Emma Freer
Emma Freer is a general assignment reporter for Austonia, where she covers culture, housing, healthcare and more. She previously worked for Community Impact Newspaper. A native Clevelander, she graduated from Columbia Journalism School in 2017 and the University of St. Andrews in 2016. Email: emma@austonia.com. Twitter: @freer_emma
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The Austin Justice Coalition created a jingle—"No Confidence in You"—in service of its campaign to get Austin Police Department Chief Brian Manley to resign.
The Austin Justice Coalition is clearly frustrated with city leadership, which has not responded to its request to cut $100 million in funding from the Austin Police Department and remove Chief Brian Manley (or make him resign).
<p>Just a couple of months ago, both of these efforts had some traction after a public outcry against <a href="https://austonia.com/austins-protests-black-lives-matter" target="_blank">police use of force</a> during anti-police-brutality protests. They picked up more momentum when the <a href="https://communityimpact.com/austin/central-austin/public-safety/2020/06/30/pressure-builds-as-austin-city-council-members-question-city-managers-ability-to-bring-transformational-police-reform/" target="_blank">Austin City Council</a> unanimously approved a vote of no confidence in Manley and the leadership in June. </p><p>Then a week later the conversation was effectively shut down when City Manager Spencer Cronk told the city's public safety committee Manley is committed to change. Meanwhile, it looks likely that significant police budget cuts <a href="https://www.statesman.com/news/20200806/austin-city-council-willing-to-spread-police-cuts-over-full-year" target="_blank">will trickle out slowly,</a> and may or may not reach the level of AJC's requests.</p><p>So how do you light a fire under a stagnated issue? Write a jingle!</p><p>Today, AJC posted "No Confidence in You," a short, animated video and catchy little jingle posted on its social media channels.</p><p>The first two verses are:<br/></p><p><em>He looks the part, at least that's true/</em><em>With silver hair and eyes of blue</em></p><p><em>Saved Austin from the bomber/</em><em>Or that's what the TV said</em></p><p><em>But now he's the chief/</em><em>And hey that part's a pity</em></p><p><em>It didn't take long 'til most of the city/</em><em>Could tell Brian Manley was in over his head</em></p><p>At the end of the jingle, AJC directs viewers to <a href="https://austinjustice.org/fire-chief-manley/" target="_blank">sign a petition</a> calling for Manley to resign. </p><p>"It is with enormous frustration that the undersigned groups renew our demand - after weeks of protest and major changes unanimously passed by City Council - for new leadership at the top of Austin's public safety department, and in particular our demand that you sideline Chief Brian Manley."</p><p>As of Friday afternoon, more than 5,000 people had signed it. </p>
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(Capital Metro)
Rendering, Project Connect station
The Austin City Council on Friday unanimously approved a measure to add to the November ballot the massive $7.1B "Project Connect," a 20-year overhaul of Austin's transit system that would include a new light rail and "rapid bus" lines.
The council plans to add it to the ballot in a formal order next week, members said. Then it's up to voters to decide whether to approve it.
