APD launched effort to gather intelligence on Black Lives Matter, other groups
ASHEVILLE - Two years ago, after the fatal police shooting of a local black man ignited a summer of racial tension, police launched an intelligence operation to monitor the efforts of two civil rights groups, a Citizen Times investigation has found.
Asheville Police Department Chief Tammy Hooper authorized the monitoring of Black Lives Matter and Showing Up for Racial Justice in response to what she said were threats to officers after the shooting of Jai "Jerry" Williams by a white police sergeant.
The groups' organizers said they are unaware of any threats made by their members to harm police. Their groups work to raise awareness about racism and get more equitable treatment for minorities, they said. .
City Council members appear to have been briefed on the operation sometime after March 2018, according to statements from the elected officials and police. APD revealed the operation to the Citizen Times in May after questioning.
Mayor Esther Manheimer said City Council isn't allowed by the city charter to get involved in day-to-day police operations and that it's APD's job to "devise legal strategies" to keep the community safe.
"It would be my expectation that the department utilize information gathering practices, typical of any police department, that keep them one step ahead of any potential danger to our community," Manheimer said Monday, when asked for her reaction to the operation.
Police officials, however, have declined to answer most of the Citizen Times' questions about the operation, including whether officers monitored the organizations openly or in an undercover fashion. They also have refused to detail the threats they received.
APD has not confirmed the monitoring has ended or said whether a full-blown criminal investigation was started as a result.
The Citizen Times gathered tips from an anonymous source with knowledge of the monitoring, public records and police statements over five months to piece together a picture of the operation.
The monitoring drew strong criticism from civil rights activists, like Black Lives Matter education coordinator Sharon Smith, who after learning about the operation from the Citizen Times said it made her believe APD's motives had nothing to do with public safety.
“That’s just an intimidation tactic, basically,” Smith said. “They are looking for something to hold on us. It’s inappropriate.”
But legal experts say it runs the risk of trampling civil rights and undermining public trust, especially at a time when Asheville, like the nation, is facing difficult questions over treatment of African-Americans by law enforcement. High-profile violent incidents ranging from the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, to the August beating of unarmed black pedestrian in Asheville, have amplified tensions.
"This is fundamental to free speech protections; the context matters," said Jonathan Jones, a former prosecutor who now directs the North Carolina Open Government Coalition, a nonprofit promoting public access to government activities with members including the Associated Press and the conservative John Locke Foundation.
"If groups monitored are made up predominantly of folks who don’t have violent intent, who are just trying to change society, it raises questions," Jones said.
The monitoring, according to police, also targeted “related individuals,” and at least two non-civil rights groups: the popular
Facebook group Asheville Politicsand an
activist vegan organization DxE or "Direct Action Everywhere."
Hooper and other city officials have declined interview requests about the operation, saying they would respond only to written questions.
“The purpose of written questions is to allow us to prepare complete answers without compromising confidential information that could put someone’s safety in jeopardy,” Hooper wrote to the Citizen Times.
Residents say they were targets
Black Lives Matter President Delores Venable and her mother, former council candidate and longtime activist Dee Williams, said they were told by an anonymous caller they were under police surveillance, along with the Rev. Amy Cantrell, a leading city social justice activist.
Venable and Williams made the statements at a
March 7 Citizens/Police Advisory Committee meeting. The highly charged gathering followed the reporting of the August 2017
police beating of Johnnie Rush, who was accused of jaywalking and trespassing by cutting through the parking lot of a business closed for the night. The community outcry at the meeting included calls for Hooper's resignation.
Criminal charges were brought against then-officer Chris Hickman eight days after the Feb. 28 publication of body cam footage of the beating by the Citizen Times.
At the meeting, Venable confronted Hooper.
“Is it true or is it not that you and your officers had me, Amy Cantrell and Dee Williams under surveillance with your taxpayer money. Is that true or is it not?” she asked.
Hooper responded: “I have not had you under surveillance or your mom or any individual person.”
“Based on what we are hearing in the community, there seems to be confusion around information gathering (also called intelligence gathering) and direct criminal surveillance, i.e. following people, tracking movement etc.,” APD spokeswoman Christina Hallingse said in a May 9 email. “No individual was under surveillance as part of this effort.”
Black Lives Matter education coordinator Smith said she has regularly seen police near Venable’s home in Kenilworth, and that there "is constantly an APD car parked at the bottom of her street."
Heated summer in 2016
Police said they began their operation after the July 2, 2016, shooting of Jai "Jerry" Williams by Sgt. Tyler Radford.
Suspected of having fired a gun outside an apartment complex, police said Williams led Radford on a high-speed chase. Upon being stopped, Radford said Williams refused to put his hands up and instead
picked up a gun. Radford shot him nine times.
Post-mortem tests showed Williams was intoxicated. A recent civil suit by Williams' family against APD disputes the police version of events.
In December 2016, District Attorney Todd Williams ruled the shooting justified.
Days after Williams' death,
protestors gathered at the Buncombe County Courthouse. At a news conference, Williams' family was joined by John Barnett, founder of the Charlotte-based civil rights group True Healing Under God. He pointed to the high-profile deaths of Brown, Eric Garner and other African-American men in fatal police encounters.
Protests culminated with a July 21 unpermitted march through downtown, where police said participants pounded on cars and blocked streets. Demonstrators placed a Black Lives Matter banner on the police station, and held
an overnight sit-in inside the station. Eight people were arrested, including Cantrell.
Police: Officers were at risk after Williams shooting
Hallingse said the threats on police came in July and August 2016 and were "observed on social media and in open meetings."
She refused provide further description of the threats, including what was said, who made them, who observed them or whom they targeted. She said revealing that, “could jeopardize the safety of community members and police officers."
Hallingse also cited state law, saying criminal investigations and criminal intelligence information are not public record. That nondisclosure, however, is optional, said N.C. Press Association attorney Amanda Martin.
Civil rights groups leaders said their missions didn't include violence.
“Nobody in Asheville Black Lives Matter is involved in criminal anything,” said Smith. “Nobody has issued any threats to police.”
Roach, who's group Showing Up for Racial Justice was created as a way for white people to fight racism, said the march and sit-in may have "freaked out," APD officials.
“There are definitely activists in the community who don’t like the police, but SURJ is not the type of group that would issue threats,” Roach said.
