How Protester Occupations Can Succeed
Spontaneous urban uprisings have a soul of their own. To guide one through a decision-making process is very difficult but not impossible
Nationwide demonstrations, mobilized around the Black Lives Matter movement’s response to the killing of George Floyd, were held in all fifty states and in 5,000 cities. Rallies were held in public squares and larger cities saw their freeways and bridges blocked. Only a few cities ( Richmond, Va.; Philadelphia; Oakland, CA, and New York City ) experienced occupations of a public space. None of them were sustained for long, except Seattle, which went on for a month.
When the police abandoned their undamaged East Precinct Police Station, because they did not want demonstrations on the streets bordering it, the demonstrators moved into those streets and declared it under the people’s control. Initially the most vocal protest leaders declared it an “autonomous” zone. That caught everyone’s attention. Seattle’s occupied three-block long street, located in a neighborhood business and residential area, received extensive national coverage.
The three largest news channels, CNN, MSNBC and FOX News, repeatedly covered the occupation. Leaders from the local BLM group proclaimed the occupation as CHOP (Capitol Hill…
