Seattle Authorities Plan To Recover CHOP Autonomous Zone

Seattle authorities are planning to dismantle the “police-free zone” known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), that has been held by demonstrators since June 8, according to Tuesday's Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.

RELATED:

Trump's Threat to Send Military Is Illegal, Seattle Mayor Warns

Durkan informed that the Seattle Police Department would soon return to a precinct building, something that would be conducted peacefully. Although, there is still no date for this to happen.

"It’s time for people to go home. It is time for us to restore Cal Anderson and Capitol Hill so it can be a vibrant part of the community," she said. "We can still accommodate people who want to protest peacefully, come there, and gather. But the impacts on the businesses and residents and community are now too much."

The decision arrives in the wake of the shooting incidents that occurred last weekend when a teenager was killed and at least two other people were wounded. Demonstrators have been called "anarchists" by President Donald Trump.

Even though most of the protests have been peaceful, the mayor stressed on the fact that the whole situation is affecting businesses and residents, for due to the riots, violence is starting to increase.

"The gun violence unfolding at night is not only wrong, but it also is undermining and distracting from the message for change that we are hearing in the street and so many of the peaceful protests," she said. "We cannot let acts of violence define this movement for change."

Protests over the killing of George Floyd and the ongoing problem of police racism and brutality are not waning and continued across the country over the weekend as demonstrators in multiple cities mobilized for black lives.