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Source: Armed People at Seattle Autonomous Zone Checking IDs, Extorting Businesses: Police<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n People with guns are checking the identification of individuals trying to enter an area in\u00a0Seattle<\/a>\u00a0run by far-left activists and groups like Antifa, the Seattle Police Department said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe have been hearing from community members that they have been subjected to barricades set up by the protesters, with some armed individuals running them as checkpoints into the neighborhood,\u201d\u00a0Assistant Chief Deanna Nollette told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile they have a constitutionally protected right to bear arms, and while\u00a0Washington<\/a>\u00a0is an open carry state, there is no legal right for those arms to be used to intimidate community members,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n Police officials have also heard of businesses and citizens being asked to pay a fee to operate in the area, which is known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone and includes about 500 houses. That would be the crime of extortion, Nollette said.<\/p>\n Anyone feeling threatened, intimidated, or extorted should call 911, she added.<\/p>\n The takeover of the area was completed after police officers abandoned the Seattle Police Department\u2019s East Precinct because of threats it would be burned down.<\/p>\n Because the building is connected to apartment buildings and businesses, officials made the choice to board it up and secure it before relocating officers.<\/p>\n Nollette said police want to return to normal operations at the precinct, which would improve response times and capabilities within the neighborhood. But there is no set plan for how to return yet, she said.<\/p>\n Putting up barricades and blocking some people from entering isn\u2019t legal, the police official continued. \u201cHowever, in an effort to try to cooperate and collaborate, and move forward peacefully, we\u2019re trying to get a dialogue going so that we can figure out the way to resolve this without unduly impacting the citizens and businesses that are operating in that area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Video footage shows assaults and other crimes taking place within the autonomous zone, including footage filmed by Raz Simone, a local rapper, showing a man being assaulted for putting graffiti on an outdoor wall.<\/p>\n Groups who have self-identified as being part of the takeover include the Seattle Democratic Socialists of America and Antifa, a far-left group that espouses violence.<\/p>\n The group has\u00a0a lengthy list<\/a>\u00a0of demands, including abolishing the Seattle Police Department, reparations for \u201cvictims of policy brutality,\u201d and a retrial of all minorities currently in prison for violent crimes.<\/p>\n Barricades viewed by a reporter with NTD Television, The Epoch Times\u2019s sister media, included the phrase, \u201cPublic safety means no cops on our streets.\u201d Another slogan called for defunding the police.<\/p>\n The East Precinct building entrance sign was painted over to say \u201cSeattle People Department.\u201d<\/p>\n Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best met with some of the occupiers on Tuesday morning, including Simone.<\/p>\n \u201cI heard some people say they were in support of SPD, but after this week they lost hope and they were angry,\u201d Simone told Best,\u00a0according to<\/a>\u00a0a local outlet. \u201cI think a lot of the conversations you guys might want to have will be with the residents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think you are right. I am actually going to go around and talk to the residents about what they are feeling and what they saw. I agree that people felt traumatized in many ways,\u201d Best said.<\/p>\n Asked about the zone during a separate press conference on Wednesday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, told reporters, \u201cThat\u2019s news to me, so I\u2019ll have to reserve any comment about it.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s happening, though, has drawn nationwide attention.<\/p>\n President Donald Trump, a Republican, said Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan \u201care being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTake back your city NOW. If you don\u2019t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped [sic] IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!\u201d he added in a missive on social media.<\/p>\n Inslee told Trump in response that \u201ca man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state\u2019s business.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMake us all safe. Go back to your bunker,\u201d Durkan, a Democrat, added.<\/p>\nBY\u00a0ZACHARY STIEBER<\/a><\/span><\/div>\nJune 11, 2020<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n![\"Epoch](\"http:\/\/esterlund.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/boarded-precinct-1200x900.jpg\")
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