Trump instructs Seattle leaders 'take back' their city from protestors in the cop-free protest zone
The city's mayor ordered police to evacuate their precinct, allowing the area to be overrun by the demonstrators
Protestors in Seattle have taken over the city's Capital Hill neighborhood – abandon by police following violent protests and resulting in President Trump vowing a response if state and city officials don't.
The protestors succeeded in their goal of forcing the Seattle Police Department out of its East Precinct building on Monday, when Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan ordered police to leave the building, following the recent death a George Floyd after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
A banner now hangs across the precinct that reads, "THIS SPACE IS NOW PROPERTY OF THE SEATTLE PEOPLE."
Demonstrators now have free rein of the roughly six-block area, which they have dubbed the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone."
On Tuesday evening, the president weighed in on Twitter, instructing Durkan and Gov. Jay Inslee to "Take back your city NOW," adding, "If you don't do it, I will."
Inside the police-free encampment, movies about racial justice are screened in the evenings, and snacks are available at an area called the "No-Cop Co-op." The goal of the autonomous zone, which has been shorthanded "CHAZ," is to defund and abolish the city's police force.
On Tuesday, the demonstrators published a letter of their demands, which include dismantling the police force and putting an end to the use of armed force, including riot shields, batons and guns.