When I look at the list of demands I'm pretty quick to dismiss it. Then I remember how I dismissed the 1999 WTO protests in Seattle too, and how many of the fears those protesters had were realized over the next two decades. I might be too hopeful, but I really think the city leadership should talk to them and hear them out, instead of just trying to push them over.
Turned into a serious drug venue and eventually fell apart. Sounds like it sort of restarted, albeit with regular Danish law enforcement and other city resources.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/h077uv/raz_simone_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania
It's been a thing half a century now.
I'm not passing judgment yet since the days are young and the political bias on the ground is thick in both directions. But it is definitely not "by all accounts".
But my personal bias on the table is that yeah, trading police that were imperfectly constrained by the system for new police utterly and entirely unconstrained by the system is probably not going to go well. The real "fun" will start when Raz's faction pisses off enough people to form a violent counterfaction and you get a gang war, so give it a bit. It takes time for these things to develop. Let the honeymoon wear off and have this place showing a functioning system for, oh, say, at least a month before declaring victory. Not that you declared victory, I'm just saying, I recommend against getting too invested in this.
It's not as if "a place that has no police" is some shocking new experiment that has never been run before; you've got plenty of places you can look out in the world to see what happens next. It's not a difficult-to-predict progression.
>tl;dw: Man was tagging over someone else's art, Raz and group approach and separate him from crowd, chasing him for two blocks. He begins to film them with his phone, they take it from him. He tries to get it back and they attack him, kicking him in the head and breaking his glasses. At one point, Raz threatens to shoot the man. They then begin to gaslight him that it was all his fault. Audio only for most of the end, because woman in Raz' crew filming puts the phone in her pocket while the stream continues. [1]
So it took about 3 days for this anarchist utopia to demonstrate exactly why police exist.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/Seattle/comments/h077uv/raz_simone_...
This feels very much overblown.
Seattle Times has an article that outlines similar "occupy" protests.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/welcome-to-the-cap...
The police let the anarchists do whatever they want, within certain constraints (no injuring people, constrained to certain neighborhoods), and the anarchists only do it on that day of the year. Sometimes there are conflicts between the police and the rioters, but it never escalates to huge conflicts any more.
It’s a display of mutual respect for authority, and it allows the radical groups to blow off some steam, while campaigning for progress.
I know this idea makes no sense to law and order -type people, but it’s an ancient human idea to ritualize and sanctify the behaviors you want to discourage or control.
a. having free snacks and b. not allowing through traffic, but
it really hasn't been stated enough how awful it had been when the police were there. Helicopters all night and if you were unlucky to be close enough: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/06/04/43840246/seattle...
I live 7 blocks away from "the zone" and can confirm, I have never in my life seen anything alike in this regard. The scale of the misinformation being spread in social networks and news media reached a level I couldn't believe possible before. Seriously, it's beyond absurd.
If anyone is interested, I have been taking some pictures of the ongoing protests (including a few of the zone): https://www.flickr.com/photos/peramides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_Utopian_commu...
Your last paragraph reminded me of Eric Gans’ “Originary Hypothesis” [1]:
> Gans hypothesizes that language originates in "an aborted gesture of appropriation," which signifies the desired object as sacred and which memorializes the birth of language, serving as the basis for rituals which recreate the originary event symbolically. The originary sign serves to defer the mimetic violence threatening the group, hence Gans's capsule definition of culture as "the deferral of violence through representation."
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Gans#The_Originary_Hypo...
At least one counterexample to this is Exarcheia[1] in Athens, which has been relatively unpoliced for the last 50 years.
I was there about a year ago and was struck by how both peaceful and lively it was. Nowhere in Athens felt nearly as alive.
>...which has fairly rapidly recently moved from the fringes to the mainstream of debate, and it is a policy openly and actively being discussed by many local governments, and already committed to by the Minneapolis City Council.
>but the Overton Window on that issue just underwent and sudden and massive shift.
Well you're right about that. Because it's insane, and generates clicks, likes, and retweets and so media keeps covering like it's actually popular despite the fact the inverse is true to keep generating their clicks, likes, and retweets. I've been waiting for the Star Tribune to actually run some local polling on this, because everyone I know still back there also thinks it's insane. My guess is they do run the polls, and don't publish the results for the same reason.
[1]https://twitter.com/databyler/status/1268555840098906115?ref...
More recent polling shows much higher support for both “defund” and “dismantle” than what that poll found for it's lopsided framing of “defund”.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-minneapolis-police-poll-e...
