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Third week of protests begins with thousands marching and a CHAZ CHOP rally targeting the ‘affluent white communities of Seattle’

Massive crowds marched down E Madison for a rally at the beach

Massive crowds marched down E Madison for a rally at the beach

Protesters against police brutality and inequity were marching east on Madison Friday afternoon when they passed tall fencing and finely pruned bushes.

It was the gated Broadmoor community and the main goal of the march, which started inside the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and ended about three miles away at Madison Park Beach, was to engage rich, white neighborhoods in Seattle’s ongoing protests.

UPDATE: You can still call it CHAZ if you like but the name that the community has chosen is CHOP — the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. “We are not trying to secede from the United States,” speaker Maurice Cola said Saturday afternoon.

Broadmoor served as a perfect foil for what these protesters said they wanted to do Friday; mobilize affluent white people with power to spur change that would benefit Black people. While passing, they chanted “Out of your homes and into the streets” to the couple dozen people standing on the sidewalk outside the community’s entrance.

Organizer and Seattle Peoples Party leader Nikkita Oliver highlighted the female organizers of the protest and repeated demands that the Seattle Police Department be defunded by 50%, spending increased on community-based organizations, and the protesters not be prosecuted.

She said that city leaders would try to offer some piecemeal changes to protesters, but urged demonstrators to stay in the streets until the system is overhauled.

“[Mayor Jenny Durkan] is going to try to find $100 million somewhere in the budget for 10 years to give to community, but it’s not going to be $100 million from the police,” Oliver said. “That means we have not won yet. Let’s be committed; let’s make this more than a moment. People have sacrificed things in the last 10 days; people have sacrificed things in the last 10 years; people have sacrificed things in the last 100, 200, 300 years and are tired of our powerful moments not making into a movement. It’s because we give into accepting reform.”

“Reform feels easy, but it’s not. Reform is bullshit.”

The crowd of thousands was one of two huge marches across Seattle Friday. As this group headed for Madison Park and the beach, an even larger “silent” march stretched out for blocks and blocks from the Central District to Beacon Hill.

 

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“We want to engage them in this movement, it’s very important that if you say ‘Black lives matter’ that action follows,” protest organizer Jason Beverly told CHS on the march down E Madison. “White affluent people are absolutely in a position where they can step up. You can talk to equity boards in your company, you can ask for funds or donations, you can step up for the African American communities. There hasn’t been that response yet.”

“Action, action, action. We need action. Step into your companies and make action. Step into your communities and take action. Have those hard conversations and stand up for your morals.”

While police violence lit the fuse of the last couple weeks of protests, demonstrations have stretched into areas well beyond law enforcement, with protesters stressing the importance of systemic change in all realms of life.

“Policing, 100%, is a system that is, for lack of a better word, fucked,” Beverly said. “What I personally believe is the people with the funds, the people with the money, the people with the power to change that are white people and you need white people to step in to that role and stand up for your African American brothers, sisters, and non-binary people.”

A couple miles south, an estimated 60,000 protesters took part in a silent march from Judkins Park to Jefferson Park. In solidarity with that march to honor the deaths of Black individuals at the hands of police, a sea of demonstrators on the north side walked a few blocks in silence, as well.

Along with George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, Shaun Fuhr was one of those specifically honored at Madison Park Beach after being killed by a Seattle police officer in the Mount Baker neighborhood in April. His father, Jason Fuhr, called for accountability for his son’s death, as the officer involved was placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting.

“He was running and they shot him in the head and these are the things that’s going on right here in our backyard,” said Jason Fuhr, who noted he was protesting at the 11th and Pine barricade for days before the area became the CHAZ. “I want justice for George Floyd, yes, but I want justice for all the people here in our area.”

The several blocks of demonstrators marched in the rain for almost three hours before getting to the beach. Along the way, locals lined the streets and took videos of the crowd making its way down the neighborhood’s main thoroughfare. The neighborhood Starbucks was giving out water after coming under fire for saying it wouldn’t allow employees to wear “Black Lives Matter” shirts, a decision the company quickly reversed.

When they got to the beach, protest leaders spoke for several hours on the importance of engaging white people that hold power in the movement for Black lives.

“It’s going to be uncomfortable, but we got to start those conversations today,” Beverly said, repeating “today” in a call-and-response with protesters.

Ryan E, who didn’t want his last name published, told the story of having to have tough conversations about race with his right-wing parents because he sees it as his obligation to educate white relatives.

