Cop Block is a decentralized

police accountability Police accountability involves holding both individual police officers, as well as law enforcement agencies responsible for effectively delivering basic services of crime control and maintaining order, while treating individuals fairly and withi ...

project. The organization's members and volunteers attempt to draw attention to alleged or evident police abuses that happen across the United States, and work to film police to force transparency and accountability within their ranks. However, believing that accountability will never end

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

, the group shifted its focus to the complete abolishment of all law enforcement.

Activities

In July 2010,

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessa ...

and

libertarians Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...

Pete Eyre Bureaucrash was an international network of libertarian activists whose stated goals were " decreasing the scope of government" and "increasing individual freedom", and which engaged in culture jamming. History Bureaucrash was founded in 2001 b ...

and Adam "Ademo Freeman" Mueller, key members of the organization were arrested for videotaping officials at the

Franklin County, Massachusetts Franklin County is a nongovernmental county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Massachusetts. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,029, which makes it the least-populous county on the Massachusetts mainland, and the ...

jail. The organization is known for videotaping public officials nationally, with many of the interactions ending in arrest based on an allegation that the activities violate local laws, regulations, policies or rules

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a stat ...

. In October 2011, Cop Block sponsored a "National Chalk the Police Day" in fifteen cities to protest arrests of protesters who had used chalk to write anti-police slogans on the sidewalks of public property. The event passed largely unnoticed. In 2011, Cop Block posted a video to their website, alleging that a

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

police officer had used excessive force on a student at West High school. According to the

New Hampshire Union Leader The ''New Hampshire Union Leader'' is a daily newspaper from Manchester, the largest city in the U.S. state of New Hampshire. On Sundays, it publishes as the ''New Hampshire Sunday News.'' Founded in 1863, the paper was best known for the cons ...

, the student showed no visible signs of injury either in his mugshot or later interviews. Cop Block founder Ademo Freeman interviewed the officer involved as well as the school principal and was subsequently arrested for illegal wiretapping, convicted and sentenced to 90 days in jail and three years of probation out of a potential 21 years in prison. His conviction was overturned on appeal on

1st Amendment The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the ...

grounds.

Controversies

In July 2011,

Kershaw County, South Carolina Kershaw County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 65,403. The county seat and largest city is Camden. The county was created in 1791 from parts of Claremont, Lancaster, Fairfie ...

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) *Republican Party ...

co-chair Jeff Mattox became embroiled in a controversy after he 'liked' a Cop Block video cross-posted on a

Tea Party A tea party is a social gathering event held in the afternoon. For centuries, many societies have cherished drinking tea with a company at noon. Tea parties are considered for formal business meetings, social celebrations or just as an afternoon ...

website. The controversy was reported on nationally at

Politico.com ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and int ...

. Mattox stated that he would not step down from his post after the controversy and stated that he had thought the Cop Block article had been an "interesting read." On October 11, 2018 Cop Block became 1 of 559 pages and 251 accounts purged by Facebook for allegedly engaging in spam and “coordinated inauthentic activity" by creating “sensational political content...to build an audience and drive traffic to their websites."

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.copblock.org
Virginia CopBlock chapter

Nevada Cop Block chapter
Libertarian organizations Anarchist organizations Police brutality in the United States Police oversight organizations Citizen mass media in the United States Organizations established in 2010 Government watchdog groups in the United States Police abolition movement 2010 establishments in the United States

Activities

Controversies

See also

References

Further reading

External links