It's Over

On September 6, the DAs office announced they are dropping all our pending felony littering cases.

For almost three years, we’ve been so heartened by the widespread and constant support from so many. We want to express gratitude for the creative and generous measures that community members have offered! Part of what we get to do now is reflect on how much support we got, and express what it has meant to us—some of that will be in writing in this newsletter in the coming days.

And: although this is a moment to celebrate, this is also a time to shine an even brighter light on the state’s wild abuse of power. APD and the DA went to great lengths to paint us as ‘violent criminals set out to destroy,' to our landlords, employers, our advocates, the court, the media, and the community at large. They intentionally portrayed as nefarious and dangerous what was, let’s face it, just a picnic and a camp out.

They decided to issue a felony charge to someone who just brought cocoa on Christmas to a park during open hours (a totally legal, and very cute thing to do). They decided to issue felony charges to people who weren’t even involved in organizing, but just present at a park during open hours (a totally legal, and very cute thing to do). They decided to issue felony charges to people who came to make art with their children (a totally legal, and very cute thing to do).

They decided to waste tens of thousands of dollars of resources to surveil and prosecute a food sharing group.

We also want to direct the focus to the issue that started all of this. For nearly three years, attention has been on this courtroom sideshow, distracting people from the real problem. This action was meant to bring focus to the fact that there is an entire group of our neighbors and our community who are not allowed to exist anywhere in our city.

In the middle of winter, at the peak of a pandemic, we were asking for one SINGLE place where those folks could sleep and rest where they didn't have to fear arrest or harassment or eviction.

Three years later, heading into winter again, we still do not have that place.

We also would like to contest the DA’s statement that they are dropping these bogus charges now because they need to “prioritize the prosecution of violent crime.” They certainly did not mind using years of resources on this case, and they certainly don’t mind using ongoing time and energy to prosecute non-violent “crimes” targeted at people living on the streets.

We believe these retaliatory charges would not have survived the scrutiny of a trial, and the DA’s statement was an attempt to avoid that accountability.

Since this all began, we have continued to work every day to support our neighbors and build a community that is free from state violence, and safe & welcoming to all, regardless of housing status. We will continue to fight for that Asheville moving forward.

(this was shared on Instagram on September 8. It references a statement from the office of Buncombe County District Attorney Todd Williams. You can read an article about the charges being dropped here.)