{UAH} DEMOCRAT MAYOR FINALLY REMEMBERS THE SEATTLE VICTIMS OF STUPIDITY

Seattle mayor orders clearing out of police-free 'autonomous zone'

By Lia Eustachewich

July 1, 2020 | 10:36am 

Seattle's no-cop "autonomous zone" is finally being cleared out following a vacate order issued by the city's mayor early Wednesday.

Mayor Jenny Durkan authorized police to remove protesters who are "unlawfully occupying Cal Anderson Park area" — dubbed the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone.

"Persons who refuse or intentionally fail to obey this closure order to move and disperse from the area will be subject to arrest," says the order ,posted online.

Durkan also ordered police to set up a "security buffer" around the area, which includes the East Precinct. Police abandoned the station house on June 8 — when protesters took over City Hall before camping out outside the building.

The dismantling of the CHOP comes after two teens were shot and killed in the zone that spans multiple blocks in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

"As I have said, and I will say again, I support peaceful demonstrations. Black Lives Matter, and I too want to help propel this movement toward meaningful change in our community," said Police Chief Carmen Best. "But enough is enough.  The CHOP has become lawless and brutal. Four shootings — two fatal — robberies, assaults, violence and countless property crimes have occurred in this several block area. "

Dozens of officers in riot gear and armed with batons moved in around 5 a.m. to announce they were clearing out the area — then gave protesters eight minutes to comply, KOMO News reported.

Cops used bicycles to push protesters back about five feet at a time, while warning them to disassemble or face arrest — and the possible use of chemical weapons, according to MyNorthwest.

They then began tearing down tents and wooden barricades.

"A lot of chaos, you hear many, many voices," Debora Killman, who was sleeping in a tent, told KOMO News. "But then I heard on the megaphone it's either going to be the police or National Guard so that's when I started saying OK, it's time to get up."

Most demonstrators appeared to peacefully leave CHOP and nearby Cal Anderson Park, according to reports.

Police said on Twitter that as of 7:45 a.m. local time, 23 people were arrested as of early Wednesday morning on failure to disperse, obstruction, resisting arrest and assault charges.

One of those arrested, a 29-year-old man, had a "large metal pipe and kitchen knife" on him when he was taken into custody, they said.

Cops also said city workers found "improvised" spike strips — designed to deflate car tires — in the area of CHOP.

Best said she wasn't sure when the East Precinct would reopen.

The so-called leaderless autonomous zone had descended into violence, with a 16-year-old boy shot dead on Monday, about a week after a 19-year-old man was gunned down in the area.

Both victims were black, according to local reports.

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