Capital Hill Autonomous Zone “warlord” Raz Simone was seen handing out guns to individuals he didn’t seem to know on Sunday night, a legally and ethically questionable decision. The Capital Hill Autonomous Zone is a self-declared anarchist commune that claims to be sovereign of the United States, contained within six blocks of downtown Seattle.
On the video, Simone hands at least one man an AR-15 style rifle, with one of his associates stating that the CHAZ “needs more people who know how to use firearms.”
Washington state requires possessors of so-called “assault weapons” to be above the age of 21, and criminalizes the transfer of these firearms to individuals who are not of the legal age. The ages of the individuals whom Raz seems to have arbitrarily given rifles to are unclear, but the transfers may be illegal under Washington law if they’re not 21. Private firearms transfers in Washington state are legal.
The man whom Simone gave a rifle to appeared somewhat unfamiliar with the AR platform, and the soundcloud rapper showed him how to activate the weapon’s magazine release.
Simone is a Seattle rap artist and AirBnB landlord. Reports from the CHAZ increasingly indicate that he’s set himself up as a de facto warlord of the commune, against the wishes of some leftists who see his rule as a violation of the CHAZ’s original anarchist principles.
A group of Bikers for Trump have already pledged to retake the anarchist commune for the United States, and are planning an operation to dismantle the CHAZ’s border walls on July 4th.