<p>Because of technical difficulties, Friday's virtual meeting, in which the council also created a governing body for implementing the plan should it pass, was not streamed online. But council members shared their news on Twitter in the wake of their vote.</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c822f3ff32285fa04c656dc173e18661" id="6b910"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291865801176354817"><div style="margin:1em 0">Project Connect is about building back better after COVID, its about transportation that works for everybody, its a… https://t.co/ap6C8V0jNj</div> — Ann Kitchen (@Ann Kitchen)<a href="https://twitter.com/D5Kitchen/statuses/1291865801176354817">1596839783.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Council members chose a scaled-down version of the plan due to economic uncertainty brought about <a href="https://austonia.com/transportation/project-connect-austin-coronavirus" target="_self">by the pandemic</a>. An earlier version, approved by council in June, would have cost $10 billion.<br/></p><p>Capital Metro <a href="https://austonia.com/transportation/project-connect-austin" target="_self">proposed $3 billion in cuts last month</a>, including the elimination of a light-rail line running from Austin Community College Highland to downtown and the shortening of another, which would span North Lamar and South Congress.</p><p>If approved by voters, the $7 billion plan will increase the city property tax rate by 8.5 cents. For the median homeowner, this means their annual property tax bill will be about $276 higher.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7c6efe35152108c346f393acf8db696e" id="65ae7"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291865503032659968"><div style="margin:1em 0">883 days ago I started at @capmetroatx with the board’s direction to develop a data driven community supported tran… https://t.co/Lp54EWrH1U</div> — Randy Clarke 😷 (@Randy Clarke 😷)<a href="https://twitter.com/CapMetroCEO/statuses/1291865503032659968">1596839712.0</a></blockquote></div><p>In addition to taxpayer dollars, CapMetro will still need to seek an additional $3.15 billion in funding - 45% of the total budget - from the federal government.<br/></p><p>Along with deciding which version they will add to November's ballot next week, council members and the CapMetro board also voted to create a governing body called the Austin Transportation Partnership that will oversee the implementation of the plan. </p><p>The ATP board will include representatives from City Council and the Capital Metro board as well as three community experts.</p><p><em>This story has been updated; Project Connect will be funded through a tax rate election, not a bond. </em><br/></p>
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(screenshots)
David Frost, 22, filmed Austin protester Justin Howell (left) being carried to medics after being shot in the head by an Austin police officer. Other officers then shot at the protesters as they approached, causing them to duck (right).
David Frost, 22, had never attended a protest before the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in May. Then the cell phone-wielding Austinite became a key player in a series of events that touched off major change in the Austin Police Department.
<p>When Austin police officers began using tear gas on screaming protestors to clear I-35 on May 30, Frost pulled out his phone and hit the record button.</p><p>"I wasn't originally going out there planning on filming," he said.</p><p>One video showed a group of protesters carrying Justin Howell's limp body to medics after an Austin police officer <a href="https://austonia.com/city/austin-protesters-injured-police" target="_self">shot the 20-year-old Texas State student in the head</a> with a "less lethal" round. </p><p>His 45-second clip on social media now has more than 10 million views. Outrage over the video, and similar ones on social media, led to a ban on less lethal rounds and tear gas at Austin protests. </p><p>"The importance of documenting this stuff is, like, nobody knew Justin's name for 48 hours," Frost said. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="807a3ffdd002f7ef45b346698745ff34" id="3c5c4"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1267315908760010754"><div style="margin:1em 0">@arianalipkin https://t.co/ZGHtMpPj8B</div> — David Frost (@David Frost)<a href="https://twitter.com/DavidFr31601156/statuses/1267315908760010754">1590986632.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Amateur video footage has been critical to the Black Lives Matter movement since it gained national prominence in 2014 following the Ferguson unrest—and most recently in the death of George Floyd, which prompted protests around the world.<br/></p><p>Austin police have even recognized the amateur videographers as valuable, frequently calling on citizens to send in their footage to help—including in the cases of Howell and Brad Levi Ayala, 16, who suffered brain damage after being hit with a bean bag round that same weekend.</p><p>"I have been filming," Frost said. "And I have noticed a lot more people filming as well." </p><p>Local activists are using video footage not only to capture and post isolated incidents but also to record protests, rally support and investigate misconduct. </p><p>"I'm seeing new tactics as well as new platforms being deployed," said Professor Dhiraj Murthy, who researches social media activism at the University of Austin at Texas. </p><p>It fits into a broader trend of the public watching the police, he said, a practice known as "sousveillance." </p><p>"It's the idea that you can monitor how the police are treating people," he said. </p><p><strong>Crowdsourcing footage </strong></p><p>When Brendan Walsh, another newcomer to protests, saw video clips of the Austin protests in late May, he described it as "warfare on Austin citizens." </p><p>Walsh scoured the internet for clips showing Ayala being hit. His goal: To identify the officer who fired the weapon.