“Your family members, my family members, our family members, are the problem,” Ryan said to the predominately white crowd. “When you leave this march, when you go home, talk to these family members.”

 

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Leanno
Leanno
3 years ago

Who would have ever guessed they would try and shake people down. So unexpected

AllBlackLivesMatter
AllBlackLivesMatter
3 years ago

I’m glad I wasn’t there to see Sean Fuhr “specifically honored” at this event. Looks like he took a break from beating his girlfriend to abduct his daughter at gunpoint:

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/medical-examiner-identifies-24-year-old-man-fatally-shot-by-seattle-police-during-domestic-violence-call/

By the way, I am in favor of abolishing the police as they currently exist and reimagining public health and safety. We don’t need armed police all over the place, and most things they do would be better done by people trained in compassion, not violence. But until we live in the beautiful utopia we are working toward, how can it be controversial to say that a person doing what he did should be stopped, with force if necessary?

People will accuse me of peddling respectability politics but lumping this guy in with George Floyd and Breonna Taylor doesn’t seem right.

dftl
dftl
3 years ago

But he was just turning his life around ….

karl s
3 years ago
Reply to  dftl

Change the name. To Capitol Region Anarchist Pricks

RWK
RWK
3 years ago

Reading the linked article, it seems that Fuhr was a really bad guy, but that doesn’t mean he deserved to be shot and killed.

RWK
RWK
3 years ago
Reply to  RWK

P.S. For god’s sake, black parents, teach your kids not to run when they are detained by the police. I am NOT saying that they deserve to be shot, but the reality is that by running they put themselves at risk for this.

KO
KO
3 years ago

The protests are, in large part, about extrajudicial killings by police officers. Regardless of the kind of person you think Sean Fuhr was, he wasn’t armed, and he was holding his infant in his arms. The police had no right to take his life. I believe that the point protestors are making about him as well is, that had he been a white man in Madison Park who had been accused of DV, he would not have been shot and killed, but apprehended peacefully. Sean was turned away from the police when he was shot, not coming at them with force. If we give police the right to kill people they believe *could* do something, especially when they base those predictions on their internal bias, we have given over too much.

Paul
Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  KO

One year I took a flyer home from a phone pole that listed several people shot by the police around the country that claimed them all as victims and I looked them all up. One was running at cops with a sword, all but one was engaged in some sort of action as that. The one who wasn’t was a cop murdering his wife who afterwards took his own life. I’m interested in facts and how people really operate, not in narratives.

In the case with the baby, the safety of that baby over rules any dv pos anywhere. He ran off with his girlfriends baby after threatening her life. Screw him.

sna
sna
3 years ago
Reply to  KO

“ But just look what cops did at Ruby Ridge and Waco for some of the most egregious examples.”

Which led to Timothy McVeigh to respond by blocking up a federal building in Oklahoma killing 168 people.

BK
BK
3 years ago
Reply to  KO

– I saw that video of the sword bearer. That officer had a split second to either shoot her or be slashed with a sword. He barely had enough time to get out of his car. This may have been a suicide by cop instance but if not, an unarmed person, social worker or someone similar, would likely have been in serious trouble.
Another vid shows officers clearing a squatters drug house riddled with garbage. This guy comes popping up out of a pile of trash with a knife startlingly the officers where the lead officer shoots his own hand. People don’t realize these dangerous situations are used for training officers to stay safe and alive. I wish people would watch more of these incidents cause then they might start to understand how fast situations go south. i used to be offended by being treated like a dangerous person but now I know they just need to be sure I am no threat. Fight, flight or hostile behavior destroys any trust.

AllBlackLivesMatter
AllBlackLivesMatter
3 years ago
Reply to  KO

I mostly agree with you, KO. (And I shouldn’t have misspelled his name: Shaun) It’s not about the kind of person anyone thinks he was, though, it’s about what he was in the act of doing. Listen to the 911 call that prompted the police response and tell me that a forceful intervention wasn’t necessary. It seems like he certainly had a gun when he fired it as he was taking his daughter from her mother despite a no-contact order, so maybe he dumped it as he ran.

But, looking at the bodycam video again, you’re absolutely right. The lead cop runs around the corner and shoots before his fellow officers have finished saying “stop running”. The fact that the cop shoots so quickly also strongly suggests that the guy was turned away, though it’s hard to see because of the blurring in the video. The swat team appears to have decided in advance that they would take him out if they had a chance. As far as they knew, he had a gun, but still, that’s an extrajudicial killing. Perhaps in a different neighborhood with a different suspect they would have proceeded differently, especially considering that they certainly knew this guy’s history of domestic violence. In this case it might not be pure racial bias that explains the potential disparity but the effects of systemic racial bias over a lifetime.

