Thread by @IwriteOK

I'm liking the Capital Hill Autonomous Zone already.

I am just unbelievably proud of Seattle right now. Journalism later. Geeking out now.

The taco shop is still open.

This salon opened its doors to act as a public restroom and community resource center. One or the stylists, Scarlet, told me: "I've never felt so safe here." (In Cap Hill)

Barricades can also be benches.

This local business seems pretty down with the cause.

Overall vibe is a cross between a Chill Maidan and a really good regional Burn.

I can't give you all a comprehensive accounting of how real this is or how well it all works but the vibe is pretty great.

I don't think this one is approved by anyone's mayor.

No bad protesters. No good cops.

We meet two men who helped take this place: "I fought for every square inch of this." One tells me "once the Police set up a hard barrier, it was over." He explains that when the police went on the defensive around their precinct, it was just a matter of running out their ammo.

A world without police (but with cats)

A monument to the dead from the George Floyd Rebellion.

Oh hey a show. Two folks leading us around say live music has been a part of the demonstrations here for quite a while.

These two decided to come by tonight and take out recycling. "We have been talking with some other people about handling trash disposal" in a more long term fashion, they tell me. "Someone will have to do it."

Here we have another free kitchen, distributing sandwiches and fruit for free. They are taking donations from those who can in order to fund their operations. "We will keep serving as long as we have funding." Venmo in photo.

There are SO MANY happy dogs. His owner tells us she was out on the front line for six straight nights. She thinks it is wild that things are chill enough now for her to bring out her dog.

My assistant calls this "a vandal's eye view of the autonomous zone."

Folks are having a very chill time, watching stunts from the roof of a nearby building.

I dunno yall Zone looks pretty autonomous to me, at least temporarily.

There are drones in the sky above us. Not tiny ones. Unsure whose they are.

A man practices boxing in a dugout. Behind him, demands.

huge if true

Here we see an alley in the process of being turned into a graffiti haven. On the opposite side is a ground level apartment. I avoided taking a photo of it out of respect, but I did get a close in shot of the sign, which has been respected by everyone as far as I can see.

People are helping each other up and down from the roof.

Day one bottom line: still not sure how long this will all last, of what it will mean, but it is an extremely pleasant place to spend time right now and that is fun.

I'm back awake. Bea and I were up till like 6 AM helping out with a guard shift.

RE: Raz Simone. Talked to folks who saw him. He and his folks apparently stood guard the first night. He was not around at all last PM / night that I saw. Certainly doesn't seem to be in chaege.

Folks are having a bit of a rally in the park.

A speaker talks police abolition, and expresses anger that a chunk of the protest movement who are more into police 'reform' are meeting with the city government later today. Pretty strong abolitionist crowd here.

Cops are back in the Precinct. One comes out and tells us they are cleaning up. Two officers inside right now it seems. People are not happy.

Probably more than two cops in the Precinct? But two that folks have seen. Broad consensus seems to be that this has to be a trap. One activist chats with another activist inside and says the police are coming out with an announcement soon

"Anyone is up here. This is not a stage. It is an occupation."

Pretty broad consensus that the Police reoccupying the station is unacceptable. There is talk about wanting to return the land here to the Snohomish Tribe.

A proposal has been made to put the fence back up and lock the police inside.

There is much debate over whether or not this is a good idea. One woman suggests the police are just waiting for folks to try and take an action they can justify as aggressive.

The debate continues while the Police move about inside the building.

The police have really brought a lot of beverages with them.

Out in the crowd, consensus seems to be building that actually fencing off the police station would be a bad call, and used as a justification for horrific violence.

It is definitely a tough call. There is widespread agreement that the Precinct needs to be occupied. But equally wide consensus that taking action against the Precinct will get people killed, particularly black people.

A consensus seems to be that barricading the cops in is a bad call. One activist suggests that a better idea would be to resume the protest and "make their lives intolerable".

Reports are coming in of police SWAT vans waiting nearby.

One young woman announced that her father is an officer in this Precinct. She says that, from her understanding, officers within the department are not taking the protests seriously because they "are not presenting a united front".

Protesters do vote to sanitize the bullhorn.

This fellow suggests that things aren't being taken seriously because the CHAZ has been more of a party than a functional protest. He complains that Washington has still made no meaningful changes to its Police.

He suggests that the protest needs to make concrete demands, similar to things enacted in other cities. He thinks ending the Police Union contract would be a good start.

One protester points out that declaring this an "autonomous zone" makes little sense "because we are not trying to become a self governing entity". He is interrupted when someone starts playing music.

He eventually suggests changing the name to Capitol Hill Occupancy Protest.

Sorry, Capitol Hill Occupancy Protest (CHOP) is the suggested name. There is broad agreement with that, and broad agreement by the crowd in front of the Precinct that "we are not autonomous".

I found some real damn appropriate graffiti yall