A board member from Seattle wants to turn the police station in the center of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone which consists of six blocks into a community center, he tweeted.
“Our movement needs to immediately ensure the Eastern Precinct is not returned to the police but is permanently converted into community control,” said board member Kshama Sawant tweeted on Friday.
“My office brought legislation to turn the East Precinct into a community center for restorative justice.”
Police left offices on 12th Avenue and East Pine Street, part of a trendy and trendy neighborhood, last week, surrendering the zone to protesters who demonstrated the death of police on May 25 at George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said later that the move was not her calling, and said city officials “succumbed to severe public pressure.”
But Indian-born Sawant, Seattle’s first elected socialist, said it was a peaceful area.
“This is an extraordinary area of peace and friendship and dignity and to bring movement forward,” he said to CNN on Saturday. “It’s full of hundreds of ordinary people, young people, children, families, and this is clearly a movement led by black and brown community members but welcomes people from all cities and regions who want to join the struggle. “
However, some reports suggest disturbing details about the zone, also known as CHAZ.
A video posted on Twitter over the weekend showed a demonstrator asking white protesters in the zone to give $ 10 to black protesters, while previous reports showed that rapper Raz Simone had established himself as a “warlord” in the zone.
According to the police, there were reports that local business owners were also blackmailed within the zone.
“We have heard anecdotal reports about residents and businesses being asked to pay fees to operate in this area,” Assistant Police Chief Deanne Nollette said last week. “This is a crime of extortion.”
Sawant himself has become a controversial figure in the city. Despite his ties to socialism, a board member reported in 2018 a financial disclosure that he lived in a home worth $ 800,000 – $ 900,000 and had half a million dollars in equity at home, Radio KIRO was reported in 2018.
Seattle’s median home value is $ 767,906, according to Zillow.
