The Brief: CHOP is a new name for what was formerly known as CHAZ (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone). CHOP stands for Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.
DEEP DIVE
Some occupants of an area in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle have decided to call the people-run, cop-free area CHOP instead of CHAZ. While CHAZ stood for “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” since it is not actually autonomous, some people have started calling it CHOP, which stands for Capitol Hill Occupied Protest or Capitol Hill Organized Protest.
Since there is no centralized leadership of CHOP/CHAZ, it doesn’t have an official name, but the name CHOP has been used since June 14 with occupants repainting signs that night. A common reason cited for the name change is that “occupied protest” more accurately describes the area as Black Lives Matter and other anti-racist protestors are seeking real change in their city rather than to just establish an autonomous zone.
Finally made it down to support the #CHOPseattle and I can’t tell you how proud I am of my city. This place is wildly peaceful, open, and beautiful. #BlackLivesMatter #defundspd pic.twitter.com/IWCxEiacMp
— mona (@messycanvas) June 14, 2020
Hello from the #CHOPseattle the #autonomouszone pic.twitter.com/gUEk4VM4Ny
— Naveed Jamali (@NaveedAJamali) June 14, 2020