Seattle Autonomous Zone

[blues]

How is this any different from Sovereign Citizens?

They're not traveling. (Unfortunately.)

[Caballoflaco]

If I had a brewery or distillery in the area I would be shipping in as much free booze as I could, to support the revolution and slake the thirst of our comrades on the front lines.

[RevolverRob]

This like to the quadrillionth power.

Since the mayor has surrendered the area to these people, are they even guilty of trespassing?

At this stage these people are not hurting anyone AFAWK. Maybe the surrounding businesses are not able to do business, but is the city actually open for business?

Ironically these protestors are now the lefts version of Sovereign citizens.

Long term, the best thing for the feds to do is stay the hell away, until enough individuals file complaints for some sort of wrong that is being done to them. The feds should make sure that they save all tweets and public speeches of the local elected officials making statements that they are OK with what these guys are doing. Then when all this comes to an end and they ask for federal funds to help clean up and rebuild, deny them all based on the claims that local leaders were OK with the activity.

One of the most important reasons to name it an insurrection is that under federal statutes (that ironically date to just after the Civil War), the Federal Government is forbidden from assuming debts or paying bills incurred by those engaged in active rebellion against the United States.

It is critical that the mayor and city council, and quite possibly the governor and Washington State congress - be named as co-conspirators to this rebellion (by virtue of providing support to the insurrectionists). That will make it impossible, even if they request the funds, for them to be disbursed to rebuild, repair, clean up, etc. It will become strictly the responsibility of local tax payers and/or damages awarded from suing the rebel occupiers.

[Dagga Boy]

The county sheriff needs to release the entire Jail population right at the front gate. “If you stay inside CHAZ, you can remain out, and if caught outside you get your probation violated and a new charge.....busses leave in an hour”. Meanwhile, all Seattle cops have a cough and need 14 days of quarantine. Agree with others, not one nickel of Fed help, and that should be where ICE drops everyone as well who they don’t have room for. Should fix itself.......or not.

[Wendell]

Have we discussed yet some (tongue in cheek) fun methods to regain control of CHAZ, or alternatively how we can make better use of CHAZ?

Here's some ideas: 1) Turn it into the dystopian prison city of Escape from New York. Create a reality show competition for the next Snake Plisskin
2) Lay a siege. Why should Vicksburg be the only city to enjoy one.


What else could we propose?

W.W.R.D.?

[Caballoflaco]

The county sheriff needs to release the entire Jail population right at the front gate. “If you stay inside CHAZ, you can remain out, and if caught outside you get your probation violated and a new charge.....busses leave in an hour”. Meanwhile, all Seattle cops have a cough and need 14 days of quarantine. Agree with others, not one nickel of Fed help, and that should be where ICE drops everyone as well who they don’t have room for. Should fix itself.......or not.

[MickAK]

You know what?

I'm furious about this. And I hope they continue doing nothing and that the President is ultimately forced to issue a proclamation under the Insurrection Act. By doing so the mayor and city council can, and must be, tried for and likely convicted under 18 USC 2383 for the crime of Rebellion or Insurrection.

10 years, $10,000 fine, disallowed from holding office.

Providing sanitation services to a live insurrection makes one guilty of the crime of rebellion or insurrection.

That's just sillypants. You think the Seattle police department isn't capable of defending their precincts? You think the Minneapolis PD wasn't? It's not a rebellion if you willingly cede territory to people. It's just a badly run city.

Dragging a few plastic barriers into the street isn't an insurrection. The cops were there today looking over the building and making sure it wasn't too damaged because they want it back.

I'm all for the Insurrection Act, but citizens have to get off their ass and petition the Federal Government for relief. Right now there's just a vague undercurrent of 'How far are we going to let this go?'. That's been brewing for a decade in Seattle but until people find their balls it's not going to become effective action.

tl:dr you can't have an insurrection enabled and condoned by the power structure you're supposedly rebelling against.

[RevolverRob]

That's just sillypants. You think the Seattle police department isn't capable of defending their precincts? You think the Minneapolis PD wasn't? It's not a rebellion if you willingly cede territory to people. It's just a badly run city.

Dragging a few plastic barriers into the street isn't an insurrection. The cops were there today looking over the building and making sure it wasn't too damaged because they want it back.

I'm all for the Insurrection Act, but citizens have to get off their ass and petition the Federal Government for relief. Right now there's just a vague undercurrent of 'How far are we going to let this go?'. That's been brewing for a decade in Seattle but until people find their balls it's not going to become effective action.

tl:dr you can't have an insurrection enabled and condoned by the power structure you're supposedly rebelling against.

Insurrection Act is a federal act, not a state act. So whether a local government supports or enables the insurrection is irrelevant. In fact, one of the changes to the Insurrection Act post-1807 was designed to allow POTUS to invoke it to enforce local laws. This was done in anticipation of continued strife during Reconstruction. While the act typically is invoked by the president via request from a state legislature or governor,, this is not strictly necessary.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/253

The law requires no formal petition, though such a petition would likely aid POTUS in making the decision to invoke the act.

[Maple Syrup Actual]

I have been thinking this one over today, and I think I have a good suggestion.

You don't want to deploy the military on US soil, but you could probably do with a solution with quasi-militaristic overtones.

Here's what you do. You take one of those duck amphibs that does tours in Seattle, and you find yourself a non-US citizen shooter, preferably someone who knows the area well and has a lot of friends in and around Seattle, and who has a bunch of skills piloting big trucks and boats, and you give him the honorary title of "Captain." He picks a dozen guys who get free nvgs, ammo, and all the Hawaiian shirts they can carry, you issue a letter of marque on the duck, and you let that cookie crumble.

Then, when it goes seriously sideways because the privateers show up drunk, you blame it on whatever country the guy in charge is from, invade it, hang the head of state (or duly elected representative) and establish the US Constitution in, you know, whatever country we're talking about here.

CHOAD gets flattened during the invasion and nobody notices because there's a real war going on, but it's against a first world country so all you have to do is secure a surrender and it's actually over.

The drunk captain pleads not guilty on the grounds of being only regular pirate drunk, but you convict him in a show trial anyway to prove you mean business, but quietly pardon him the following year, and he emerges from federal prison to discover he now has second amendment rights.

CHOAD residents are happy because now they have a frame of reference to understand how good life in the USA is.

You're happy because the CHOADs have fucked off.

The Captain is happy because he now has second amendment rights.

Although shortly afterwards, he discovers that everyone now calls him The Captain of CHOAD and that does annoy the shit out of him. Still, what price freedom?

[MickAK]

Insurrection Act is a federal act, not a state act. So whether a local government supports or enables the insurrection is irrelevant. In fact, one of the changes to the Insurrection Act post-1807 was designed to allow POTUS to invoke it to enforce local laws. This was done in anticipation of continued strife during Reconstruction. While the act typically is invoked by the president via request from a state legislature or governor,, this is not strictly necessary.

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/253

The law requires no formal petition, though such a petition would likely aid POTUS in making the decision to invoke the act.

I'm aware of the legal requirements of the Insurrection Act but I think you're missing the point. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should.

This is the culmination of years of delusional thinking by Seattle citizens that there is somehow a problem with police brutality in Seattle. Over the years I've been amazed at the patience displayed by Seattle PD and I was shocked when I heard of the federal oversight program.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...seattle-police

Sending in troops won't accomplish anything. The troops are there and they're very well trained at riot work thanks to the annual May Day overtime and training festival. They're being forbidden from doing their job. Baiting Trump into invoking the Insurrection Act over this when he didn't while Minneapolis burned is straight out of a DNC playbook.