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Encampment at Austin ‘autonomous zone’ still there Friday despite orders to leave ('Orisha Land'; CouncilLump is mediating)

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9000

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https://www.kxan.com/news/encampment-at-austin-autonomous-zone-still-there-friday-despite-orders-to-leave/

Video at link has an interview and scenes of CouncilLump in action.  (No superhero cape today.) 

The mayor's strongly worded note is surprisingly ineffective so far.

Spoiler

As of Friday morning, the encampment at Rosewood Park in east Austin is still there despite orders to leave by Thursday.

Those at the camp say it’s a call for anarchy to protest a recent deadly police shooting.

“We’re not leaving,” organizer Njera Keith told KXAN earlier in the week. “We’ve let it be known from the beginning.”

Keith co-founded the Austin-based activist group called 400+1. He says the Austin Police Department is not telling the full story about the death of 21-year-old Jordan Walton. Police say Walton crashed his Jeep into a home at Rogge Lane and Manor Road, then broke into a neighboring home.

Police say officers shot and killed Walton when he fired his gun and then tried to use a child as a human shield.

Austin Parks and Recreation workers posted a notice on Wednesday warning the group it had one day to leave the park. That came and went Thursday with no action by the city.

“We recognize and honor the right to peaceful protest but this group’s campsite is in violation of City ordinances and is preventing the public from using portions of Rosewood Park,” the city said in a statement Thursday.

Keith and his fellow co-founder Kristina Brown said they are willing to put their “bodies on the line to make that point clear” that they aren’t going anywhere.

When KXAN reporter Jacqulyn Powell asked in an on-camera interview what might happen if police show up to enforce the city’s order to vacate Thursday, Keith said, “I think it would be unwise for us to say exactly what that would look like, as I’m sure the police will also watch this.”

 

More background on the 401 revolution and Orisha Land:

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/group-living-in-city-park-refuses-to-leave-claiming-autonomy-from-austin-as-part-of-protest/

Spoiler

FRIDAY UPDATE: Encampment remains as of Friday morning.

AUSTIN (KXAN) — What looks like an encampment in east Austin’s Rosewood Park is actually a call for anarchy in protest of a recent police shooting.

Police say on Feb. 10, 21-year-old Jordan Walton crashed his Jeep into a home at Rogge Lane and Manor Road, then broke into a neighboring home. Police say Walton fired a gun when officers tried to enter that home. According to the Austin Police Department, one of its officers shot and killed Walton when the department says he used a child hostage as a human shield.

APD says it was all captured on a body camera, but that’s yet to be released.

An Austin-based activist group called 400+1 claims APD isn’t telling the whole story.

The group says Walton’s mother and father were communicating with police in the moments leading up to his death, telling them he had mental health issues.

Now, the group says it wants autonomy for the community where Walton was killed.

About a dozen members have set up and named their own community now centered around the pavilion in Rosewood Park. They’ve been camping there since Feb. 14, four days after Walton was killed.

  • Group members say they’ve also been hosting protests in the area and providing resources for those in the surrounding community who need water, food or other items.

 

In Rosewood Park, anti-police signs can be seen —and so can tents furnished with beds, small tables and chairs inside, a communal refrigerator and microwave, a large community garden and a generator that sits next to a portable shower and toilet.

“We came out here ready for a fight,” said 400+1 co-founder Njera Keith. “We came out here prepared to be told, ‘You need to leave.'”

Keith and her co-founder, Kristina Brown, who credit themselves with leading a revolution, call it a safe place for Black people in the community to come, where they won’t have to fear police.

“They can say, ‘My child is going to be okay here, because I know the cops will not shoot them here, because we know that 400+1 will stand up,'” Brown said.

City to shut down encampment on Thursday

Wednesday morning, however, City of Austin employees came and posted notices saying the group is violating several city ordinances and has until Thursday afternoon to leave.

IMG_2115.jpg?resize=876,657

Notice to Vacate at Rosewood Neighborhood Park (KXAN/Jacqulyn Powell)

A city spokesperson told KXAN the city has asked the group to leave the public park multiple times.

