Last Updated on June 17, 2020
On Tuesday, a citizen of CHOP, the newly rebranded Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, refused to abide by agreement struck between the leaders of the autonomous zone and the City of Seattle that saw CHOP cede most of its holdings in downtown Seattle in exchange for new barricades along the border.
In addition to ceding the territory in exchange for better border protection from Seattle, CHOP had planned to allow emergency services from Seattle to operate within CHOP’s borders, which would become much smaller according to the plan agreed to on June 16.
Within hours of the agreement, some CHOP citizens protested CHOP’s decision to return the land to native Seattleites, with one claiming that he would never relinquish the land he fought for.
In video recorded by Seattle journalist Simone Del Rosario, one man shouted “This is my block,” into a megaphone, continuing “I fought for it. You understand?”
“These people, like I said, came in and decided to not only not help us but to build barricades to protect the police,” he added.
SDOT got chased off just now. Protesters started feeling like the barriers are not what they envisioned or agreed to and they want a new plan. Fire Chief Scoggins came out to see what is the issue, we’ll be hearing from him this afternoon. #Q13FOX #CHOP pic.twitter.com/3ED73sWpFJ
— Simone Del Rosario (@SimoneReports) June 16, 2020
Apparently not alone in his concerns, some citizens of CHOP formed new barricades blocking off territory briefly ceded to Seattle.
Jason Rantz of 770 KTTH wrote:
The open lanes at the intersections of 12th and Pine and 11th and Pine were both blocked as of at least 6:20pm, just under five hours since SDOT mostly finished their work. The cars appear to be strategically placed at the spot to block the lanes. In other words, this was almost assuredly intentional.
In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins explained he had been concerned about safety with the lack of vehicular access to the area.
Additionally, many users of the official CHAZ/CHOP subreddit bemoaned the addition of the border security measures along CHOP’s border.
One user uploaded a video of the barricades and asked, “How long before the CHOP wall comes down?”
How Long Before The CHOP Wall Comes Down? from CapHillAutonomousZone
Another user added that “If the government sides with your anti-government protest, you need to re-evaluate what you’re really doing.”
Others noted the that the wooden plywood covering the concrete barricades were meant to allow the CHOPistanis to continue perfecting their national art, graffiti, and they hoped the border wall will stay permanently.
