#Seattle business owners, residents sue city over ‘CHOP’ zone

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Protesters march through the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone
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About a dozen businesses and residents located in and around Seattle’s autonomous protest zone sued the city Wednesday — arguing their constitutional rights to property are being violated.

The class-action suit claims the group have had their rights “overrun by the city of Seattle’s unprecedented decision to abandon and close off an entire city neighborhood.”

The so-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, which sprouted up on June 8, has been “unchecked by police, unserved by fire and emergency health services, and inaccessible to the public at large,” the lawsuit said.

While the plaintiffs would like to restore normalcy to the area, they stressed in the suit that the legal action was not meant to undermine the protest’s anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter messaging.

The group said in the suit that on occasions they have been threatened by protesters for photographing them or cleaning graffiti from their property.

One of the businesses included the suit — auto shop Car Tender — said a protester broke into his shop on June 14, started a fire and attacked his son with a knife.

The father-son duo were able to detain the burglar, but police did not respond and other protesters forced them to release the attacker, the suit says.

The plaintiffs are seeking damages for lost business, property damage and deprivation of their property rights as well as the restoration of full public access.

On Monday, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said that officials will move to wind down the zone following several shootings in the area over the weekend.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Patty Eakes, on Wednesday requested a timeline from Durkan by Friday for when the city intends to clear out the zone.

If a timeline isn’t given, Eakes said the group will seek an immediate order from the court to restore full public access to the area.

With Post Wires