
{"id":22097,"date":"2011-11-23T12:11:36","date_gmt":"2011-11-23T17:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=22097"},"modified":"2011-11-23T12:24:43","modified_gmt":"2011-11-23T17:24:43","slug":"amid-protests-town-considers-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/11\/23\/amid-protests-town-considers-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid protests, town considers investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_22098\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-22098\" style=\"width: 450px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Occupy-Solidarity-March-2-of-4.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"299\" class=\"size-full wp-image-22098\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Occupy-Solidarity-March-2-of-4.jpg 450w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Occupy-Solidarity-March-2-of-4-113x75.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Occupy-Solidarity-March-2-of-4-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/Occupy-Solidarity-March-2-of-4-100x66.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-22098\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters march down Franklin Street in a solidarity march organized by Occupy Chapel Hill last week. Protesters marched again on Monday. \tPhoto by Alicia Stemper<\/figcaption><\/figure><strong>By Susan Dickson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Staff Writer<\/em><br \/>\nCHAPEL HILL \u00e2\u20ac\u201c\u00c2\u00a0Expressing opposition to tactics employed by police in the recent raid on occupiers of the Yates Motor Co building at 419 W. Franklin St., protesters filled Chapel Hill Town Hall on Monday night, spilling out of council chambers and lining the windows surrounding the room. <\/p>\n<p>At the meeting, former U.S. Senate candidate and investment banker Jim Neal petitioned the council to call for the appointment of an independent review commission to research and report on the circumstances leading up to the decision by police and town officials to deploy a Special Emergency Response Team in response to the occupation. The council voted unanimously to refer the petition to town staff for review, which is in accordance with council procedure. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe that the only way to bring this to resolution is to have independent eyes \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 come in to evaluate, from beginning to end, the events that happened,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Neal said. <\/p>\n<p>Town Manager Roger Stancil said the town is conducting an internal investigation of the events. <\/p>\n<p>Concerns have been raised about the police\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s response to the occupation, which began the night of Nov. 12, led, reportedly, by attendees of the Carrboro Anarchist Bookfair, and resulted in a dramatic encounter with police the afternoon of Nov. 13, with seven arrests. <\/p>\n<p>Residents have questioned the police\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s failure to attempt to communicate with those inside the building prior to the raid, in which police brandished long-range rifles and detained those on the sidewalk outside the entrance of the building \u00e2\u20ac\u201c including a News &#038; Observer reporter covering the occupation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c before rushing inside. <\/p>\n<p>Prior to the council meeting, a rally was held at the police station, with supporters chanting, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who do you protect? Who do you serve?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Defy orders, prove it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true: I hear cops are people too.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d A half-dozen drummers maintained a steady beat. Signs read, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153CHPD: Follow Your Moral Before Your Manual\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Apathy is Complicity.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Roughly 100 people then marched the half-mile up Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to town hall, chanting and drumming, filling the northbound lanes, accompanied by the blue flash of police cruisers. An occasional car honked, in solidarity or annoyance.<\/p>\n<p>Inside the meeting, protesters raised hands in support of speakers and waved in opposition. The meeting was kept mostly in order until protesters began a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mike check,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in which the group repeats the statements of one speaker for amplification, and council members walked out for a 5-minute recess. <\/p>\n<p>Several council members said they would support an independent review of the events. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I believe that we have generally good processes and generally good law enforcement. I am concerned about the loss of trust that this incident has precipitated,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d council member Sally Greene said, adding that she strongly supported Neal\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s petition. <\/p>\n<p>Mayor Pro Tem Jim Ward agreed.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Without the third-party assessment, I think we end up in the same place as we are now. We don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have faith in the system right now.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Council member Donna Bell questioned the need for an independent review, given that the town already has a Community Policing Advisory Committee for these types of reviews. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the committee who has been set up to ask the questions in these specific situations,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said. <\/p>\n<p>A number of the protesters Monday night were members of the Occupy Chapel Hill movement, some of whom participated in the occupation of the Yates building. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The method of eviction of individuals from the Yates building was bad policing and bad town-policy implementation,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Bert Gurganus, a participant in Occupy Chapel Hill. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our police forces are being militarized in the name of counterterrorism. I find this to be deplorable,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he added. <\/p>\n<p>Frank Papa, owner of Phydeaux, a pet supply store in Chapel Hill, urged the council to appoint the independent commission. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I need to know that if I call the police for, say, someone that needs to be trespassed from my business, that they are not going to come into my business with assault rifles,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>Michael Connor, who runs Internationalist Books, said when he read that police Chief Chris Blue\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s justification for the tactics employed by police was that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153known anarchists\u00e2\u20ac\u009d were involved in the occupation, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My blood ran cold.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>Connor identified himself as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153your friendly local neighborhood anarchist,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d asking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Should anarchists expect guns at other events that we bottom line?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153When we have our Really Really Free Markets, should we be afraid that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll come with guns?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he continued.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Do you believe that you will need to kill us to remove us from your community, and is that a reasoned response?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p><strong>An apology? <\/strong><br \/>\nAlso on Monday, council member Laurin Easthom petitioned the council to issue a formal apology to the journalists detained in the police raid, including News &#038; Observer reporter Katelyn Ferral and Reese News\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Josh Davis, but the motion failed, 6-3, with Easthom, Greene and council member Ed Harrison voting in favor, and Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt and council members Donna Bell, Matt Czajkowski, Gene Pease, Penny Rich and Jim Ward dissenting. <\/p>\n<p>The council then voted to refer the petition to staff for consideration. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of our nation, and Chapel Hill is fortunate to have media outlets that still provide coverage to local events,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Easthom said. <\/p>\n<p>Kleinschmidt said that while he was sorry for what happened to the journalists, he felt that it was important to hear a report back from staff on the events before taking any action. The crowd jeered him, at which point the mayor became noticeably frustrated. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe some of you don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know who your mayor is, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll tell you. Your mayor is a 25-year veteran of civil-rights and civil-liberties activism,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said, noting his work as president of the N.C. ACLU and marching on Washington for women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s and LGBT rights. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your mayor appreciates the \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 important work that you do because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that kind of activity that really gets the attention of people. I know because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been doing it too,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he said. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Your mayor has that level of appreciation, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m also not going to make a decision or take a position about the way our government works here locally without getting access to information that is very easy to obtain.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Expressing opposition to tactics employed by police in the recent raid on occupiers of the Yates Motor Co building at 419 W. Franklin St., protesters filled Chapel Hill Town Hall on Monday night, spilling out of council chambers and lining the windows surrounding the room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22097","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22097"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22106,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22097\/revisions\/22106"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}