Even if he was a product of our unjust society, someone doing what he was doing has to be confronted. He did not deserve to be shot, but this case is simply not the same as those of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, where there was no good reason for police intervention. It is a shame that the only means we currently have for stopping an armed kidnapping in progress is a swat team, but aside from the 100% abolitionists, the vast majority of defund/abolition ideas include some armed force to respond to exactly situations like this. Still, capturing suspects like this guy is more difficult than killing them, but that’s what justice requires.

Jen Moon
Jen Moon
3 years ago
Reply to  KO

Defunding and putting in services with that money like DV help, support for families, counseling…will work. And it might take some time so that families like Shaun’s don’t end up like that but it is the goal. Because no matter if you agree that is what they had to do in that moment, no one likes it. And there are ways it can be prevented.

Paul
Paul
3 years ago

Aside from some older people with homes around Lake Washington the “affluent white people” here are all tech workers, mostly from elsewhere and not likely to stay a long time. It appears the tech boom has priced out about half the African American people who lived here prior to that. Where were all these activists and excited white liberals about that impact on the black community? This is partially about the community but is really A LOT about hitting out out at Trump this year. Malcom X warned us all about white liberals. As for characters like Oliver, a lot of community members don’t like those loudmouths either. No one asks black community members what they think in fear they might not totally agree with all of the narrative wanna be white socialists are pushing. They just report on the 1% to 2% fringe of Seattle.

Ramon Mercador
Ramon Mercador
3 years ago
Reply to  Paul

People with homes around Lake Washington = Comrade Sawant

Tom
Tom
3 years ago

Good. It’s a waste to continue protesting where most people already agree with you live. Go where the MAGAts live.

Glenn
Glenn
3 years ago
Reply to  Tom

Trump got less than eight percent of the vote in Seattle, so not many MAGAs here, but track them down if yiu want. Good luck changing their opinions though.

Tom
Tom
3 years ago
Reply to  Glenn

Broadmoor and Madison Park have much higher percentages.

Don’t expect them to change their minds. Just a way for the protesters to make some noise in their neighborhood, cause a traffic jam or two, and tell them to go f*** themselves.

Noeeee
Noeeee
3 years ago
Reply to  Tom

On that basis, which I’d agree with, protesting in Seattle is an utter waste of time. It’s ultra liberal already.

Indeed all we are doing is showing that even in such a city we still can’t figure out how to work together and have an accountable police force. Creating anarchy in the CHAZ isn’t doing much to help…

QWERTZ
QWERTZ
3 years ago
Reply to  Noeeee

Seattle
– No progressive income tax.
– No universal healthcare
– No free college education
– Lack of unionized workers
– Slow green energy adoption
– Horrible house efficiency.
– Poor public transit options

If you think Seattle is ultra-liberal? What do you call Germany?

RWK
RWK
3 years ago
Reply to  Noeeee

You can’t blame Seattle for lack of universal health care (which I support). It’s a national problem.

The City, at Mayor Durkan’s initiation, is providing free college education (at the Community College level) for Seattle high school grads. It’s a start.

Union membership is way down everywhere in the USA, not any more so in Seattle.

My understanding is that the Metro bus system is considered one of the best in the country. And we are building an extensive rapid rail system, starting in the poorer south end. It’s taking a long time, but it is happening.

chazwatch
chazwatch
3 years ago

It’s interesting to see that CHAZ/CHOP is suppressing free speech and using chokeholds to stop those expressing their rights we have in the USA. The street preacher was harrassed, attacked physically, tackled and then put in a chokehold all while telling the attacker they are choking him.

Nora
Nora
3 years ago
Reply to  chazwatch

Today they went after a black veteran who wanted to silently march through with an American flag. He was forced out, then commentators said be violent outside the CHAZ border so we can continue to claim we are nonviolent. SMH And when in America do you get to tell others on a public street that they can’t be there just because you don’t like them? I think the city should turn off the water and electricity except to apartments, and take away the sanicans. Why am I paying for sanicans so a bunch of people can make sure I have delayed police response? The infamous Travis Berge dancing in/on the victory garden was the only amusing thing I’ve seen among gun toting, harassing, menacing, arson and assaults. More Travis dancing please.

