Seattle Mayor Says Police Will Return to 'CHOP' Protest Zone
A person walks past a sign welcoming visitors Monday, June 22, 2020, near an entrance to what has been named the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone in Seattle. AP Photo
STATE AND LOCAL NEWS ROUNDUP | Correctional officers complain about discrimination in guarding of Derek Chauvin ... A city council member is arrested in Los Angeles corruption case ... San Francisco's mayor wants to move ahead with reopening.
Police are planning to soon return to their precinct in Seattle in an area of the city that had been taken over by protesters for two weeks, Mayor Jenny Durkan said this week. Durkan emphasized that the return to the abandoned precinct will be “peaceful,” while also asking protesters who had established an encampment in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area to leave at night. “It’s time for people to go home,” Durkan said. “The impacts on the businesses and residents and the community are now too much.” She said police would not be used to clear the area, where some people had pitched tents and set up couches and gardens. Three people have been shot near the zone in recent days, including a 19-year-old who died on Saturday night. Community organizers have since suggested that the area limit its hours to 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., although some would stay at night. Fewer protesters, who had gathered in support of Black Lives Matter, could already be seen at the zone, although those who were there on Monday told a Seattle Times reporter that they treasured the experiment in communal living. “When it works, the community watches out for each other, and for people in the lower income brackets; there are free supplies, water, food,” said one woman. “And I don’t feel like a Black woman in this space. It’s not the first thing people notice about me.” Meanwhile, some people who live in the Capitol Hill neighborhood said they wanted a clearer timeline on when the zone will close. [Seattle Times; KOMONews]
DEREK CHAUVIN | Eight correctional officers at the Ramsey County jail in Minneapolis filed discrimination charges against jail leadership because they say they were banned from guarding Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd, because they are people of color. “I understood that the decision to segregate us had been made because we could not be trusted to carry out our work responsibilities professionally around the high-profile inmate—solely because of the color of our skin,” wrote one Black sergeant. “I am not aware of a similar situation where white officers were segregated from an inmate.” [Star Tribune]
CITY HALL ARREST | A Los Angeles City Councilman, Jose Huizar, was arrested on Tuesday as part of a federal investigation into City Hall corruption. Huizar faces racketeering charges and is accused of heading up a scheme where real estate developers were pressed for bribes and campaign donations in exchange for help getting projects approved. [Los Angeles Times]
OPENING EARLY | San Francisco Mayor London Breed is requesting state approval for a plan to move into the next phase of reopening next week, rather than in mid-July. The plan would reopen bars, salons and barbershops, tattoo parlors, zoos, and outdoor swimming pools. “Thanks to San Franciscans’ efforts to follow health requirements, wear face coverings, and practice social distancing, our Covid-19 health indicators are in a good place and we can continue reopening our city,” Breed said. [CNBC]
RAYSHARD BROOKS | On Monday, hundreds of mourners attended a memorial for Rayshard Brooks, a Black man shot and killed by a police officer in Atlanta on June 12. A private funeral was held on Tuesday afternoon. [Washington Post]
Senior reporter Bill Lucia contributed to this report.
Laura Maggi is the managing editor of Route Fifty and Emma Coleman is the assistant editor.
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