</p><p>Reddit has a strict anti-doxxing policy, due to its users wrongly accusing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/28/magazine/should-reddit-be-blamed-for-the-spreading-of-a-smear.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&" target="_blank">an innocent 22-year-old of being one of the Boston bombers</a>. So Walsh created the Instagram account @justice4ayala, where he posted updates on his investigation.</p><p> Last week, <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/brad-levi-ayala-shooter-identified-austin-police/" target="_blank">APD confirmed to Texas Monthly</a> what Walsh had already discovered: The officer's name was Nicholas Gebhart.</p><p>"There's a reason people are interested in my work," Walsh said. "They feel that this officer might not be held accountable."</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="436a5994c80f80e0d098092684e3ae15" id="57f28"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CBO9PFWl6Js" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
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</div></blockquote></div><p><strong>Backlash</strong><br/></p><p>Murthy says the actions of these amateur investigators tend to incite those who believe they're vigilantes.</p><p>"There have been plenty of incidents where the people filming footage have had abuse online leveled at them and that has resulted in real threats against them," he said. </p><p>Walsh said some protesters have sent footage to him instead of APD because they fear officers will ask why they were searching through their social media accounts.</p><p>Hiram Gilberto Garcia, an independent journalist who interviewed Austin protester Garrett Foster on camera the night he was shot and killed by an Uber driver, has documented being arrested by APD and discouraged comments that "initiate disagreement or discord."</p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><iframe allow="encrypted-media" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0" height="211" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FImHiram%2Fposts%2F160257025717637&width=500" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" width="500"></iframe></div><p>In spite of of that, however, Walsh hopes more people follow his lead, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/22/javier-ambler-michael-ramos-margaret-moore/" target="_blank">especially as official inquiries drag on</a>.<br/></p><p>"This only took me 25 to 30 hours by myself to get a significant amount of progress," he said. "And now it has pushed from something that was just kind of an online project to what I feel is real change."</p>
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'We have only begun to fight': Save Austin Now seeks legal help in battle over no-camping petition
06 August
(Kevin Ludlow)
The petition, if validated and approved by voters this November, would have reinstated a city ban on public camping.
The group behind a petition to put a citywide public-camping ban on the November ballot in Austin said Thursday that they were "engaging a highly respected local Democratic litigator" in their efforts to fight a city ruling earlier in the week that their petition did not enough valid signatures.
<p>Matt Mackowiak, a cofounder of <a href="http://saveaustinnow.org/" target="_blank">Save Austin Now</a>, <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homeless-camps" target="_self">the group behind the petition</a>, stopped short of saying the group was planning to file a legal contest—but he did put out a call for donations in a post on Facebook. </p><p>Mackowiak, who is also chairman of the Travis County Republican Party, said <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaveAustinNow/posts/164372638497514" target="_blank">in a Facebook post</a> that the group has called "a highly respected local Democratic litigator to review the facts, help us determine what additional information is needed, and consider our legal options." </p><p>"Put simply: This is expensive and we need your support right now," he wrote. "We have only begun to fight."</p><p><span></span>Austin City Clerk Jannette Goodall's <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-texas-homeless-petition" target="_self">ruling yesterday</a> was the first time since 2002 that the city invalidated a petition because of lack of signatures, she told Austonia on Thursday.<br/></p><p>The struggle has intensified <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homeless-problem-camp" target="_blank">as residents report growing camps near neighborhoods</a> while a consultant hired by the city is advising that moving the encampments won't solve the city's homelessness issue.</p><p>Goodall used a random sampling method that the city adopted in 2002 in her review, according to a city spokesperson. State law allows cities to use any reasonable sampling method in determining whether citizen-led petitions contain the required number of signatures.</p><p>While Mackowiak was not specific about plans to file, local attorney and activist Fred Lewis—who has spearheaded other citizen-initiated petitions, including one last year that opposed an expansion of the Austin Convention Center— said he would expect the group to file very soon, likely with the state district court.</p><p>This is because the last day for the city to order a referendum in the November election is Aug. 17, according to the state election schedule. </p><p>"You're talking two or three weeks this has got to be decided - at most," Lewis said. "The court may not be able to decide it in that time." </p><p>Save Austin Now filed the petition on July 20, with 24,598 signatures—well over the 20,000 required to put their initiative on the ballot. If validated, it would have allowed voters to decide whether to roll back a year-old city ordinance allowing camping, panhandling, sitting and lying in public spaces. </p><p>But in her review, Goodall discovered several issues: some signers asked to be removed; there were duplicate names; and a second version of the petition was detected, which invalidated others. </p><p>Ultimately, the clerk estimated that there are 19,122 valid signatures on the petition.