Seattle police say there are reports of armed guards in an area protesters have deemed an “autonomous zone” free of law enforcement, and demonstrators are threatening local businesses there with extortion.
“We’ve heard, anecdotally, reports of citizens and businesses being asked to pay a fee to operate within this area. This is the crime of extortion. If anyone has been subjected to this, we need them to call 911,” Seattle Police Department Assistant Chief Deanna Nollette said on Wednesday, according to Fox News.
The protesters took over a six-block area dubbed the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota police custody. A banner in the area reads, “This space is now property of the Seattle people.”
A law enforcement officer told Fox News that residents of the area are “forced to show ID to prove you ‘belong’ there” and have been “begging for help because they are not being allowed into their homes without ID.” Police also said the area is surrounded by armed guards.
“It’s like checking in with somebody to get into your own home,” resident Mckenzie Diamond told Kiro 7. “Just making it so people can get into their buildings. Keep the zone however they want, and move the fencing so people can go home.”
Nollette criticized those demonstrators who are ID’ing people.
“No one at these checkpoints has the legal authority to demand identification from anyone. We ask if anyone is subjected to these demands to call 911 and report the incident,” Nollette said.
The reports of requiring IDs in the makeshift zone comes as the country continues debate on voter ID laws, which would require people to show some type of identification in order to cast their ballot, as well as heated opposition to building a wall along the southern border.
“While Washington is an open-carry state, there is no legal right for those arms to be used to intimidate community members,” Nollette also told KOMO News.
A police official told Fox News that the protesters are “starting to extort money from the local businesses within the border for ‘protection.'”
Raz Simone, rumored to be one of the leaders of the group, denied any extortion to local outlet KOMO News.
“Definitely no extortion, definitely nothing of that,” Simone said. “We’ve invited people to come in.”
The area encompasses a police precinct. Protesters threatened to burn the East Precinct down, prompting officers to abandon it Monday, and have also issued a list of demands.
“1. The Seattle Police Department and attached court system are beyond reform. We do not request reform, we demand abolition,” the first demand says.
“This is no simple request to end police brutality. We demand that the City Council and the Mayor, whoever that may be, implement these policy changes for the cultural and historic advancement of the City of Seattle, and to ease the struggles of its people,” a blog post by a user named “Free Capitol Hill” reads.
President Trump has demanded that officials take control of the situation, or he will step in.
“Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before,” Trump tweeted. “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!”
