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micahh.bsky.social
stop cop cities everywhere
@micahh.bsky.social
21K followers 380 following 440 posts
law student. "subject is a support of defend the forest according to his twitter"

𝘕𝘰 𝘊𝘰𝘱 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘕𝘰 𝘊𝘰𝘱 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 (Haymarket) - bit.ly/4cMtg7q

micahherskind.com for abolition resource guide
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micahh.bsky.social
from Atlanta Solidarity Fund, whose organizers are themselves facing charges:

You can also support them here: t.co/GLNtilApqK
Tweet from @ATLSolFund: The Cop City RICO is in crisis. Judge Farmer plans to throw out the bulk of the case on the reasoning that the Georgia Attorney General's office was not invited by the Fulton DA (Fani Willis) to bring the case, so it lacks constitutional authority to prosecute. Tweet from @ATLSolFund: This is not the end of the RICO case, but it's a reminder that the State's campaign of repression is destined to fail. What happens next will decide whether the AG simply returns to the drawing board for the next round of attacks, or is finally held accountable for their abuses.
September 9, 2025 at 7:34 PM
micahh.bsky.social
watching respectfully and taking notes as hundreds of criminal cases are on their way to being dismissed due to the public defender/bar advocate strike in Massachusetts...
headline: "Hundreds more Mass. criminal cases can be dismissed due to ongoing public defender strike." Picture of courthouse with flag. WCVB. Updated: 4:39 PM EDT Jul 29, 2025
July 30, 2025 at 3:58 PM
micahh.bsky.social
something interesting unfolding: bar advocates (part of Massachusetts' public defender system) are engaging in a work stoppage over pay rates, resulting in 102 people's criminal cases getting dismissed yesterday 👀👀
Headline: ‘It’s clearly a frustrating and sad day’: Judge dismisses more than 100 cases amid lawyer work stoppage By Sean Cotter Globe Staff,Updated July 22, 2025, 1:33 p.m. Picture of a woman who is presumably a judge in black robes looking at a piece of paper.
July 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
micahh.bsky.social
another interesting finding –– a majority of respondents supported reducing the police budget to expand social services!
Do you support or oppose the idea of cutting some funding from the police and using the money for social services - for instance, to help the homeless and the mentally ill? Support = 261, 52.20% oppose = 191, 38.20% Undecided = 46, 9.2-% Refused = 2, .40%
July 22, 2025 at 12:58 AM
micahh.bsky.social
hi!
Micah in a green shirt standing in front of a book case with his arms crossed, tattoos on arms, a chain necklace, and short-ish hair parted in the middle.
July 17, 2025 at 12:54 PM
micahh.bsky.social
okay!!!! www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2541-n...
Micah in a turquoise shirt and a mask standing in front of a table with books inching No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement
July 10, 2025 at 7:22 PM
micahh.bsky.social
hii it's my birthday! if you're inclined, here are some fundraisers I care deeply about:

legal defense and survival of those facing RICO charges in Atlanta: linktr.ee/weelauneearr...

vetted fundraisers for Palestinian families: gazafunds.com

pic for algo/cuteness!
Micah sitting at a table outside on the sidewalk smiling, with his hair down, and a purple-ish athleisure-y vest on.
June 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
micahh.bsky.social
We've said all along that this is a political prosecution meant to attack and destroy a movement, and to attack and destroy people's lives in the process.

