Last Updated on June 17, 2020
The Seattle Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), formerly known as CHAZ, provided journalists with the first ever guided tour of the premises this week, allowing video footage to be shot in some of CHOP’s most important areas.
In the video, InfoWars and a few other guests are given a guided tour of CHOP that starts off with what the guide describes as the “sh*ttiest part,” the Porta Potties. There is no plumbing infrastructure in CHOP, and residents must rely on the city to dutifully clean and sanitize the graffiti-covered portable toilets.
The guide then shows off the newest iteration of the CHOP garden, which is a marked improvement over the heavily criticized first attempt. “We want not only plants, we want trees, we want beautiful flowers, we want carrots, we want tomatoes, everything that’s amazing for the body, you know what I mean?” the guide explains.
After showing off the community “art,” which consists of ubiquitous graffiti scrawled on every flat surface in sight, the guide stresses that CHOP is no longer an autonomous zone, but a “protest zone.”
“And this is how peaceful it is,” the guide says when approaching the “kitchen” area, before being accosted by workers inside who scream and demand the cameras be turned off.
The guide eventually persuades the cafeteria workers to stop hiding behind a “Good Night White Pride” flag by telling them “this is the good part, that the media doesn’t want people to see,” and their demeanor immediately morphs into friendly and compassionate.
Various free food and clothing zones are shown, as well as the free “charging station,” which consists of outlets to charge electronics and is described by the guide as a place to “make our own power.”
“This is not about being homeless,” the guide says.
“This is one my favorite stations,” the guide says, gesturing to a half empty bookshelf next to a tent. “This is the library. There’s a lot of like, black books over here.” The guide notes that CHOP residents are planning to write a book on the history of CHOP.
The guides notes that he disapproves of a nearby hotdog cart charging money from customers, stating that he believes CHOP should be a money-free zone.
“There’s nothing in here that’s aggressive I promise you guys,” the guide says as he shows off the border barricades. “I don’t know what people have been hearing about people being assaulted, people have been like, violently hurt here and stuff like that…” before telling a story about a “young lady” whose broken leg was fixed by the community.
“I’m not Antifa, I’m not Black Lives Matter, I’m not from any organization, I’m just from myself,” the guide explains, later adding, “if there’s ever a rape that goes on in this place, with my knowledge of anything like that going on here, that person will have to talk to me about it, in my own way, you know what I mean? There’s no law, there’s no law, so if you wanna go ahead and do anything that’s crucial, that’s not unlawful, that’s crucial, that’s inhumane, we’re humans, we have human rights in this area.”
When asked how a rape would be dealt with in CHOP, the guide replies, “I’m not gonna say that, come on bro.”
The full video can be seen below.