Vicki Pearce
Vicki Pearce
3 years ago
Reply to  Nora

At first I was appalled that they were provided sani cans but then I considered the alternative. Let them keep the cans.

period
period
3 years ago

LOL

For Real
For Real
3 years ago

Excellent organizing taking it to the homes of the rich. Getting inside the Broadmoor gates might have been even better. If Seattle is as liberal as people are saying, then the residents of Broadmoor would be opening those gates and welcoming the protestors inside their gated community and marching with them too.

Next stop the private schools, the incubators of division and elitism.

Carlos
Carlos
3 years ago
Reply to  For Real

I mean they could seek out communities that have had similar struggles to learn from, Jewish and Asian communities come to mind. But instead Broadmoor? Basically the people who know how to bend the rules just enough to not get caught cheating. That’s the ideal, white collar crime?

dftl
dftl
3 years ago

Nikki is like a boil that keeps festering.

Nora
Nora
3 years ago
Reply to  dftl

Her Twitter gave me cancer.

RWK
RWK
3 years ago
Reply to  dftl

Agree. Thank god she is not Mayor.

As for her demand to defund the police by 50%, that is not a good idea. I am in favor of the City Council and Mayor taking a close look at the police budget, as part of the normal budget process this fall, with the goal of making some cuts which will not impact public safety, but to submit to Oliver’s demand would be nuts.

Jon
Jon
3 years ago

This is what identity politics gets you…Descent into grievance, tribalism and then violence. It is precisely the route taken by socialist governments in the 20th century as they murdered tens-of-millions of people.

People should be judged and viewed as individuals. This is the hallmark of democracy, respect, and peace.

Von
Von
3 years ago
Reply to  Jon

Nailed it. The United States is based on the theory of freedom of the individual. We are looking at the beginning stages of a neo-marxist movement that has been swelling since it started in the universities in the 70’s. Things are going to get a whole lot worse before they get better.

“Hard times create strong men, Strong men create good times, Good times create weak men, Weak men create hard times.”

Paul
Paul
3 years ago

1984 has arrived via a small collection of mostly white radicals.. Differing opinions will be silenced.

Ed
Ed
3 years ago
Reply to  Paul

Not sure what white radicals are you talking about: Confederates? 1960s Southern Democrats? Cops? Tea party members?

RWK
RWK
3 years ago
Reply to  Ed

Obviously, Paul is referring to the far-left, mostly white anarchists….who are not welcome by the BLM movement, or by the majority of Seattleites.

BK
BK
3 years ago
Reply to  Ed

@ Bob K – they aren’t anarchists , they are nihilists, they just want to destroy. They actually practice the opposite of anarchism and show zero self-control. Too many people learned anarchism incorrectly from a 19 year old Johnny Lydon.

Anastasia
Anastasia
3 years ago

I’m sure that the very rich people below will provide support for the Chaz/Chop community. They should go to their homes, knock on the door and go in. Maybe they don’t even have to knock. I feel certain there is a welcome mat for all, and will provide food, entertainment and money, whether or not they are home. I feel certain it will be a trip bountiful!

Dave Matthews – Fremont or Wallingford.
Trey Parker – Downtown but spends most time in LA
Bill Gates – Medina
Danny Bonaduce – Belltown. A friend lives in his building and sees him in their fitness center
Eddie Vedder – Alki
Sir Mix-A-Lot – Auburn area
Krist Novoselic – somewhere around here

Rainn Wilson – he’s from WA, I think he still lives here

Paul Allen – somewhere around here

Yuji Okumoto (the bad guy from Karate Kid 2) – he owns Kona Kitchen in Maple Leaf

RWK
RWK
3 years ago
Reply to  Anastasia

Paul Allen is not “somewhere around here,” He is deceased.

Lindy
Lindy
3 years ago

Paul Allen died in 2018 and most of the other ones you list are wrong.

Pablo
Pablo
3 years ago

It isn’t the job of the wealthy white liberal to change the work ethic of a segment of society that has no work ethic.
Everywhere I look, I see hard working Mexicans, and rarely see hard working blacks. Why?

Wassuper
Wassuper
3 years ago

What happens if a non-white family lives in these “affluent communities”? Can they still be called “affluent white communities of Seattle?” Just asking.

Stilton
Stilton
3 years ago

These people are not peaceful, are holding streets against with armed “security,” and assaulting citizens. There’s plenty of footage that doesn’t make the news.