The situation in the United States of America has escalated massively in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of a policeman. What were meant to be protests turned out to be an orgy of looting, rioting and wanton violence. Since then, matters have transcended into the realm of the bizarre and now we have the Country of CHAZ in our hands.
Protesters in downtown Seattle occupied a six block area surrounding the East Precinct of the Seattle Police Department on Monday. Following violent clashes with the ‘protesters’, the Police abandoned their position amidst calls to ‘defund the police’. The objective of CHAZ was to establish some form of socialist utopia which epitomises social justice ethos but it doesn’t appear to be going too well.
The protesters have installed blockades around themselves to mark their territory. A sign on one of these blockades says, “You’re now leaving the USA.” The social justice protesters appear to have finally realised the importance of borders. These borders are also being manned by an armed militia that is demanding identification from people before letting them enter.
The Country of CHAZ was supposed to be an ‘anti-racist zone’ without a Police, however, order appears to have risen spontaneously from the anarchy and the said armed militias are already enforcing the law within the territory. The man-in-charge, who is being referred to as a ‘warlord’ in online circles, a designation he prefers himself, is one rapper called Raz Simone.
Warlord Raz Simone takes control
Raz Simone and his affiliates are manning the streets of CHAZ and they have also allegedly thrashed people for defying orders. As per the Police, they are demanding that businesses and residents pay up a fee to maintain the new social order. Assistant Police Chief Deanna Nollette said, “While they have a constitutionally-protected right to bear arms, and while Washington is an open carry state, there is no legal right for those arms to be used to intimidate community members.”
Nollette also confirmed that the police have heard ‘anecdotally’ that businesses and residents have been ordered to pay a fee if they wish to operate within the area, which is a “crime of extortion” according to the police. The Police have not yet taken any action against the self-declared autonomous zone and are in the process of resolving the matter amicably.
Individuals have been making their dissatisfaction with the state of affairs known on Reddit. They are angry that Raz Simone has assumed supreme authority over the collective without due process.
The demands of CHAZ
The protesters, on their part, have made quite radical demands to abandon their occupation. One of the propositions in the Charter of Demands states, “The Seattle Police Department and attached court system are beyond reform. We do not request reform, we demand abolition. We demand that the Seattle Council and the Mayor defund and abolish the Seattle Police Department and the attached Criminal Justice Apparatus. This means 100% of funding, including existing pensions for Seattle Police. At an equal level of priority we also demand that the city disallow the operations of ICE in the city of Seattle.” ICE is short for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Other demands include the abolition of imprisonment and “a retrial of all People in Color currently serving a prison sentence for violent crime, by a jury of their peers in their community.” US President Donald Trump has made his opinion clear on the matter. He has referred to these people who have created an ‘autonomous zone’ within the USA as ‘domestic terrorists’.
Raz Simone shot back at the US President and claimed that a death warrant had been placed on his head. ‘If I die, don’t let it be in vain,’ Raz told his supporters.
Meanwhile, life has not been easy for the citizens of the Country of CHAZ. They have apparently run out of food and are requesting sympathisers to donate Vegan food for the cause. If their social media communique is to be believed, the homeless people they invited ran off with all the food they had gathered.
Democrats back CHAZ
Democratic politicians, meanwhile, have decided to make no effort to clear the illegal occupation of land by the protesters. There are also fears that the protesters might seek to increase their area of occupation. “We lost a precinct, now, what’s next? Are we going to lose another precinct? The city council has removed our ability to have less lethal ammunition for us to properly protect those facilities and protect ourselves,” Michael Solan, President of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild told Laura Ingraham of Fox News.
Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, and Mayor of Seattle Jenny Durkan are not concerned about the spread of the Wuhan Coronavirus among the protesters and the health risk such demonstrations pose. Significant section of the citizens of the United States and western countries around the world are not allowed to organise funerals for the deceased in the family but such mass gatherings are apparently permitted.
Even ‘health experts’ have said that these protests are more important than fighting the Coronavirus pandemic. Despite the rampant lawlessness in CHAZ, Durkan insists that it is “not a lawless wasteland of anarchist insurrection – it is a peaceful expression of our community’s collective grief and their desire to build a better world.”
