Thursday, June 18, 2020 12:57:45 PM
Now CHAZ has guns: Seattle autonomous zone ‘warlord’ filmed handing out AR-15s to followers
Raz Simone, the so-called warlord of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone carved out of Seattle by activists, has been filmed handing out assault rifles to minors.
That’s a state felony, if only there were anyone to enforce the law.
Video that surfaced on Monday – from Simone’s own June 10 Facebook livestream, apparently – shows him handing out assault rifles that look like the ubiquitous AR-15 semi-automatic, including to individuals who look far younger than 21.
Washington state law, which came into effect last year, makes it a gross misdemeanor to transfer an assault rifle to anyone under 21, with any subsequent offenses considered felonies.
Moreover, under the law, persons between the ages of 18 and 21 are only able to possess a semiautomatic assault rifle or pistol in their place of residence or business, on real property under their control or when moving houses or traveling “to and from” allowed storage locations, as well as in the case of selling to those over 21.
What Raz did was entirely illegal.
That apparently doesn’t seem to apply in “CHAZ,” the anarchist commune occupied by Black Lives Matter and other activists over the past week, consisting of several blocks of downtown Seattle around the East Precinct abandoned by the city’s police department.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan – a Democrat – hasn’t lifted a finger to enforce local or state laws inside the zone. Instead, she defended“CHAZ” as an experiment in democracy, during a Twitter spat with President Donald Trump.
Raz has rejected the label of “warlord” and told reporters last week he created a de facto police replacement “to keep the peace and unity, honestly, that’s it.”
“A few different organizations have different demands, and no one speaks for everyone, but everyone’s trying to get together,” Simone clarified, implying that the much-discussed list of “demands” that have circulated for the past few days don’t represent the wishes of the entire community. However, there are a few lines of commonality running through the settlement.
“Everyone’s upset. We all came here in unity, just over the fact that cops need accountability,” he said, declaring that his decision to join the demonstration was about “trying to send a message and get accountability held.”
“Now we’re here – let’s get the dialogue going,” Simone continued, unwilling to commit to taking over other precincts, expanding the Zone, or any of the ambitious demands made by others in the group.
He had tasked himself with guarding the abandoned East Precinct, intent on stopping people from going inside and “falling into a trap of a narrative of thugs running into the building and ransacking it,” while the anarchists negotiate with the mayor.
Police had left the precinct in a hurry after boarding it up on Sunday and been quickly replaced by the Zoners, who set up barricades and armed guards, and were reportedly conducting ID checks at the “borders.” Simone implied during the interview that weapons were no longer necessary because the threat had passed, referring to his empty gun holster as “symbolic.”
The “warlord” and a group of his fellow enforcers were seen roughing up a vandal spray-painting a building inside the zone in a widely circulated clip earlier this week.
While they try to reason with the man before getting physical, attempting to convince him to respect private property, he clearly didn’t come to an Autonomous Zone to follow rules about graffiti, and it’s hard not to see some irony in the enforcers’ claim that “We are the police of this community now” – along with the subsequent violence.
Simone has been accused of pimping and domestic violence, on top of the ‘terrorism’ the entire community has been labeled with, and seems to be a polarizing figure among Seattle residents.
At the same time, commune life appears to be off to a rocky start, with reports of food shortages, and social media brimming over with evidence of infighting. However, Simone has friends in unlikely places – they include white nationalist Richard Spencer.
However, Seattle police have apparently had second thoughts about abandoning their precinct and want to return, Assistant Police Chief Deanna Nollette said, during a news conference on Wednesday. The situation drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who ordered Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan to “take back your city NOW” or else “I will.”
“Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle, run by Radical Left Democrats, of course,” the president tweeted.
Seattle officials have denied the occupation is being run by Antifa. In addition to CHAZ, protesters swarmed City Hall earlier this week, threatening to impeach Durkan if she did not step down voluntarily.