On Thursday, the city shared this statement: “We recognize and honor the right to peaceful protest but this group’s campsite is in violation of City ordinances and is preventing the public from using portions of Rosewood Park. The City has worked in consultation with community leaders, Council offices, the City’s Equity Office and multiple Departments to come to a mutually acceptable resolution with the protesters. So far an agreement hasn’t been reached but that work continues.”

“We’re not leaving,” Keith said as Brown agreed. “We’ve let it be known from the beginning.”

The pair says those staying at the park are willing to put their “bodies on the line to make that point clear”.

When KXAN reporter Jacqulyn Powell asked in an on-camera interview what might happen if police show up to enforce the city’s order to vacate Thursday, Keith said, “I think it would be unwise for us to say exactly what that would look like, as I’m sure the police will also watch this.”

Mayor Pro-Tem Natasha Harper-Madison, who represents District 1 where Rosewood Park is located, said Thursday she hopes everyone involved “remains mature, reasonable and safe.”

“Every American is endowed the right to peaceably assemble, but no one has permission to seize public land, especially not parkland that our Black elders fought for and secured during a period of explicit community disinvestment,” she said in a statement. “While I understand the frustrations fueling a small group of activists in Rosewood Park, their tactics are a distraction from the progress achieved by other important collaborations driven by the larger community.”

Keith and Brown say their goal is to eventually take over control of an approximately 11-mile zone in east Austin, including the area of Rogge Lane where Walton was killed. They call that zone “Orisha Land”, and they say Rosewood Park, which they’ve renamed as “Jordan’s Place”, is the capital.

Their goal, Keith says, is “to continue to build power and to continue to ice the police out of this area of our community.”

“We’ve been organizing in Austin for six years now,” Keith later continued, saying protests and petitions aren’t enough anymore. “We’ve done that. Enough is enough, and now, the city is fired. City council, you’re fired. APD, you’re fired.”

The group also wants white people who’ve gentrified the area to pay reparations to the Black community there through donations to the 400+1 cause.

 

Edited by clapclapclap
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Deej

Deej 77167

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When KXAN reporter Jacqulyn Powell asked in an on-camera interview what might happen if police show up to enforce the city’s order to vacate Thursday, Keith said, “I think it would be unwise for us to say exactly what that would look like, as I’m sure the police will also watch this.”

Sounds like APD should take up this challenge. 

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Deej

Deej 77167

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Just now, Hanrahan said:

So is the City going to dick around with this or send in some skull crackers to clear out the rabble-rousers?

If sending in Fitlump doesn't make them flee, chances are nothing would work.

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ztejas

ztejas 43741

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59 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

Police say on Feb. 10, 21-year-old Jordan Walton crashed his Jeep into a home at Rogge Lane and Manor Road, then broke into a neighboring home. Police say Walton fired a gun when officers tried to enter that home. According to the Austin Police Department, one of its officers shot and killed Walton when the department says he used a child hostage as a human shield.

Sounds like a stand-up guy. 

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MNLonghornFUKM

MNLonghornFUKM 8916

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When KXAN reporter Jacqulyn Powell asked in an on-camera interview what might happen if police show up to enforce the city’s order to vacate Thursday, Keith said, “I think it would be unwise for us to say exactly what that would look like, as I’m sure the police will also watch this.”
Sounds like APD should take up this challenge. 

Narrator: she cried
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Mach 1

Mach 1 1677

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This reminds me of a funny story from late 80’s early 90’s. Some homeless dude launched a homemade raft with shelter into the middle of Lake Austin. He must have had some kind of anchor because it didn’t move.

People lost their shit, wanted it removed.  He responded by painting SS Minnow on it.

Authorities finally figured out that he was breaking the law that a boat owner can’t sleep on the craft in the actual waterway. So one of the local news guys rows out there with a camera crew to interview him. IIRC

Reporter: Sir do you know you’re breaking the law?

Yachter: I’m just minding my own business, doing a little fishing.

