Corey Ruiz and the Willy Street Blockade

Last week I posted my thoughts about the tragic death of Corey Ruiz. 

I wrote that two things can be true at the same time, that Corey Ruiz's death was deeply disturbing and the homeless encampment distracted from the hard work of effecting change. 

Meanwhile, the City has been communicating with the various leaders of the protest. The leadership is fractious, lacking consensus as to their demands and strategy. The City has been clear as to what we can and cannot do. Most of what the protesters are demanding fall into the latter category. Moreover, some of what the City can do is subject to financial constraints and some will require policy changes that will take time to implement. 

I've been down to the encampment several times to talk to people. Some claim they are engaged in mutual care and community building that does not exist elsewhere in the city, that the occupation of this city intersection is a moral indictment of all that is lacking in our capitalist society with its corrosive and atomizing elements. 

I've tried to make the point that taking over these streets is not the way to build community, that it's in fact counter-productive in multiple ways. Nearby residents and businesses are negatively impacted, some of whom witnessed Corey's death and were traumatized by it but now feel victimized by the homeless encampment. “We didn't kill Corey, why are we suffering for it?" 

Civil society requires a level of reasonable order. We covenant among ourselves to pass laws that maintain that order so that shared spaces like city streets are safe and functional for civic life. 

 Consider Fire Station 3 on Willy Street near the encampment. Emergency vehicles must now detour around the encampment, potentially adding minutes to a call. Recently, a friend of mine suffered cardiac arrest. Fortunately, his wife was home with him and she called 911. Though his heart had stopped, EMS was there in four minutes and his life was spared. Had it been five minutes, he was told he might have died. 

This is not hyperbole. This is reality. Those who are using the encampment as a bargaining chip to pressure the city to action, those who are threatening escalation if demands are not met, are putting other lives at risk. 

Declaring the encampment a “law-enforcement free zone" also puts lives at risk. Autonomous zones do not end well. The encampments at McPike Park and Reindahl Park featured incidents of sexual assault and more than one individual died as a result of a drug overdose. Furthermore, consider what happened at the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest in Seattle in 2020. What started as community building and a demand for justice, within weeks resulted in several shootings and two deaths. 

We don't allow MAGA protesters to block public access to an abortion clinic, nor would we allow extremists on the right to hijack a public space to force their demands. Protesting is a guaranteed right under the Constitution, but there are inherent limitations. If one wishes to sit in and block an intersection or take over a building, doing so non-violently and being prepared for arrest is a collective act of civil disobedience for which there is a long and time-honored tradition. 

Yes, a hundred times yes, this is a time of deep pain and grief. We are in a crisis moment that demands the best of us. 

But building barricades with nails driven into wooden boards is not the appropriate response. Rather, it's revolutionary cosplay, not the hard work of social change. 

My hope is that the various factions leading the protest will see the value in opening Willy Street and use their remaining social capital towards positive ends. 

Take care and stay safe, 

Tag