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There have also been reports of rape, arson, and property destruction, according to Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best.“We cannot walk away from the truth of what is happening here,” Best told the press conference. “This is about life or death.”In a Facebook Live video posted earlier on Monday, Andre Taylor, who founded the anti-police-shooting organization Not This Time!, warned fellow protesters that violent attacks in the CHOP would result in the city retaking the area.“That CHOP area is attracting this kind of activity and it’s unsafe,” Taylor said. “I told them, ’All those people that were supporting you guys, they’re going to start walking away from you, especially all those white people that were following you. … They don’t want to be associated with any part of that violence.”The protesters have occupied the area since June 8, when police abandoned the precinct building following violent clashes with demonstrators.
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There is no clear deadline for when the protesters will be required to leave the area, but Durkan indicated that protests will be allowed to continue during the day.READ: Meet the activists inside Seattle’s police-free zoneDurkan, who previously said the autonomous zone might last for months and could be seen as the “summer of love,” said Monday that protesters would not be removed forcefully but that authorities would engage with the leaders of Black-led community organizations to persuade them to leave the area.Cover: A sign welcomes visitors Monday, June 22, 2020, near an entrance to what has been named the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone in Seattle. For the second time in less than 48 hours, there was a shooting near the "CHOP" area that has been occupied by protesters after Seattle Police pulled back from several blocks of the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood near the Police Department's East Precinct building. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)