In the wee hours of Saturday morning, a scuffle broke out at the antifa-anarchist Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) rebellion in Seattle, Wash. A man in a blue helmet climbed up a ladder, apparently intending to remove the sign reading, “Welcome to Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.” The crowd prevented him from removing the sign by seizing the ladder, and a row broke out over who exactly was in charge.
“Is anyone in charge here?” a woman yells at the man in the blue helmet, in a video recorded by Townhall’s Julio Rosas.
The man, who is wearing a facemask, responded by shouting something about “democracy.” It appears he said, “This ain’t a damn democracy here!”
It appears the CHAZ street sign is staying for now as the man climbed off the ladder and a struggle broke out over control of the ladder. A woman asks, “Is anyone in charge?” pic.twitter.com/IeSQY96J6A
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) June 13, 2020
As Rosas reported on Friday, rebels in CHAZ are debating their next steps after state and local officials have done nothing to clamp down on the open rebellion that has seized six blocks in Seattle’s Capitol Hill district, appropriating approximately 500 homes. The CHAZ has launched a shakedown racket in order to force local businesses to provide supplies. The rapper Raz Simone has installed himself as warlord because as one rebel of CHAZ put it, “he has all the guns.” Simone is reportedly attempting to enforce borders and prevent people from entering CHAZ without identification. As PJ Media’s Bryan Preston put it, “it’s taxation without representation.”
As President Donald Trump urged Gov. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.) and Mayor Jenny Durkan (D-Seattle) to quash the rebellion and restore order, the Democrats defended the new nation of CHAZ as a “peaceful” protest and a sign of “patriotism.” In fact, Durkan insisted that it would be “illegal” and “unconstitutional” for the U.S. government to put down an open rebellion in Seattle. (She may want to tell that to Abraham Lincoln.)
Rosas reported that a packet circulating in CHAZ presented suggestions about the way forward: “Permanently taking over the East Precinct, move the zone to another location, or to dissolve the zone completely.”
The lack of representation appears to be a serious problem for CHAZ. Despite Raz Simone’s status as a warlord, it seems chaos truly reigns in the world’s newest country.
“A member of the Seattle Fire Department and a worker with the Seattle Department of Transportation were negotiating with some of the occupiers on Thursday, with the fireman expressing frustration because promises made after negotiating with them are not being honored due to the many different groups in the zone who have different demands,” Rosas reported.
“Is anyone in charge here?” seems an apt question to ask. It appears the answer to that question is “no.” Everyone is in charge in CHAZ, except for Mayor Jenny Durkan and Gov. Inslee — oh, and the American citizens of Seattle and Washington who elected those horrible “leaders,” thus giving them the legitimacy that every rebel of CHAZ sorely lacks. It appears these Democrats have voluntarily ceded this territory to a lawless rebellious faction that imposes taxation without representation.
Hilariously, one of the leaders speaking to the crowd compared CHAZ’s actions to the Boston Tea Party. In reality, their experiment in self-lack-of-government is more akin to that of the Paris Commune in 1871, which went through five types of government in about two months. Except even the Paris Commune had the decency to hold elections.
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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