</p><p>"The probability that checking all 24,201 submitted signatures would find a total of at least 20,000 valid signatures is less than 3 in one billion," Goodall wrote in her ruling. </p><p>Some welcomed the news.</p><p>Chris Harris, director of criminal justice programs at <a href="https://www.texasappleseed.org/" target="_blank">Texas Appleseed</a> and who was involved in a local effort to decriminalize homelessness, called the clerk's ruling "phenomenal" in a tweet on Wednesday. </p><p>"Republican efforts to re-criminalize homelessness & use homelessness as a wedge to turn out conservative voters in November has failed," he wrote.</p><p>Save Austin Now co-founder Cleo Petricek is a self-proclaimed local Democrat. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c4f919f489f18a61a73cb2732faf74c5" id="dec2d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1291114147581747201"><div style="margin:1em 0">PHENOMENAL news #ATX!!!
Republican efforts to re-criminalize homelessness & use homelessness as a wedge to turn ou… https://t.co/Nouy3uT91r</div> — Chris Harris (@Chris Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/chrisharris101/statuses/1291114147581747201">1596660575.0</a></blockquote></div>
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(by Charlie L. Harper III)
No public camping referendum on November ballot for Austin, city rules.
A petition to reinstate Austin's ban on public camping—abolished a year ago in a widely-debated move by Austin City Council to address homelessness—does not have enough signatures to make it on the November ballot, Austin City Clerk Jannette Goodall ruled Wednesday.
<p>On July 21, the local nonprofit group <a href="http://saveaustinnow.com/" target="_blank">"Save Austin Now"</a> said they had collected 24,598 signatures—well over the 20,000 required to put their initiative on the ballot in November.<br/></p><p>In reviewing the petition, however, the city clerk said she discovered a number of issues.</p><p>Nearly a hundred signatures were removed because of requests from signers. The clerk's office also discovered that the petition contained two versions of the language being proposed in the ordinance, which led to 397 signatures being removed.</p><p>Of the remaining 24,201 signatures, the clerk's office used a random sample to verify the petition.</p><p>"Of the 6,051 submitted sample lines checked under the sampling method, 1,147 of the sample lines were disqualified on account of being duplicate signatures of registered voters who signed more than once (41), or for other reasons (1,106)," Goodall wrote.</p><p>Ultimately, the clerk estimates that there are 19,122 valid signatures on the petition, which is not enough to make the ballot.</p><p>"The probability that checking all 24,201 submitted signatures would find a total of at least 20,000 valid signatures is less than 3 in one billion," Goodall wrote.</p><p>The petition—and what would have been a November ballot vote had it been validated—called on the city to roll back the <a href="https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/news/2019-10-18/austin-city-council-reinstates-partial-camping-ban/" target="_blank">year-old city ordinance</a> allowing camping in public spaces. The goal was to reinstate previous ordinances in place before the ban was lifted in June 2019—no panhandling at night, no public camping, no sitting or lying in public places.</p><p>Save Austin Now co-founders Cleo Petricek and Matt Mackowiak believe the clerk's office inappropriately threw out thousands of signed petitions.</p><p>"We are exploring several options available to us, including possible legal action," they said in a joint statement shared with Austonia. "This fight is not over."</p><p>Last summer, the Austin City Council abolished the city's ban on public sitting, panhandling, lying and camping after <a href="https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2019/06/council-postpones-vote-on-camping-panhandling-ordinance/" target="_blank">homeless advocates</a> said such bans criminalize people who live on the street, and trap them there by making them targets for police action and creating criminal records.</p><p>In October, the council revisited the issue and limited where camping was allowed, banning it from sidewalks, near houses, near the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless and other shelters, and outside businesses during operating hours, among other limits.</p><p>In <a href="https://austonia.com/poll-results-homeless-camping" target="_self">an Austonia poll</a> taken shortly after the group turned in their petition, the majority of respondents—nearly 80 percent—said they would vote to ban public camping.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3a58ff624bf188fa3986fb9e09bd968a" id="c6512"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1283762901128536069"><div style="margin:1em 0">While the people that serve the unhoused praise the decriminalization of homelessness, the local Republican party &… https://t.co/skyhygVUsq</div> — Chris Harris (@Chris Harris)<a href="https://twitter.com/chrisharris101/statuses/1283762901128536069">1594907901.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p><em>This story has been updated to include a statement from Save Austin Now. </em></p>
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Austin Mayor Adler talks COVID, inequity, homelessness and policing in 'State of the City' address
05 August
(City of Austin)
Austin Mayor Steve Adler delivered his annual "State of the City" address Wednesday—virtually.
