Antifa and Black Lives Matter have taken over a six-city block area in Seattle and declared it a new country. The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) is barricaded by protesters and has issued a list of demands. Perhaps not surprisingly for two organizations obsessed with all things race-related, their key platform includes, among other things, segregation.
Will the state authorities act to take back the area, or will the group be permitted to carry on their shenanigans unhindered for fear of upsetting protesters?
The Basics
No study of a new micronation would be complete without an examination of the inhabitants and their customs. Hailing from such disparate backgrounds as Antifa and BLM, the innumerable beany-hat wearing citizens of CHAZ are ideologically joined and intent on forcing change through the commandeering of land.
This is a list of their more interesting demands for the Justice System:
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.
In the transitionary period between now and the dismantlement of the Seattle Police Department, we demand that the use of armed force be banned entirely. No guns, no batons, no riot shields, no chemical weapons, especially against those exercising their First Amendment right as Americans to protest.
We demand an end to the school-to-prison pipeline and the abolition of youth jails.
We demand a retrial of all People in Color [sic] currently serving a prison sentence for violent crime, by a jury of their peers in their community.
We demand decriminalization of the acts of protest, and amnesty for protestors generally, but specifically those involved in what has been termed “The George Floyd Rebellion” against the terrorist cell that previously occupied this area known as the Seattle Police Department.
We demand that prisoners currently serving time be given the full and unrestricted right to vote, and for Washington State to pass legislation specifically breaking from Federal law that prevents felons from being able to vote.
We demand the abolition of imprisonment, generally speaking, but especially the abolition of both youth prisons and privately-owned, for-profit prisons.
We demand in replacement of the current criminal justice system the creation of restorative/transformative accountability programs as a replacement for imprisonment.
We demand autonomy be given to the people to create localized anti-crime systems.
We demand that the Seattle Police Department, between now and the time of its abolition in the near future, empty its “lost and found” and return property owned by denizens of the city.
A Few Minor Issues
There are, of course, some troubling issues with these demands; retrials, in particular, pose a thorny problem. All people of color who are in prison for violent crimes are to be given a retrial with a jury that consists only of other people of color. Not only would this be logistically impossible, but what do you do with the prisoners while they await retrial? Should they be released until their jury trial? The thought of thousands of violent offenders roaming the streets will not make for happy living. It wouldn’t be long before white offenders also request a retrial by a jury of white peers. The end result is a segregated judicial system.
And what happens to the prisoners who are found guilty – again – by this jury, as there will be no prisons? The idea of “restorative/transformative accountability programs” will surely strike fear into the hearts of those convicted of child rape, murder, torture, and domestic abuse.
The Wish List
CHAZ also demands restructuring in other areas, from health to education. Here is a choice selection:
"We demand the hospitals and care facilities of Seattle employ black doctors and nurses specifically to help care for black patients."
Once again, this is seeking segregation of services. It is a slippery slope that would undermine not only the health services but also medical training in the U.S.
"We demand that thorough anti-bias training become a legal requirement for all jobs in the education system, as well as in the medical profession and in mass media."
Quite why white doctors would need to undergo anti-bias training if they are not to be involved in dealing with or caring for black patients is unclear.
In summary, this is a racist wish list that demands nothing more than the complete segregation of health, education, and justice in the United States. Perhaps that one-time supporter of segregation, Joe Biden, could become the Ambassador to CHAZ?
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Read more from Mark Angelides.
