Father of Teen Killed in Seattle’s CHOP: ‘This Doesn’t Look Like a Protest’ Anymore

The father of Horace Lorenzo Anderson — the 19-year-old who was fatally shot in Seattle’s “Capitol Hill Organized Protest” (CHOP) earlier this month — said it is time for the “autonomous” zone to go.

“I ain’t been sleeping. You see my eyes. I’ve been crying. I’m trying not to cry on TV,” said Anderson, the victim’s father.

Anderson “says the zone should go” and believes the National Guard should step in and remove the demonstrators, according to KIRO 7.

“This doesn’t look like a protest to me no more,” he stated. “That just looks like they just took over and said we can take over whenever we want to.”

“They should deploy them here to say ‘Man, it’s time to go,'” he continued. “‘It’s time to move on. And break this up.’ ”

Violence has erupted in the CHOP zone, comprised of a collection of activists — from self-described anarchists to members of Antifa —  over the last two weeks. On June 20, Anderson’s 19-year-old son was shot and killed, and another man injured.

“On June 21, a 17-year-old male was shot and later released from the hospital. On June 23, a man in his 30s was shot in the same neighborhood,” King 5 reported.

The latest bout of violence came early Monday morning, with police responding to calls of gunshots in an area around the CHOP zone. Authorities discovered a Jeep “riddled” with bullet holes. Two teenagers were reportedly transported via a private vehicle from the CHOP area. “One victim was taken to a meeting point with Seattle Fire Department personnel, who then transported the victim to Harborview Medical Center,” the SPD Blotter detailed. One of the victims, a 16-year-old male, was pronounced dead at the hospital. The other teen, a 14-year-old, is in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center.

“It’s very unfortunate that we have yet another murder in this area identified as the CHOP,” Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best said during a Monday press conference. “Two African-American men dead at a place where they claim to be working for Black Lives Matter, but they’re gone. They’re dead now.”

“And we’ve had multiple other incidents — assaults rape robbery and shootings,” she continued. “And so you know this is something that’s going to need to change. We’re asking that people remove themselves from this area for the safety of the people.”

Best, who has made it clear that it was not her decision to have officers leave the East Precinct, said officials are figuring out “how we’re going to get back into this area [CHOP].”

“I can tell you that I think enough is enough,” she said. “I can tell you this as an African-American woman with uncles and brothers and stuff, I wouldn’t want them to be in this area.”

“We’ve had two men killed and we have a child that’s injured from gunfire,” she added. “So this is a real problem and I would question, you know, why we would continue to allow this to happen.”

While Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) has stated that police will return to the East Precinct in the “near future,” no firm plans have been established.