Protests have been ongoing in the city since the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
https://www.rt.com/usa/491566-seattle-autonomous-zone-warlord-police/
Raz Simone, the so-called warlord of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone carved out of Seattle by activists, has been filmed handing out assault rifles to minors.
That’s a state felony, if only there were anyone to enforce the law.
Video that surfaced on Monday – from Simone’s own June 10 Facebook livestream, apparently – shows him handing out assault rifles that look like the ubiquitous AR-15 semi-automatic, including to individuals who look far younger than 21.
Washington state law, which came into effect last year, makes it a gross misdemeanor to transfer an assault rifle to anyone under 21, with any subsequent offenses considered felonies.
Moreover, under the law, persons between the ages of 18 and 21 are only able to possess a semiautomatic assault rifle or pistol in their place of residence or business, on real property under their control or when moving houses or traveling “to and from” allowed storage locations, as well as in the case of selling to those over 21.
What Raz did was entirely illegal.
That apparently doesn’t seem to apply in “CHAZ,” the anarchist commune occupied by Black Lives Matter and other activists over the past week, consisting of several blocks of downtown Seattle around the East Precinct abandoned by the city’s police department.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan – a Democrat – hasn’t lifted a finger to enforce local or state laws inside the zone. Instead, she defended“CHAZ” as an experiment in democracy, during a Twitter spat with President Donald Trump.
Raz has rejected the label of “warlord” and told reporters last week he created a de facto police replacement “to keep the peace and unity, honestly, that’s it.”
“A few different organizations have different demands, and no one speaks for everyone, but everyone’s trying to get together,” Simone clarified, implying that the much-discussed list of “demands” that have circulated for the past few days don’t represent the wishes of the entire community. However, there are a few lines of commonality running through the settlement.
“Everyone’s upset. We all came here in unity, just over the fact that cops need accountability,” he said, declaring that his decision to join the demonstration was about “trying to send a message and get accountability held.”
“Now we’re here – let’s get the dialogue going,” Simone continued, unwilling to commit to taking over other precincts, expanding the Zone, or any of the ambitious demands made by others in the group.
He had tasked himself with guarding the abandoned East Precinct, intent on stopping people from going inside and “falling into a trap of a narrative of thugs running into the building and ransacking it,” while the anarchists negotiate with the mayor.
Police had left the precinct in a hurry after boarding it up on Sunday and been quickly replaced by the Zoners, who set up barricades and armed guards, and were reportedly conducting ID checks at the “borders.” Simone implied during the interview that weapons were no longer necessary because the threat had passed, referring to his empty gun holster as “symbolic.”
The “warlord” and a group of his fellow enforcers were seen roughing up a vandal spray-painting a building inside the zone in a widely circulated clip earlier this week.
While they try to reason with the man before getting physical, attempting to convince him to respect private property, he clearly didn’t come to an Autonomous Zone to follow rules about graffiti, and it’s hard not to see some irony in the enforcers’ claim that “We are the police of this community now” – along with the subsequent violence.
Simone has been accused of pimping and domestic violence, on top of the ‘terrorism’ the entire community has been labeled with, and seems to be a polarizing figure among Seattle residents.
At the same time, commune life appears to be off to a rocky start, with reports of food shortages, and social media brimming over with evidence of infighting. However, Simone has friends in unlikely places – they include white nationalist Richard Spencer.
However, Seattle police have apparently had second thoughts about abandoning their precinct and want to return, Assistant Police Chief Deanna Nollette said, during a news conference on Wednesday. The situation drew the ire of President Donald Trump, who ordered Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan to “take back your city NOW” or else “I will.”
“Domestic Terrorists have taken over Seattle, run by Radical Left Democrats, of course,” the president tweeted.
Seattle officials have denied the occupation is being run by Antifa. In addition to CHAZ, protesters swarmed City Hall earlier this week, threatening to impeach Durkan if she did not step down voluntarily.
Protests have been ongoing in the city since the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
https://www.rt.com/usa/491566-seattle-autonomous-zone-warlord-police/
Join the InvestorsHub Community
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.
