Capitol Hill Occupied Protest

The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, originally known as Free Capitol Hill and later as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. The zone, originally covering two intersections at the corners of Cal Anderson Park and the roads leading up to them, was established on June 8, 2020 by people protesting the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The zone was cleared of occupants by police on July 1, 2020. The formation of the zone was preceded by tense interactions between protesters and police in riot gear beginning on June 1, 2020. On June 1, thousands of Seattle residents were attending a permitted rally event at Westlake Mall in Downtown Seattle, one mile west of Seattle's east precinct in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Police lined the northeast side of the rally and fired tear gas into the crowd. The event became chaotic and people began moving east toward Capitol Hill, where they eventually congregated, and protests continued each night. Police used tear gas, flash-bangs, and pepper spray in the densely populated residential neighborhood. The situation escalated on June 7 after the brother of a police officer drove his vehicle toward a crowd of protestors at 11th Avenue and Pine Street near the East Precinct police station. He shot a protester who tried to stop him. The same day, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) reported that protesters were throwing rocks, bottles, and fireworks, and shining green lasers into officers' eyes. The next day, the SPD vacated and boarded up its East Precinct building in an effort to deescalate the situation. After the SPD vacated the East Precinct station, protesters moved into...