Inside the Fall of CHOP - Two Canadians in the Heart of the Police Free Zone in Seattle
Time to read: under 4 minutes
With the support of Arts Commons, artist Nicole Wolf and journalist Gavin John were able to travel to Seattle during the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also defined as Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), to document the unfolding situation through art. This self-declared autonomous zone was established on June 8, 2020 in response to George Floyd’s death at the hands of police officers. The demands of the protesters were as follows: 1) cut funding for city police by fifty percent, 2) redistribute the funds into community efforts such as restorative justice and health care, and 3) ensure that protesters would not be charged with crimes.
From their exploratory journey, the exhibition Inside the Fall of CHOP was born, with illustrations and writing by Nicole Wolf, and photographs, editing and writing contributions by Gavin John.
This public exhibition will be free to enjoy in the 8th Avenue kiosks outside of the Arts Commons building, and is only possible because of the support of Alberta Theatre Projects, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Downstage Theatre, One Yellow Rabbit Performance Theatre, and Theatre Calgary.
INTRODUCTION
June 23, 2020
“Seattle looks like a warzone. The media says thousands of armed protesters have taken over a police station and elected a warlord named Raz Simone who’s arming the protesters.” My friend Gavin John, a conflict journalist who specializes in investigative photojournalism, called to tell me about Seattle. We’d both done long-form storytelling projects in conflict zones before, and these protests caught our attention.
Within 72 hours, we were inside Seattle’s police-free zone. It had been dubbed CHAZ (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone) by the media, and CHOP by the protesters. Gavin and I were only the third persons admitted into the States for journalism purposes since the beginning of Covid. We had a single focus: to visually capture as many perspectives as we could find.
DAY ONE
June 26, 2020
We spotted the alleged warlord Raz Simone surrounded by several burly men and standing outside of a city meeting with Mayor Durkan. They stopped talking when I entered their circle. I extended a fist to Raz, nodded at the heavy rings gilding each of his fingers, and said, “Don’t hurt me with those.” Raz laughed and bumped my fist.
I explained that Gavin and I had flown from Canada to record the perspectives of CHOP/CHAZ protesters. Raz’s willingness to talk surprised us. He shared his thoughts with us for the next hour. While he spoke, I drew his portrait.
Raz said:
“I’m not into cancel culture. I actually do want to hear other people’s perspectives. I was raised by my mother to be a peaceful person. She’d always remind me I share a birthday with MLK. When the media started calling me a warlord, I was surprised. I see myself as an advocate and protector. My mother taught me the power of forgiveness.
When [the media] got a picture of me holding a gun, it was because we were told there were white supremacists coming to attack us. Since the cops had left, we had to defend ourselves. I was exercising my Second Amendment right as an American. But the world wanted to see a black man holding an assault rifle - so that’s what I became to them.”
DAY FOUR
June 29, 2020
A young man pulled out his phone and pointed it at several leaders of CHAZ/CHOP engaged in a scuffle. “I’m recording you,” he said. The leaders turned their attention away from each other and confronted him. “Why are you recording us? You have no right to record us”. They exchanged angry words I couldn’t hear. Then one of the leaders who wore several handguns shoved the young man back. The young man pulled out a can of pepper spray, unloaded it into the leader’s eyes, and ran off. The leader dropped in agony, and the other protesters began emptying water-bottles over his eyes.
About a dozen other protesters carrying bats, hand guns and metal pipes chased the young man. When we found him again, he was handcuffed to a garbage can, with four of CHOP’s designated security detail standing guard with rifles. “We’ve called the police, but they won’t come into CHOP, so we’ve cuffed him here while we wait”. They seemed unaware of the irony of the situation, given that the self-elected law enforcement of the police-free zone were calling for police assistance.
The man had some cuts and bruises, but was willing to talk to us. He said he was an Australian on a holiday in America, and had been walking past CHAZ/CHOP when he saw a fight break out. He’d pulled out his phone with the intention of breaking it up. “That’s what we do if we see a fight in my country.”
Instead, he’d done arguably the worst thing in that scenario. He called one of the protesters the N-word.
“Yeah, I’m not racist, I said the [n-word] as a joke, to de-escalate the situation. More like, ‘don’t be upset, my n----’. I’m one one-thousandth black you know? I used a soft ‘a’, the softest of ‘r’’s. I guess in hindsight it was a bad idea.”
We listened with pity and disbelief at his incredible lack of self-awareness.
DAY SEVEN
July 1, 2020
We awoke to text messages that CHAZ/CHOP fell in the small morning hours of July 1st. Police marched into the center of the occupied zone and, according to a witness, “pushed everyone out. Four feet at a time”.
One of the police officers guarding the boundaries of the protest zone spoke to us. I drew her against the early morning background of CHAZ/CHOP.
“Someone said I’m a Nazi. I didn’t know black people could be Nazis. You think [the protesters] would want more minorities in the force . This is my squad. We’re all visible minorities. I grew up in the foster care system, too. Isn’t this representation what [the protesters] want? But once you put on the uniform everyone thinks you’re a bad person”.
The six-block perimeter remained closed to the public for a few more days, with police officers holding a line behind tape. For the final week we stayed in Seattle, protests continued and the relationship between the police and the CHAZ/CHOP protesters remained strained.
To drive deeper, visit Nicole Wolf and Gavin John at their Instagram pages.
