Cop Block

{{Short description|American decentralized police accountability project}} {{Infobox organization | name = Cop Block | bgcolor =  | fgcolor =  | image = CopBlock1C.gif | image_border = | image_size = | image_alt =  | caption = | map =  | map_size =  | map_alt =  | map_caption =  | map2 = | abbreviation = | predecessor = | successor = | formation = {{Start date and years ago|2010|01|01}} | extinction =  | type = Decentralized project | status =  | purpose = Promote law enforcement accountability and abolishment, expose alleged police misconduct | headquarters = | location = | coordinates =  | region_served = | membership = | language =  | general_secretary =  | leader_title =  | leader_name =  | leader_title2 = | leader_name2 = | leader_title3 = | leader_name3 = | leader_title4 = | leader_name4 = | key_people = Pete Eyre, Ademo Freeman, Severin Freeman, Matthew Taylor. | main_organ =  | parent_organization =  | affiliations =  | budget = | num_staff = | num_volunteers = | website =  | remarks = | former_name = }}

'''Cop Block''' is a decentralized anti-police 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.

==Activities== In July 2010, anarchists and libertarians Pete Eyre and Adam "Ademo Freeman" Mueller, key members of the organization were arrested for videotaping officials at the Franklin County, Massachusetts jail.<ref name=Berry>{{cite news|last=Berry|first=Conor|title=Trial of anti-cop, pro-govementtransparency defendants scheduled to begin Monday in Greenfield|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/07/trial_of_anti-government_defen.html|accessdate=31 August 2012|newspaper=Springfield Republican|date=17 July 2011}}</ref> 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.<ref name=Hanley>{{cite journal|last=Hanley|first=N. Stewart|title=A Dangerous Trend: Arresting Citizens for Recording Law Enforcement|journal=American Journal of Trial Advocacy|year=2011|volume=34|pages=645–669}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Failinger|first=Marie|title=Talking Chalk: Talking Chalk: Defacing the First Amendment in the Public Forum|journal=West Virginia Law Review|year=2012|volume=115}}</ref>

In 2011, Cop Block posted a video to their website, alleging that a Manchester, New Hampshire police officer had used excessive force on a student at West High school. According to the New Hampshire Union Leader, the student showed no visible signs of injury either in his mugshot or later interviews.<ref name=UL100511>{{cite news|last=Hayward|first=Mark|title=Video shows West High student's arrest|url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20111005/NEWS03/710059961|accessdate=31 August 2012|newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader|date=5 October 2011|archive-date=17 October 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111017003232/http://unionleader.com/article/20111005/NEWS03/710059961|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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<ref name=Johnson>{{cite news|last=Johnson|first=Patrick|title=CopBlock founder Adam Mueller, a police-accountability blogger with Greenfield ties, found guilty of illegal wiretapping in New Hampshire|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2012/08/copblock_founder_adam_mueller.html|accessdate=31 August 2012|newspaper=Springfield Republican|date=13 August 2012}}</ref> out of a potential 21 years in prison.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/adam-ademo-mueller-journa_n_1748057.html|title=Adam "Ademo" Mueller, Journalist And CopBlock.org Founder, Faces 21 Years In Jail After Reporting School Police Brutality|publisher=Huffington Post |date=6 August 2012}}</ref><ref name=UL080612>{{cite news|last=Grossmith|first=Pat|title=Protesters hand out leaflets during jury selection in CopBlock.org wiretapping case|url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120807/NEWS03/708079969|accessdate=31 August 2012|newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader|date=6 August 2012|archive-date=28 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228023723/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120807/NEWS03/708079969|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=UL080812>{{cite news|title='Copblock' wiretap case goes to court in Manchester|url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120806/NEWS03/708069928|accessdate=31 August 2012|newspaper=New Hampshire Union Leader|date=8 August 2012|archive-date=28 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228021314/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20120806/NEWS03/708069928|url-status=dead}}</ref> His conviction was overturned on appeal on 1st Amendment grounds.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140211/NEWS07/140219859 |title=Court tosses felony wiretap conviction in taping of Manchester police captain, high school officials | New Hampshire Public Safety |access-date=2014-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140228030220/http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140211/NEWS07/140219859 |archive-date=2014-02-28 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Controversies== In July 2011, Kershaw County, South Carolina Republican Party co-chair Jeff Mattox became embroiled in a controversy after he 'liked' a Cop Block video cross-posted on a Tea Party website.<ref name=WACH072611>{{cite news|last=Abbotts|first=Chris|title=Kershaw Co. GOP leader criticized for liking 'shoot a cop' article|url=http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=644546#.UEDJA6M0iSo|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130129034639/http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=644546%23.UEDJA6M0iSo|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 January 2013|accessdate=31 August 2012|newspaper=WACH TV|date=26 July 2011}}</ref> The controversy was reported on nationally at Politico.com.<ref name=Politico072511>{{cite web|last=Smith|first=Ben|title='Shoot a cop' flap in SC|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/ben-smith/2011/07/shoot-a-cop-flap-in-sc-037760|work=Ben Smith on Politics and Media|publisher=Politico.com|access-date=31 August 2012|date=25 July 2011}}</ref> Mattox stated that he would not step down from his post after the controversy<ref name=AugChron072611>{{cite news|title=Official says he won't resign over article|url=http://chronicle.augusta.com/news/metro/2011-07-26/across-south-carolina|accessdate=31 August 2012|newspaper=Augusta Chronicle|date=26 July 2011}}</ref> and stated that he had thought the Cop Block article had been an "interesting read."<ref name=Tau>{{cite web|last=Tau|first=Byron|title=South Carolina Republican refuses to step down|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2011/07/sc-goper-refuses-to-step-down-060053|publisher=Politico.com|access-date=31 August 2012|author2=Smith, Ben|date=27 July 2011}}</ref>

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."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/11/tech/facebook-removes-pages/|title=Facebook removes another 800 pages and accounts ahead of midterms|last=Oliver|first=Darcy|newspaper=CNN |date=2018-10-11|access-date=2018-10-12}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist|2}}

==Further reading== * {{cite news|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:ENN8&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=140C7D24701C8F10&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D663DC0A81A15EA|title=Ademo Freeman, Convicted on Three Counts of Journalism|publisher=News & Politics Examiner|date=August 19, 2012|author=Davi Barker|accessdate=September 1, 2012}}

==External links== * {{Official website|http://www.copblock.org}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140519095150/http://virginiacopblock.org/ Virginia CopBlock chapter] * [http://nvcopblock.org/ Nevada Cop Block chapter]

Category:Libertarian organizations Category:Police brutality in the United States Category:Police oversight organizations in the United States Category:Citizen mass media in the United States Category:Government watchdog groups in the United States Category:Police abolition movement Category:Anarchist organizations in the United States Category:American organizations established in 2010