It was not well received at the time, but sadly, it’s predictions have been proven correct over time.
Here’s a contemporary negative review of the book with a point by point refutation of its contents (it is painful to read with the benefit of hindsight): https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewconten...
Here’s a chronology of related protests, ending in Trump. You could read up on the individual events, I suppose:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-trade-nafta-timeline-idUS...
This seems like propaganda in its own right. With the exception of Fox and Sky, most news coverage I see on YouTube is neutral or positive:
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=capitol+hill+au...
Most mainstream coverage of protests in general seems to be totally biased in favor of the protestors and against the police. The only big channels that show anything going in the other direction are, again, Fox and Sky.
The demonstration, an irregular event created by the demonstrators, nevertheless takes place near the city centre, intended for very different uses. The demonstrators interrupt the regular life of the streets they march through or of the open spaces they fill. They ‘cut off these areas, and, not yet having the power to occupy them permanently, they transform them into a temporary stage on which they dramatise the power they still lack.
The demonstrators’ view of the city surrounding their stage also changes. By demonstrating, they manifest a greater freedom and independence – a greater creativity, even although the product is only symbolic – than they can ever achieve individually or collectively when pursuing their regular lives. In their regular pursuits they only modify circumstances; by demonstrating they symbolically oppose their very existence to circumstances.
...
Either authority must abdicate and allow the crowd to do as it wishes: in which case the symbolic suddenly becomes real, and, even if the crowd’s lack of organisation and preparedness prevents it from consolidating its victory, the event demonstrates the weakness of authority. Or else authority must constrain and disperse the crowd with violence: in which case the undemocratic character of such authority is publicly displayed. The imposed dilemma is between displayed weakness and displayed authoritarianism.
..."
https://www.marxists.org/history/etol/newspape/isj/1968/no03...
I've been a few times, quite lovely, would recommend.
From the descriptions of Seattleites (sorry) in the thread, it seems there may be more to compare than contrast:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_of_Love
Have we been here before?
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/20/politics/james-mattis-resigna...
This is not true. I am Danish and my apartment is in Copenhagen. It's in fact so successful it has turned into a tourist attraction. Lukas Graham[1] is a Danish musician who grew up there. I don't see how this community can be called a failure.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/seattle-autonomous-zon...
For more info: https://citationsneeded.libsyn.com/episode-54-local-crime-re...
> 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.
https://capitolhillautonomous.zone/demands.html
This is a fascinating experiment that seems to channel a number of forces bubbling just below the surface for decades. The futile, never-ending war on drugs. Police violence. Lack of police accountability. Institutional racism.
What will be more fascinating is what new political parties develop. These demands are well outside the mainstream, but given recent events, not impossible to see being implemented to one degree or another.
But neither party has the alignment of interests for this kind of reform.
Without a political party, it's hard to imagine how anything changes after the banners and barricades come down.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_v._District_of_Columbia...
The study results show that there was probably another case (or multiple) introduced around February 13, meaning that there had only been about two weeks of community transmission instead of the six that officials thought. But because they thought it had been spreading undetected for six weeks, they reacted very strongly and put in strict measures quickly.
So it was probably technically an "overreaction", but that's what made it so effective and kept the situation from getting as bad there as NYC and other places.
Here's an Ars Technica article about it: https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/05/washingtons-covid-19...
And here's the actual study, which also includes a similar situation in early Europe cases: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.21.109322v1
Except that's not really what happened. They fired the existing police force at the time but most were hired back (155 of the 220 that reapplied), and then they expanded to a complement of 401 officers (it was 370 before). Then they built a gigantic surveillance apparatus that tracks pretty much everything. So, more police, more surveillance.
Homicides have apparently declined 63% since they did this.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_County_Police_Departmen...
Please do not spread lies. SF does not have the highest homelessness rate in America. Eugene Oregon has the most homeless: https://www.security.org/resources/homeless-statistics/ , followed by LA and NY.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EaQyClgU4AEJnWf?format=jpg&name=...
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EaQyCmMUEAEn_1o?format=jpg&name=...
I've not before seen a summer street festival where armed militias wearing bulletproof vests patrol the streets.
https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/conte...
https://twitter.com/DrewHolden360/status/1271196018554494977...
The claims that these militias are extorting businesses doesn't come from "the right", it comes from claims by the local police chief.
