Infinite demands meet perennial responses.
Protesters have repeatedly stressed that the shootings and violence was not directly connected with Chop, and may have happened anyway . But it resulted in a dramatic decline in occupiers, it concerned local businesses and residents, and amplified officials calling on occupants to disperse.
By the time police cleared Chop on Wednesday, following Mayor Durkan’s emergency executive order, the area had largely been reduced to a small number of activists and many homeless people, explained Powell.
The truth is they “went in and did a violent sweep on homeless people, throwing away their tents and belongings”, she said.
“Those homeless people had come into Chop to be safe from the sweeps. That is the vast majority of people that were in that space since the shooting started.”
Officers reported on Twitter that they arrested 31 people during the sweep.
Some activists have argued that the police precinct was needed as a bargaining chip in order to get their three main demands met, which involve defunding the police, using that money to invest in community health and services, and dropping criminal charges against protesters. Others say another occupation in the city could be a future possibility.
The bolder the activism, the more quickly it is shut down. Compare the half life of this recent adventure with the half-life of Occupy.
Power benefits from making examples.
unshaned 