This story has been updated to include quotes from the mayor's speech.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler delivered his annual "State of the City" address Wednesday evening, in which he discussed the coronavirus pandemic, police funding, the local economy, homelessness, transit and equity issues.
<p>Usually delivered to a crowd at City Hall, tonight's address was—as are all things Council these days—virtual.</p><p>"This could have been a speech only about COVID-19," Adler said. Instead, much of his 25-page address focused on the opportunities presented in this moment. </p><p>"Perhaps only at times such as these, where our routines and inertia are so utterly disrupted, can we be freed and forced to dream and act big," he said. "So let's do big things. Let's end homelessness. Let's bring real mobility to Austin. Let's reimagine how we keep one another safe. Let's address race and do something about correcting centuries of injustice because it is the fundamental injustice that fuels so many others." </p><p>Below are some quotes, excerpted from a transcript shared in advance. </p><p><strong>On the coronavirus</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"We all want the local economy—and our lives—back as we knew them. But the governor's decision to reopen before we had sufficient testing and tracing in place and before our numbers were low enough compounded the challenge. … Truth is, the virus was never gone. <a href="https://austonia.com/testing-asymptomatic-austin" target="_blank">It just hides</a>, waiting for us to invite it back into our lives." </p><p><strong>On the economy</strong></p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"Unemployment is at unimaginable levels. Businesses have shuttered - some temporarily and some lost forever. Many of our neighbors don't know how they're going to feed their families or whether they'll be evicted from their homes. Tenants struggle with rent; homeowners and landlords struggle with mortgage payments. Our hospitality and creative workers and industries, so great a part of our economy, are reeling. For many, it's already too late." </p><p><strong>On homelessness</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"To the people <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-texas-homeless-petition" target="_blank">that signed on to the petition</a> because they were desperate for a solution for people experiencing homelessness, I want to say that I share your impatience. Having chosen this more just path, though, and having rejected the false promise of cosmetic fixes, our work is incomplete unless we follow through with the commitment to house the homeless. This will require us to do a better job of inclusively managing shared public spaces." </p><p><strong>On transit</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 40px;">"Project Connect is <a href="https://austonia.com/transportation/project-connect-austin" target="_blank">a bold transit plan</a> for the just and accessible city we aspire to be. It certainly addresses traffic, but it will do so much more. … Project Connect will connect our entire city, creating new opportunity for Austinites, reducing our dependence on expensive personal vehicles, and save lives." </p><p><strong>On police funding</strong> </p><p style="margin-left: 20px;">"I want to address police department leadership. … We need not only an openness to consider change but a keen desire to move past the status quo and to look at public safety more broadly than [ever,] mainly focusing on ensuring we're best equipped to deal with unsafe moments when they occur. We need more than just a willingness to accept change <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-city-council-police-policy" target="_blank">if it happens</a>; we need a champion for change at its best."</p><p><span></span>Want to read the whole speech? Here's the transcript. </p><p class="pdf-loader"><a class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bdab21c224a6f214f9ee5a4066743481" href="https://roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/documents/6988/SOTC 2020 FINAL.pdf">SOTC 2020 FINAL.pdf</a></p><p>Make it a game! Adler invited residents to use this bingo card to mark off every topic mentioned in the speech. Can you get to bingo? Share it on social media with #ATXSOTC.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6b0e4c3e305d794e5a8d90586202a727" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="99d54" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzNzU2OC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Njg4NTY1NH0.wzAmDm1N9F0NflybdxcR9O5shzZ_8EsH-H8Dhs40ywM/img.png?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(City of Austin)</small></p>
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(Kevin Ludlow)
Resident Kevin Ludlow collected video footage of a homeless encampment in the Windsor Park neighborhood over many months before compiling and posting it to YouTube and Facebook.