Addressing the takeover of the area surrounding the Seattle Police Department’s abandoned East Precinct building, Chief Carmen Best said ... using air quotes, that police had heard reports of armed people “patrolling” the area, which she said was “very concerning.” “Especially because we don’t know who these people are,” she added. And she hinted that they may even be extorting local business owners and demanding local residents show identification.
Chief Carmen Best may be totally wrong or making that up. But knowing these sorts of things is part of her job, so to dismiss it would take something stronger than some mocking denial. Especially because this is exactly what always happens when police vacate an area. The result is not "no police", the result is that militias and mafias step in to do it themselves. But worse.
Makes it easy to see how different outlets are doing their best to earn those ad dollars with different strategies (horizontal rows) and to see how their strategies are evolving over time (columns).
Chief Carmen Best may be totally wrong or making that up.
As it turns out she was, in fact, wrong or making it up.
Doesn’t sound very utopian
[1] https://twitter.com/mrandyngo/status/1271291958296604675?s=2...
https://www.seattletimes.com/subscribe/signup-offers/?pw=red...
It would be cool to see your timeline with a site like https://freespoke.com/?q=Capitol%20Hill%20Autonomous%20Zone&...
That's true, under the existing system. And that makes it attractive to reform the system, to make it easier for third parties to grow.
For example, approval voting was passed in Fargo recently: https://www.electionscience.org/commentary-analysis/approval...
tl;dr -- third parties can't grow as long as "splitting the vote" is a thing. But some voting systems have that and others don't.
“Black lives matter” art painting in the street.
Splendid!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporary_Autonomous_Zone
It's an interesting read..
https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/hakim-bey-t-a-z-the-...
If you want to learn about a real breakaway province, look up Transnistria:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transnistria
I've only been to the border. I was staying with Peace Corps volunteers and they risked getting fired if they crossed the boarder (I was told there have been kidnapping situations, but not sure if that's true).
US embassy officials have gone, but they are required to turn around if asked for passports since the US doesn't recognize them as a State. Members of the Peace Corps told me the Russians have supported the region with troops which they've brought in via Ukraine with Moldovan escorts, so there's all types of corruption leading up to that. I was visiting around the time the head of state of Moldova was arrested for embezzling several billion euros.
It's pretty clear this disease wasn't anywhere near as bad as everyone was predicting, and I expect the 100k US fatality number to drop once a year has past and we can put some real data analysis on it. A lot of people have died due to not being able to get medical care too, and those 2nd order effects of these lockdowns will also be significant.
[0]: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=70%25+fatalities+senior+centers+co...
My friends that have walked through the area can confirm.
Why predict defeat?
Why not appreciate the experiment as an alternative to our broken system?
Yeah, it'll eventually go away.
But maybe change will be secured, and there are some ideas that do make sense and will spread or stick around.
Is the worst that could happen worse than the status quo?
You sound like one of the commenters on Drew Houston's Ask HN telling him no-one will pay for rsync.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_People%27s_Association_... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rojava [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebel_Zapatista_Autonomous_Mun...
"Black Lives Matter protestors say Seattle's autonomous zone has hijacked message" https://www.foxnews.com/us/black-lives-matter-protesters-sea...
This seems like a straightforward and believable article. There's infighting at the Zone because a bunch of anarchists have diverted from the core message about police brutality targeting blacks and other minorities, and now the BLM camp is pissed off. Right?
But wait, even though the title unambiguously states that BLM protestors are blaming the autonomous zone for hijacking the core BLM message, the article instead explains that the quote about "hijacking the message" actually comes from a woman who is speaking on behalf of the African American Community Advisory Council, and she's the one being booed and heckled by protestors.
So what's the African American Community Advisory Council? Probably some BLM-related thing, right? After all, if the title of the article states that "Black Lives Matter protestors" are accusing the CHAZ of "hijacking the message" while the actual quote came out of the mouth of someone from the African American Community Advisory Council, then surely Black Lives Matter == African American Community Advisory Council.
Right?
I mean sure, technically they must be two separate things because they have two separate names, but surely they're closely connected. Just to be positive, let's find out. Type that name into a search engine and click on the first result:
https://www.seattle.gov/police/community-policing/demographi...
Wait, the African American Community Advisory Council is actually a department of the Seattle city government. And they "work collaboratively with the police."
So Fox News saw a story about a city government employee scolding protestors. This employee works in a department that is closely aligned with the police and sides with the police, but because the department has a name that evokes blackness, that was enough leeway for them to write a false headline that intentionally confuses the reader into thinking that this is a story about internal conflict and infighting among the protestors.
