Seattle Looks To Limit CHOP, Restore East Precinct

SEATTLE, WA — In the wake of weekend shootings, the Seattle Police Department will return to the East Precinct, and protesters will be asked to leave the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area during overnight hours.

The CHOP, formerly called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, arose after the Seattle police department boarded up the precinct and left the area two weeks ago, following several days of confrontations at a police barricade near 11th Avenue and East Pine Street.

Mayor Jenny Durkan held a news conference Monday afternoon, joined by Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best and community leaders to discuss what's next for CHOP.

While the mayor previously voiced support for the ongoing protests, her remarks Monday pointed to a shift in the city's approach, citing recent violence that left a 19-year-old man dead and two others injured.

Related: Man Injured In Third Shooting Near Seattle's CHOP

"Over the days, tens of thousands of people have peacefully gathered or visited Capitol Hill," Durkan said. "During the day, there have been no major incidents. But we know it has been very different at night — particularly in recent nights."

The mayor continued to say the overnight atmosphere at CHOP and "escalating violence" in the area led to increasingly difficult circumstances and heightened concerns among neighbors.

"While we believe individuals, organizations and others can continue to gather on Capitol Hill peacefully, the continued disorder, the violence and the impacts on residents and businesses are not just at odds with the message of justice and equity, they cannot continue to occur," Durkan said.

The mayor's statements follow a letter circulated Sunday by some within CHOP outlining recommendations for organizers to implement several changes, including suggested hours between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Durkan did not provide a timeline for the changes, nor disclose how the city plans to move forward if people refuse to vacate. The mayor said her office would work with community groups to convince people to leave and deploy the Human Services Department to connect people with resources as necessary.

"It would not be an effective strategy to simply send police in to try to clear the area," Durkan said. "If individuals continue to remain at the park, we'll be looking at additional steps to ensure community safety."

Seattle Police Department plans a return to the East Precinct

The mayor said Chief Best made it clear the police department needs to return to the East Precinct in the "near future," but said conversations over its long-term use would continue.

Durkan and Best declined to say when officers would resume full use of the building, saying only that operational plans were in the works to do so in a "phased and safe way."

Best reiterated police claims that some groups in CHOP prevented officers and medics from assisting shooting victims over the weekend. She also placed some blame on a recent bill passed by the Seattle City Council, which banned most crowd control devices.

"I cannot stand by, not another second, and watch another Black man — or anyone really — die in our streets while people aggressively thwart the police and other first responders from rescuing them," Best said. "A life might have been saved if not for the circumstances created by hasty legislation."

The council's legislation has yet to take effect. A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order on June 12.

As the Stranger reported, Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold rejected the chief's premise, referencing the timeline of events outlined in the police department's own accounting of Saturday night's shooting.

"The suggestion that the crowd interfered with the access of victims I believe defies belief," Herbold said. "Because the first victim had already been transferred and the second victim hadn't been shot yet."

Earlier on Monday, Councilmember Kshama Sawant released a lengthy statement pushing back on recent depictions of the CHOP and supporting protest organizers in determining the next steps.

"We completely reject the characterizations — by right-wing and corporate media, the Trump administration, and the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild — of the CHOP as a violent place, and the claims that the presence of police would have prevented either shooting."

Sawant referenced the shooting of a protester in early June as an example of police presence failing to deter violence.

"The first shooting at the site, on June 7, took place when the police were present in full riot gear and weapons against the peaceful protest action; neither that shooting, nor last night's shooting appear to have been committed by a protester," Sawant said.

According to local media reports, protesters remained outside the East Precinct Monday night, while some reconfigured barricades and made other preparations for the police department's pending return.