June came with a bang. By the time I left lockdown again downtown had already been heavily vandalized. In the hopes of baiting the protesters into destroying more property the city abandoned its police station and ceded several surrounding blocks to the resistance. Protesters held the area from then on around the clock. During the day it was a carnival atmosphere that felt more like a political performance art fair than the dangerous place it was after dark. Each night protesters clashed with police as well as each other leading to injury and mass property damage but as far as leadership was concerned Capital Hill was still mostly peaceful, and that was good enough for them.