Reporter:  But sir you can’t live on a boat here in the middle of the lake.

Yachter: I don’t live here, just visiting.

Reporter: Are you saying you don’t sleep here?

Yachter: Absolutely not. (Long pause) Though I might rest my eyes now and then.

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Willfully Horn

Willfully Horn 8087

Posted
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12 hours ago, deadshank said:

BT, DD and Brisket to ride in and tell us we should feel bad for not hugging a bum everyday.  

User name check’s out.

 

9 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

This reminds me of a funny story from late 80’s early 90’s. Some homeless dude launched a homemade raft with shelter into the middle of Lake Austin. He must have had some kind of anchor because it didn’t move.

People lost their shit, wanted it removed.  He responded by painting SS Minnow on it.

Authorities finally figured out that he was breaking the law that a boat owner can’t sleep on the craft in the actual waterway. So one of the local news guys rows out there with a camera crew to interview him. IIRC

Reporter: Sir do you know you’re breaking the law?

Yachter: I’m just minding my own business, doing a little fishing.

Reporter:  But sir you can’t live on a boat here in the middle of the lake.

Yachter: I don’t live here, just visiting.

Reporter: Are you saying you don’t sleep here?

Yachter: Absolutely not. (Long pause) Though I might rest my eyes now and then.

Wasn’t there a goose (Gus?) on.board?

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deadshank

deadshank 24653

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17 hours ago, Samson's Wig said:

Njera Keith

https://www.fourhundredandone.com/home

 https://www.theallyship.org/navigate

 

Basically she promotes the tearing down of our entire civilization, but wraps it up in some nice feel good language.  Good for her, I guess.  Seems no less seditious than the morons at the Capitol.

Who wants to wager that DD has donated to and is a charter member of The Ally Ship?

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Armybrat

Armybrat 40988

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12 hours ago, Mach 1 said:

This reminds me of a funny story from late 80’s early 90’s. Some homeless dude launched a homemade raft with shelter into the middle of Lake Austin. He must have had some kind of anchor because it didn’t move.

People lost their shit, wanted it removed.  He responded by painting SS Minnow on it.

Authorities finally figured out that he was breaking the law that a boat owner can’t sleep on the craft in the actual waterway. So one of the local news guys rows out there with a camera crew to interview him. IIRC

Reporter: Sir do you know you’re breaking the law?

Yachter: I’m just minding my own business, doing a little fishing.

Reporter:  But sir you can’t live on a boat here in the middle of the lake.

Yachter: I don’t live here, just visiting.

Reporter: Are you saying you don’t sleep here?

Yachter: Absolutely not. (Long pause) Though I might rest my eyes now and then.

That was actually on Town Lake, and a local lawyer took up the bum’s case after the cops dismantled his floating shack.

The city settled for a few thousand $$$$, of which the lawyer Kept 95% as his fee, the bum left town, and Homer the Goose was adopted by some local weekend farm... where he lived until just a few years ago before going webfeet up.

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ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9856

Posted
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50 minutes ago, StruggleBus said:

I’m here to balance that out. Fuck homeless people. They’re disgusting.

Had one try to come in my garage last night at 9:30 pm in Northwest Austin. He in the garage and noticed the motion camera came on. Neighbors outside doing shit in garage, but no fucks given.
 

By the time I got outside with dog/ gun he was hauling ass on a bike. Fuck all of the Austin criminal advocates. 

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dcar00

dcar00 14602

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Posted
1 hour ago, ChickenSandwich said:

Had one try to come in my garage last night at 9:30 pm in Northwest Austin. He in the garage and noticed the motion camera came on. Neighbors outside doing shit in garage, but no fucks given.
 

By the time I got outside with dog/ gun he was hauling ass on a bike. Fuck all of the Austin criminal advocates. 

dang.  what intersection are you near?

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

Posted
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5 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

throw soap and job applications at them

but for real, block out cell phone coverage for the entire park. cut off electricity so they can't charge their cell phones  

Cut off their cell phones ?  Pretty sure that's agin' the Genever convention.

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