Nearly 28,000 people have viewed a four-minute YouTube video about "massive problems"—including trash, drug use, fires and human waste behind backyard fences—caused by a homeless encampment in Austin's Windsor Park neighborhood.
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9d68420c0627bfee04e7972d1e4affd4" style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;"><iframe frameborder="0" height="auto" type="lazy-iframe" scrolling="no" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xbsXgU6PO6U?rel=0" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;" width="100%"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Massive problems in the Windsor Park creek</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbsXgU6PO6U&app=desktop" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p><br/></p><p>Kevin Ludlow, a Windsor Park resident and former Libertarian candidate for the Texas House, filmed the growing encampment over several months. He compiled the video, titled "Massive problems in the Windsor Park creek," to share on a private neighborhood Facebook group.<br/></p><p>Shortly after it was posted on Sunday, someone <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/i2wnyw/video_showing_the_progression_of_a_homeless_camp/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x" target="_blank">shared it on Reddit</a>, where it has garnered more than 1,400 comments.</p><p>Ludlow said he posted the video after spending months speaking with people who live in the encampment and filming its expansion. </p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="reddit-card" data-card-created="1596637351"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/i43lhr/i_created_that_video_of_the_homeless_camp_you_may/">I created that video of the homeless camp you may have watched yesterday. Here is an interview with one of the women who lives in the camp so you can really get a feel for what it's like back there.</a> from <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Austin">r/Austin</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//embed.redditmedia.com/widgets/platform.js"></script></div><p><br/></p><p>Although he sympathizes with their plight, Ludlow said, he also worries about violence and other risky behaviors. </p><p>A fire in the encampment on June 21 that could have damaged the neighboring homes had it been allowed to spread, he said, and the recent killing of a 58-year-old woman on nearby East 51st Street <a href="https://www.austintexas.gov/news/homicide-27-update" target="_blank">on July 20</a> also concerns him. Austin police arrested a 23-year-old man in connection with the killing, which happened at night outside her apartment, but did not describe a motive. </p><p>The video also shows a growing collection of trash, syringes and feces, which Ludlow said runs into the backyards of the mid-Austin neighborhood east of I-35. </p><p>"For as much sympathy as I have for the people who are out there, surely we shouldn't be subjected to having thousands of pounds of human excrement dumped on our property," he said.</p><p>Ludlow said more should be done to address the issue, though he recognizes the city faces challenges.</p><p>"I think they want to do something," he said. "I just don't think they have a tenable solution that's available to them."</p><p><br/></p><div class="rm-embed embed-media"><blockquote class="reddit-card" data-card-created="1596567982"><a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/comments/i2wnyw/video_showing_the_progression_of_a_homeless_camp/">Video showing the progression of a homeless camp in Windsor park.</a> from <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Austin">r/Austin</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="UTF-8" src="//embed.redditmedia.com/widgets/platform.js"></script></div><p><br/></p><p><strong>In search of a solution</strong></p><p>Austin residents facing issues related to encampments are encouraged to call the nonemergency 311 line. Due to the pandemic, however, the city has implemented a moratorium on clean-up efforts.<br/></p><p>The city's watershed protection department, which last cleaned the encampment in Windsor Park in early March, plans to go to the council next month to secure funding for an emergency contract, which would allow its staff to resume cleanups with new COVID protocols, a spokesperson wrote in an email to Austonia.