Seattle jury awards $2.1 MILLION to 4 women after CHAZ ‘warlord’ found liable for criminal profiteering

The women alleged that Simone, a local rapper who opened for Macklemore and Ryan Lewis on their 2016 tour, recruited the girls into what he described as his “family,” then subjected them to strict rules and control while pressuring them to meet daily earning quotas through stripping or performing sex acts. The plaintiffs said Simone took the money they earned and used violence, threats, and coercion to enforce compliance. They also alleged he used the experiences as inspiration for his rap career.

During the trial, the women described a system of isolation and control, ranging from dictating clothing and eating to confining them for days in sleeping pods in Seattle. Evidence presented included handwritten notes, text messages, medical records, protective orders, and financial records, as well as photos and videos that the plaintiffs said showed bruising and injuries. Simone denied the allegations at trial and was never charged with trafficking.

The civil verdict comes amid longstanding public scrutiny of allegations surrounding Simone and his music label, Black Umbrella. In 2022, an investigation by The Seattle Times and KUOW reported that Seattle police had been aware of serious accusations for years, including claims of trafficking, assault, and rape dating back to at least 2012. The reporting said allegations had been made to the Seattle Police Department beginning in 2017, with at least eight people, six women, and the parents of two others, describing a multistate trafficking scheme.

The outlets reported that the criminal case referred to prosecutors at the time involved only one alleged victim and did not include an allegation of rape. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said in 2022 that there was insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, while also stating that information prosecutors requested from SPD that could have strengthened the case was never provided.

The civil lawsuit initially included the Seattle Police Department, alleging the city failed in its duty to investigate allegations against Simone, but the city was eventually dismissed from the case. County prosecutors charged Simone last March with second-degree assault and domestic violence, alleging he strangled a woman with whom he has a child. That woman was not involved in the civil lawsuit, and the criminal case was later dismissed. An FBI investigation into Simone is ongoing.

Simone became a ringleader of the deadly 2020 Capitol Hill occupation, often called the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) or Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), which formed after Seattle police withdrew from the East Precinct following riots in the wake of the death of George Floyd. BLM and Antifa militants seized six blocks of the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle and stationed guards at barricades provided by the city.

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During the violent occupation, Simone led protests, gave speeches, and served at times as a spokesperson with media outlets. However, videos on social media at the time showed Simone allegedly assaulting people at night and acting as an enforcer for the zone. One viral clip showed him retrieving AR-15s from the trunk of a white Tesla and distributing them to people standing watch in the occupied area. Two teenagers were later shot by the makeshift security forces, killing one and horribly maiming another.

Some national outlets portrayed Simone in sympathetic terms during the protests. Forbes, for example, described him as motivated by concerns about police tactics, framing him as someone who wanted to “stand up for what’s right.”

In 2019, Simone was awarded an $83,250 grant to build a recording studio in the same building where much of the conduct described in the civil lawsuit was later alleged to have occurred. Subsequent reporting by The Post Millennial revealed the funds were ultimately not disbursed. Erika Lindsay, then communications manager for the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, told KUOW her office became aware of public allegations after the award process and that the lack of payment was not directly due to those allegations, but that it accelerated work on a review of the office’s accountability policies.

The Post Millennial also reported that despite the videos and public concerns, city officials communicated and negotiated with Simone during the occupation. Text messages were obtained through public disclosure revealing coordination between the warlord, the office of then-Mayor Jenny Durkan, former Police Chief Carmen Best, and Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. However, many messages were deleted by the public officials and could not be recovered from their devices.

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Emails obtained by The Post Millennial showed that city officials were aware of dangers associated with the occupied zone while continuing to publicly emphasize a false narrative of a peaceful protest. Durkan publicly praised protesters and told CNN the moment could be a “summer of love,” comparing the zone to a block party. Millions of dollars have been paid out from lawsuits and settlements tied to the CHAZ/CHOP zone.