Stopping a movement (The Reveal podcast)

In what may be the largest protest movement in the nation’s history, millions of Americans haven taken to the streets this year to protest racism and police brutality. In response, the federal government cracked down. On a conference call with governors in early June, President Donald Trump said, “It’s a movement that if you don’t put it down, it’ll get worse and worse.” In the weeks and months since, U.S. attorneys brought federal charges against 340 people attending protests in at least 31 states – and the vast majority of the crimes relate to property damage. Reporter Anjali Kamat investigates why the federal government is prosecuting so many cases that normally would be handled in state or county courts. 

In the second segment, reporters Michael de Yoanna and Rae Solomon from KUNC public radio investigate the use of powerful sedatives during police stops. This phenomenon first caught the reporters’ attention when body camera footage went viral over the summer, showing 23-year-old Elijah McClain being wrestled to the ground by police and injected with ketamine by paramedics in Aurora, Colorado. McClain went into cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and died a few days later. McClain’s name became a national rallying cry and, as we report, his story exposes a pattern of paramedics across the nation doling out potentially dangerous doses of sedatives during police stops. 

The final segment looks at nationwide calls to defund the police. Austin, Texas, has seen the most aggressive defunding effort of any large city in the country. In August, the City Council unanimously voted to cut its police budget by about a third. The plan would slash $150 million from police and reallocate funds to areas such as public health and homelessness prevention. Reveal host Al Letson talks with Chas Moore, founder and executive director of the Austin Justice Coalition, about how local activists have pushed for change.

Interview: 

https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/stopping-a-movement/