Sure enough, the bovine reader comments at the bottom of the page confirm the success of this tactic:
"Even the idiots can't agree. What will they do now??"
"I guess nobody told BLM that you can't negotiate with terrorists."
"Leftists arguing over whose riot it is???"
"Eating their own"
Fox News knows that they can trust Fox News readers to glance at the headline, skip the article, feel confirmation of their biases and preconceptions, and tuck another false anecdote in their pocket to use as ammunition in case they get in an argument with a family member, coworker, or person online.
Here's a reminder that we should never be passive consumers of of a biased narrative!
You are incorrect. Laws may both explicitly (or otherwise intentionally) target race and may disproportionately impact race without explicit targeting.
Laws doing the former are subject to “strict scrutiny”: the discrimination must be the least invasive means of achieving a compelling government interest. The latter isn't prohibited at all, though it can be evidence of discriminatory intent. (You may be thinking of employment law, where disparate impact is generally prohibited discrimination, unless closely tailored to a specific legitimate non-discriminatory business need.)
See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Protection_Clause for a discussion, especially the section under “tiered scrutiny” and “disparate impact”.
- Reinstate Glass-Steagall to separate commercial and investment banking
- Require all votes to be made on paper to prevent malicious manipulation
- Overturn Citizens United v. FEC to prevent corporations from buying politicians and elections
- Implement the "Warren Buffet Rule" and restore historical tax rates for the wealthiest 1% of Americans
Why couldn't it be positive? I think it's fair to say that these are early days and there is a general lack of data about what's going on, but most of what I've seen has been pretty positive.
Here's a video I watched from inside: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=610393902995230
If you mean to ask what would happen if white people took it over? Having been through chaz a few times, the population is overwhelming white (Seattle itself is only ~7% black). Capitol Hill is itself a white, gentrified area.
Or do you mean actual white supremacists? Charleston went down fine without a hitch. I seem to recall our President call them some, “very fine people.” [1] I also don’t recall any police response to the recent armed Michigan courthouse takeover.
I did, however, see multiple beatings and tear gas used against protestors for no reason at peaceful, unarmed protest events.
Maybe you can explain why you out “white supremacists” in quotes? Maybe you could list some recent examples of protestors being “crushed without mercy”? (I can list plenty, but none that are white movements. Please inform me!)
[1] https://www.google.com/amp/s/abcnews.go.com/amp/Politics/tru...
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-prote...
This is not the first time Chief Best and the SPD made things up during these events, and in fact they have a long history of misbehavior:
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2011/...
Note that in your video Best is not being too explicit on where exactly those crime reports happened, she just says "in the area" while talking about their response times (CHAZ is a relatively important intersection of Capitol Hill and it is causing some traffic). Note also that this video was filmed in the East Precinct itself (i.e. inside CHAZ).
After everything that happened over the last few weeks it is now my belief that they are being dishonest, which is why two days ago I submitted my first FOIA request to learn more about some events connected to the Seattle Police Department.
By the way, I don't think many people here in Seattle believes this is an "utopia" nor anything close to that, in fact I think that CHAZ may be moving away attention from BLM.
Now I'd say your statement about "extremely biased and partisan" is accurate, but the implication was that it's exclusively in a pro-protestor sense, and that's really not the case.
I say this as someone who lives on the political fringes and generally disagrees with both sides of the partisanship.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpAi70WWBlw [2] https://mynorthwest.com/category/jason-rantz/?
Additionally, they advocate mixing together people who have little in common, to obtain diversity. That's not conducive to sense of community either, as Robert Putnam's research showed[1].
[1] - https://www.puttingourdifferencestowork.com/pdf/j.1467-9477....
Like this scenario in 2016 that ended when the last far-right occupiers of a national wildlife refugee left after 6 weeks?.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/careers/police-officers/po-be...
(Plus, tear gas would seep into the nearby residential buildings)
https://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2020/06/after-mayors-spee...
From my peer group (around forty), rather than liberal vs. conservative breakdown, I'd say those who reluctantly subscribe to cable are sports fans.
[1]https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/heres-the-median-age-of-the-...
> The Seattle Police Department walked back its claim, widely repeated in the news media, that denizens of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone are extorting businesses.
> "That has not happened affirmatively," Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best in a news conference Thursday afternoon, adding that the police department had based earlier claims on anecdotal reports, including in the news and on social media. "We haven't had any formal reports of this occurring."
> That contradicts earlier statements from the police.
