Greetings! Check out what we’ve been up to:
On Monday 6/17:
The City awarded the Coalition’s attorney fees after settling their baseless lawsuit against us seeking to attack our community resource watchthewatchers.net.
On Tuesday 6/18:
The Coalition attended the Board of Police Commissioners meeting to name and shame them for their part in demonizing our community resource Watch the Watchers, and uplift the fact that the city had to settle this baseless lawsuit. The Commission also announced the resignation of Briggs, who threateningly suggested our community organization posed a threat to law enforcement because of our acquisition of public records.
That afternoon we held a press conference alongside Students Deserve to announce our lawsuit against LAUSD seeking records pertaining to their surveillance app, LASAR. Our War on Youth working group issued a comment during the Board of Education meeting and submitted an organizational sign on letter demanding the immediate discontinuation of the app.
That evening we held our monthly general meeting where we provided updates on our ongoing litigation, and presented a sample of our Architecture of Surveillance tool.
On Thursday 6/20:
This week’s episode of Radio Insurrection featured an insightful conversation with Soma Snakeoil of the Sidewalk Project discussing the UN Rapporteur’s recent report demonizing sex work and calling for a further expansion of surveillance and information sharing. You can listen to the episode at kpfk.org/archives
On Friday 6/21: The Coalition attended Take Back Tech in Chicago, the second conference held by Media Justice to convene organizations across the country fighting against surveillance. Coalition members were granted access to the Hampton House by the Panther Cubs, and were given a tour of the site of Chairman Fred Hampton’s upbringing and early surveillance by the FBI. The Coalition was also able to see projects underway by organizers of the Panther Cubs including a dedication at a local historically segregated pool and a community garden.
To plug in with any of the work groups listed above, or for more information about the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, email us at stoplapdspying@gmail.com.