The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) Occupied Protest (CHOP) in Seattle experienced yet another tragic shooting on Monday morning, leaving one man critically injured and another man dead. It appears they again prevented the Seattle Fire Department from aiding the victims, instead rushing them to the hospital themselves. According to some reports, the shooting began with passengers in a white van firing at CHOP residents and “CHOP security” returning fire.
Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) pledged to disperse CHOP last Monday following two shootings that left one dead and three injured last weekend. Her efforts to remove the instigators failed, and CHOP now intends to take control of the Seattle East Precinct Police Station in order to secure anti-police demands.
“Officers investigating a shooting near 12 Ave/Pike Street. Reports of two people injured. More information when available,” the Seattle Police Department tweeted early Monday morning. That street corner is about two blocks from Cal Anderson Park, where CHOP initially camped out in tents.
Officers investigating a shooting near 12 Ave/Pike Street. Reports of two people injured. More information when available.
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) June 29, 2020
Harborview Medical Center (HMC) told CBS Seattle reporter Deedee Sun that one of the two shooting victims has died at the hospital.
“HMC tells me one of the two CHOP shooting victims has died. The other is still in critical condition here,” Sun tweeted. “This is the second fatal shooting at the protest zone within 10 days.”
#BREAKING: HMC tells me one of the two CHOP shooting victims has died. The other is still in critical condition here.
This is the second fatal shooting at the protest zone within 10 days. @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/yVUahMczua
— Deedee Sun (@DeedeeKIRO7) June 29, 2020
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Sun also reported that Raz Simone, the local rapper who allegedly acted like a warlord in the early days of CHAZ, attempted to treat one of the shooting victims and drove him to the hospital. Sun found a “tourniquet used to try and stop his bleeding out” left “on the ground.”
People transported one of the shoring victims in this white Honda. Raz Simone, a volunteer medic, and a military vet who were at #CHOP were among those who rushed the victim to HMC.
Tourniquet used to try and stop his bleeding out here is still on the ground. @KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/pjh6aHxWpn
— Deedee Sun (@DeedeeKIRO7) June 29, 2020
“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,” reported Brandi Kruse, a reporter with Seattle’s Fox affiliate.
Start-up founder Todd Herman, who occasionally fills in for Rush Limbaugh on the EIB Network, asked whether “Antifa Security” has the kind of body cameras demanded for police, so the “security” can prove the shooting was justified.
“I apologize in advance to anyone I may cause offense by asking Brandi if Antifa Security has body cameras so we can see if this was a legit shoot,” Herman tweeted.
I apologize in advance to anyone I may cause offense by asking Brandi if Antifa Security has body cameras so we can see if this was a legit shoot.
— Todd Ξ Herman (@toddeherman) June 29, 2020
A video interview with a transgender activist near CHOP includes audio of the horrific shooting.
During an interview with a trans activist at the Seattle “autonomous zone,” live rounds were fired in the background.
Last week, multiple shootings at the police-free antifa/BLM zone resulted in one dead & 3 injured. pic.twitter.com/xoYj7ZGQVe
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) June 29, 2020
On Sunday, CHOP organizers announced they plan to move into the abandoned East Precinct station, which police left on June 8, the Seattle Times reported. CHOP aims to secure the precinct as a bargaining chip for pressuring the city on police reform — and likely some form of defunding or abolition.
Mayor Durkan, who had hailed the antifa occupation of CHOP as a “Summer of Love,” finally admitted that CHOP had turned violent last week. She could not deny the two tragic shootings last weekend that left one 19-year-old man dead.
Naturally, the mayor focused her condemnation on “gun violence,” rather than the lawlessness of CHOP. Even so, she acknowledged that the occupation has harmed the local area. “Businesses need to open. Many of them have barely survived the COVID shutdown and they and their employees are ready to get back to work, and they should be allowed to do so,” Durkan said. “We need to disrupt the cycle of violence.”
Indeed, sixteen residents and businesses harmed by CHOP in Capitol Hill filed a class-action lawsuit against the City of Seattle, alleging that the city violated their rights by refusing to quash the occupation and restore law and order.
In this context, Durkan’s inability to end the lawless occupation is particularly damning. When President Donald Trump urged Durkan and Gov. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) to restore law and order, they condemned him. They said it was “illegal and unconstitutional” to put down a rebellion. It appears Durkan’s sympathy for this lawlessness may be related to her lackluster commitment to restoring law and order in Seattle.
While the antifa and Black Lives Matter instigators behind CHOP claim to be acting in the interest of black lives, their occupation followed looting, vandalism, and arson across America that destroyed black lives, black livelihoods, and black monuments. At least 20 Americans, most of them black, have died in the riots.
Now two people have tragically died from CHOP-related shootings. It is far past time for Durkan to put an end to this lawlessness.
Tyler O’Neil is the author of Making Hate Pay: The Corruption of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Follow him on Twitter at @Tyler2ONeil.
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