Here, a multi-racial family was menaced by residents of Forks, WA. Residents actually cut down trees to block the road.
https://q13fox.com/2020/06/05/spokane-family-harassed-strand...
Here, a police offier's relative drove into the protests, shot a protestor, and ran to the police station.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/08/seattle-sho...
While these instances are not widespread, they are incredibly troubling.
On tear gas, CDC has https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/riotcontrol/factsheet.asp :
People exposed to riot control agents may experience some or all of the following symptoms
immediately after exposure:
* Eyes: excessive tearing, burning, blurred vision, redness
* Nose: runny nose, burning, swelling
* Mouth: burning, irritation, difficulty swallowing, drooling
* Lungs: chest tightness, coughing, choking sensation, noisy breathing (wheezing),
shortness of breath
* Skin: burns, rash
* Other: nausea and vomiting
Long-lasting exposure or exposure to a large dose of riot control agent, especially
in a closed setting, may cause severe effects such as the following:
* Blindness
* Glaucoma (a serious eye condition that can lead to blindness)
* Immediate death due to severe chemical burns to the throat and lungs
* Respiratory failure possibly resulting in death
"[Fox News] has been celebrating a 44-month consecutive streak as the most-watched network on basic cable and a 218-month streak as the most-watched cable news network, averaging 3.5 million primetime viewers and 2 million total-day viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research."
For terrestrial broadcast television in the US, the pro-Trump Sinclair-owned stations possesses 294 stations for around 75% penetration of total US households.
Also, news-talk stations are right-wing with the exception of NPR and sports.
Therefore, one can conclude the right-controlled media is mainstream media.
https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1271224115576180737
https://nypost.com/2020/06/12/raz-simone-accused-of-acting-l...
18:22: Reporter: "So, Chief Best, you stood here on Friday and you said it was going to be your decision and your decision alone to use tear gas. Tear gas was deployed on Sunday. You released a video today to say that it was not your decision to close the East Precinct. So who is making tactical decisions right now, for the Seattle Police Department?"
18:51: Best: "So for the tear gas, it was my decision. ... We suspended the use for 30 days unless it was a 'life safety situation.' And that was the exemption. ... The officers felt like it was a 'life safety situation' ... and I concurred."
19:27: Best: "I own that decision. I made that decision."
Here's a press conference transcript from June 7 where they claimed they would stop using CS gas[2].
Here's a secondary source reporting on the June 11 press conference[3].
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rE4VMjClqI
[2]: https://durkan.seattle.gov/2020/06/transcript-mayor-durkans-...
[3]: https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/06/11/43893335/durkan-...
The Seattle Times [1]: This is a rather long mega thread kind of post, but if you do a ‘Find’ for the headline, it’ll take you there:
Headline to search: Police walk back report that Capitol Hill protesters extorted businesses
For the too lazy to click, here are some quotes:
> That has not happened affirmatively,” Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best in a news conference Thursday afternoon, adding that the police department had based earlier claims on anecdotal reports, including in the news and on social media. “We haven’t had any formal reports of this occurring.”
> In a news conference Wednesday, Assistant Seattle Police Chief Deanna Nollette said police have heard from Capitol Hill community members that some protesters have asked business owners to pay a fee to operate in a roughly six-block area around the precinct. Best repeated the claim in a video address to officers Thursday morning.”
> The police narrative rang false to many in the Capitol Hill business community. Restaurant owners said they hadn’t heard any reports of extortion in the Autonomous Zone. On the contrary: Sales are strong and the increase in walk-up business is cutting down on delivery costs.
> “This protest has not hurt us at all,” said Bok a Bok Chicken co-owner Brian O’Connor...
> ” Apart from those sources, Christina Arrington, who heads the Capitol Hill branch of the Greater Seattle Business Association, said she has had “no other indications that this is taking place.” The GSBA “found no evidence of this occurring,” the group tweeted, based on conversations with area business.”
The Greater Seattle Business Association tweeted [2]:
> ” GSBA and Capitol Hill Business Alliance have also reached out to businesses in the area, and we have found no evidence of this occurring.”
Relevant Seattle area Reddit threads [3][4][5], at least one of which points out how the sinclair owned stations are still running with proven untruths. (For those who don’t remember, Sinclair is company who owns TV and newspapers all over the country and were forcing newscasters to read the same scripted pro-trump news in stations across the country.)
[1] https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-prote...
[2] https://www.twitter.com/GSBA/status/1271132476329431040
[3] https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/h7ecp2/seattle_p...
