s the case, whoever famously said that the best argument against a democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter clearly never had the chance to see CHAZ.