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.windsorpark.info/" target="_blank">Windsor Park Neighborhood Association</a> plans to discuss solutions at a meeting this Saturday, which was planned before Ludlow's video was shared.</p><p>"I've been here for 18 years," the group's president, Dan Strub, told Austonia. "[The encampment] goes back as far as I can remember." </p><p>While the encampment has grown in the last year or two, Strub said, residents are reluctant to call the police "about much of anything that isn't directly crime-related these days."</p><p>The Windsor Park encampment sits on public property - along Little Tannehill Branch Creek, between Broadmoor Drive and 52nd Street, Strub said. </p><p>There is<a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/11/04/gov-greg-abbots-cleaning-homeless-camps-sets-back-some-austinites/" target="_blank"> little that city officials or police can do</a> to force campers elsewhere for now. Last year, the Austin City Council abolished the city's ban on public camping, but a petition aimed at reinstating the ban <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homeless-camps" target="_self">received 24,000 signatures</a> and may lead to a referendum in November.</p><p>On Tuesday, a consultant <a href="https://austonia.com/new-report-urges-more-humane-approaches-to-austin-homeless-struggles" target="_self">hired to study the city's homeless problem</a> told the Austin City Council that punitive measures like encampment sweeps are ineffective and should be replaced with more trash pick-ups and on-site safe-needle exchanges.</p><p>While not everyone agrees on allowing public camping, Strub said, he believes the neighbors are interested in helping the homeless community rather than penalizing it.</p><p>"I think there are a lot of folks in this neighborhood who are very sympathetic to that view," Strub said.</p>
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(Clint Broden)
Daniel Perry, who says he shot and killed Austin protester Garrett Foster in self-defense, released photos of his car through his attorney on Monday.
Daniel Perry, the active-duty Army sergeant who says he shot Black Lives Matter protester Garrett Foster in self-defense, was driving for Uber when he accidentally encountered the demonstration on the night Foster was killed, his attorney said Monday.
Perry, who is stationed in Killeen and only allowed to travel 100 miles from base, was not in Austin that night to attend the demonstration, attorney Clint Broden said, but because it "was the closest location that had significant ridesharing customers."
Broden also shared a redacted version of Perry's bank statement that shows two deposits from Uber that he said correlated to runs in Austin that night. Perry has been ordered to remain on base since the shooting, Broden said.
"We hope this puts to rest the allegations that Sgt. Perry traveled to Austin for any nefarious purpose," he said.
Some, including Foster's mother, have pointed to Perry's since-deleted Twitter account as evidence that he disagreed with BLM protesters and showed up at the rally to cause trouble.
The release was accompanied by six photos showing what the attorney described as the damage inflicted on Perry's car by protesters, including a bullet hole.
After Perry shot Foster, who was carrying an AK-47 and whom Perry claims was raising his rifle "in a direct threat to [his] life," another person in the crowd shot at Perry's vehicle, according to police. That person has not been publicly identified. Like Perry, he or she had a concealed carry license and was questioned and then released by the Austin Police Department.
Protesters arrested
On Saturday, in the wake of Foster's death and the release of Perry's name the day before, protesters and law enforcement clashed in demonstrations near downtown. Austin police on Monday released the names of 40 people arrested at the protests. The most common charge was obstruction of a highway.
Perry's attorney shared photos that he says show damage inflicted by protesters
Perry's lawyer claims this photo shows where the vehicle was scraped with a brick.
(Clint Broden)
This photo, the lawyer says, depicts bullet holes.
(Clint Broden)
Perry's lawyer claims this photo shows hood damage "identified by auto body shop as a result of banging."
(Clint Broden)
This photo, the attorney claims, shows a misaligned door where people hit the vehicle.
(Clint Broden)
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