[4] https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/h7uf4l/komo_news...
[5] https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/h78xn0/police_wa...
[0] https://twitter.com/spekulation/status/1271631384025554944
The reports of BLM leader avoiding answering any public questions about where funds are going [1] was already concerning. Having stories on top of it that some of these funds may also be coerced from non-protestors would be a bad look and I'm happy that isn't the case so far (assuming business owners aren't just staying quiet as the physical threats of speaking out still exists as long as the occupation continues).
I really hope focus goes back on positive police reform and avoids these internal distractions like the merits of a burning-man style street parties and silly attempts at building temporary urban gardens or bringing in dairy cows which take real care/time/investment vs focusing on tangible action and strong pressure towards police reform.
Unlike occupy this (the wider movement, not so much CHAZ) has the potential to result in real wins for once and already has a few. This deserves far more support from the supposedly libertarian-leaning right who despise many of these same police policies.
The vegan hippie utopia stuffs seems to be mostly a distraction from that and easy fodder for dismissal by the mainstream media.
[1] from BLM AMA on Reddit: https://preview.redd.it/3ebhf4rrei451.jpg?width=750&auto=web...
[0]: https://smartasset.com/retirement/average-salary-in-nyc#:~:t....
[0] https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/fox-news-...
One could make [1] their own in 2020 illegally with the hand tools you find at an Ace Hardware Store.
I can confirm that the media isn't accurately representing what's there. It was a little crazy up until last Sunday (before the formation of CHAZ, right before the police left). It's totally peaceful now. People are bringing their families down there. I've even been there in the middle of the night and it's fine.
600k die every year from hearth disease. 700k died globally from mosquito transmitted illness[2]. There are tons of secondary effects. People in America have died of Malaria. Many have committed suicide (Including my best friend's flatmate). Many were told not to come to hospitals. Many hearth attacks were wrongly attributed to COVID if a patient tested positive for it.
We've seen massive amounts of people at beaches in Florida, Texas and other places, as well as these protests and riots, and there are no massive spikes in fatalities 2~4 weeks after those events. The WHO said asymptomatic spread was rare, then waked it back (probably because of political pressure from Dr Fauchi), even though it was known asymptomatic spread was probably not a major transmission in February[3]!
This entire thing has been one massive media manipulation, and in less than two days, the entire thing flipped from one global narrative to another, like a switch!
[0]: https://battlepenguin.com/tech/fighting-with-the-data/#incen...
[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kas0tIxDvrg
[2]: https://www.isglobal.org/en_GB/-/mosquito-el-animal-mas-leta...
[3]: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/02/paper-non-symptomati...
From https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2020/06/11/43892640/busines...: "And get this—the police are still in the neighborhood, doing routine police stuff. Last night I watched two cops deal with a person who had passed out on Broadway. They prodded her and asked “you wanna go to detox?” until medical professionals arrived. (Obviously, we should be funding social workers to take care of these kinds of problems instead of cops!)"
[1] https://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2020/06/ha...
That's funny, because the majority of the clips I've seen have unprovoked or inappropriate responses from the police. Seattle alone [0] has had numerous incidents. It's trivially easy to see this, to the point that one would have to ignore many incidents to say "every instance" was started by protestors.
I believe that you are not arguing in good faith.
[0]: https://github.com/2020PB/police-brutality/blob/master/repor...
[0] https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/07/max-blumenthal-on-baghdad...
[1] https://thegrayzone.com/2020/04/28/opcw-insiders-ltamenah-ch...
Clearing out the area is fundamentally a political issue, so I think you need to focus less on who would clear out CHAZ and more on how they would justify their actions. The area is in a dense area and is easily accessible by transit so tons of people have gone there in person. Plus, the local establishment news has been visiting the area and taking pictures.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/dubbed-a-lawless-s...
Whoever clears it would need to create "probable cause" as you mentioned initially. Our police chief has been trying to justify clearing the area by saying: 1) business are getting extorted (no evidence) 2) assaults and rapes have increased (the crime blotter doesn't support this) 3) there are armed guards doing ID checks at the barricades (people can just walk in to the area and tons of people have visited. There have been a few people with long guns hanging out, but my understanding is that they leave shortly because other people tell them it's not a good look). So far, none of those accusations have stuck:
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-area-prote...
Seems the problem is approximately 90 times worse (!) than the UK for example. The UK is somewhat less diverse, but what has a diverse population got to do with it? That might explain some of the killing, but it doesn't justify it.