We have to keep showing up for those under attack - one way is to help pack the court THIS WEDNESDAY!!!
PACK THE COURT TELL JUDGE KEVIN FARMER DROP THE CHARGES! NO COP CITY! We need all hands on deck to support to STop Cop City protestors who are facing decades in prison under the RICO Act. Judge KEvin Farmer is the new judge assigned to the case, and we need to show him that we will defend our community. May 14 at 9:30am, Fulton Courthosue, Court room 4D, 136 Pryor St. SW, Atlanta GA 30303.
May 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
micahh.bsky.social
baltimore/DC-area friends! we'll be at @redemmas.org on 5/21 with Baltimore organizers to talk about the stop cop city movement, and the spread of cop cities nationwide, how people are fighting back, and the fight against Baltimore's proposed cop city. join us!
event flyer with the background of a forest with the sun shining through the trees. text reads: Kamau Franklin, Micah Herskind, and Mariah Parker present No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement. In conversation with Erica Caines (Black Alliance for Peace) and Sam Master (Organizing Black). Wednesday, May 21st, 7pm Red Emma's.
May 9, 2025 at 2:28 PM
micahh.bsky.social
In opening cop city, this is how Andre Dickens characterized the demands of the 2020 uprisings. This is exactly how I remember it as well obviously
“In 2020, the public had had enough,” said Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, opening the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center today, flanked by Governor Brian Kemp and Atlanta Police Foundation President Dave Wilkinson. “Residents were crying out for more training for police officers, and I was right there with them, marching in the streets as a city council member asking for more training and modifications to standard operating procedures. I supported this vision of a training center back then, and I certainly support it now.”
April 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM
micahh.bsky.social
Most importantly, we have to keep showing up for those facing RICO and other charges. There's a status conference that all defendants are currently required to come back for on 5/14 – please help pack the court if you're in ATL!!!
PACK THE COURT TELL JUDGE KEVIN FARMER DROP THE CHARGES! NO COP CITY! We need all hands on deck to support to STop Cop City protestors who are facing decades in prison under the RICO Act. Judge KEvin Farmer is the new judge assigned to the case, and we need to show him that we will defend our community. May 14 at 9:30am, FUlton Courthosue, Court room 4D, 136 Pryor St. SW, Atlatna GA 30303.
April 29, 2025 at 3:18 PM
micahh.bsky.social
We also wrote about how we have to focus on INFRASTRUCTURE of punishment, regardless of who is building it or who is using it. What Trump is doing right now is almost entirely making use of pre-existing punishment infrastructure!! That matters!!
Punishment infrastructure is a prerequisite for fascism. Mass criminalization of dissent requires various capacities, including surveillance technology to identify and track state enemies; media organs to demonize those enemies; state agents to round them up; laws (however pretextual) to charge them with breaking; and jails and prisons to put them in. You can’t be surveilled by a camera that hasn’t been installed; you can’t be arrested and dragged away in the middle of the night by a police force that hasn’t been funded and staffed; and you can’t be put in a cage that hasn’t been built. In her 1971 essay “Political Prisoners, Prisons, and Black Liberation,” Angela Y. Davis wrote that “fascism is a process” and identified the U.S. punishment infrastructure as its early foothold, honed over decades to suppress the struggle for racial and class justice. What we see now is its full-fledged form.
April 24, 2025 at 3:08 PM
micahh.bsky.social
Atlanta has many lessons for resisting and withstanding repression in this moment, including the fact that we simply cannot throw each other under the bus. anyone who threatens power is a "bad" protestor, and trying to make yourself a "good" one won't save you
Critically, keeping each other safe amidst repression means refusing to throw anyone under the bus. Atlanta organizers across the spectrum, whether from established nonprofits or underground circles, have refused to denounce each other or submit to good protester/bad protester narrative traps. The repression of the Stop Cop City movement has demonstrated that what makes a “bad” protester in the state’s eyes is not the protester’s tactics, but rather their threat to power—a threat that, as mentioned, is posed by simple practices of solidarity and collectivity. If you disrupt the status quo, you are a bad protester; denouncing others in the movement won’t save you from that designation. And finally, security culture must be a mainstay of our movements. As much as possible, we must deal with internal conflict where the state is not watching. Our movements’ ability to survive—and ultimately win—will depend on how well we protect each other.
April 24, 2025 at 2:55 PM
micahh.bsky.social
So grateful for these kind and generous words from @dreanyc123.bsky.social and @ruha9.bsky.social, both of whom have so fundamentally shaped my understanding of this world!!! Such an honor that they would read and even maybe like something that I was lucky to work on!!!
Image 2: Graphic showing book cover of No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement, in orange text and with a green tree branch across the front. Publishing on May 20th from Haymarket Books. There are two quotes: "A masterclass in mapping power and movement building delivered by a chorus of community organizers on the front lines of the fight to Stop Cop City." Andrea Ritchie. "This book is a rare and exquisite fusion of unflinching diagnosis and visionary prescription, a sharp tool for cutting through the noise as we resist and reimagine the carceral status quo." Ruja Benjamin.
April 22, 2025 at 5:01 PM
micahh.bsky.social
The point isn't to write a definitive account of the movement, which is ongoing, but rather to tell stories from a movement in motion. There's something for everyone in my humble opinion!!

And people have said some nice things about it! Mariame Kaba and Robin D.G. Kelley:
Image 3: Graphic showing book cover of No Cop City, No Cop World: Lessons from the Movement, in orange text and with a green tree branch across the front. Publishing on May 20th from Haymarket Books. There are two quotes: "This book underscores that criminalization is the indispensable fuel of fascism. It’s timely, necessary, and required reading.” Mariame Kaba. "These powerful essays on the struggle in Atlanta offer vital lessons for how to resist the many cop cities on the horizon. The lesson is clear: only a people united, moved by visions of abolition and militant action, can stop a Cop World." Robin D.G. Kelley
April 22, 2025 at 4:59 PM
micahh.bsky.social
This book has been a long time in the making, and I'm really really excited to share it with the world! Edited by me,
@marpark.bsky.social, and @kamaufranklin.bsky.social, it brings together lots of people who have been involved in the movement to share tactics tried and lessons learned.
Five books stacked on top of each other, with only the spine showing, of the book No Cop City, No Cop World.
April 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
micahh.bsky.social
Currently reading this haunting and beautifully written book by @brian-goldstone.bsky.social that, through devastating storytelling, illustrates a basic point: “Families are not ‘falling’ into homelessness. They’re being pushed.”

Find it here: bookshop.org/p/books/ther...
Picture of Goldstone’s “There Is No Place For Us: Working and Homeless in America” on a bookshelf.
March 30, 2025 at 7:58 PM
micahh.bsky.social
Atlanta is facing a $20 million budget deficit this year, leading to cuts across the board. The reason for the deficit? Atlanta police accounts for MORE THAN HALF OF THE ABOVE-BUDGET SPENDING - all our money to police, at the expense of real services
screenshot of AJC article with headline: Atlanta asks city departments to evaluate budget cuts of up to 10% Subheader: The city’s finance team has told the City Council that they are forecasting a $20 million budget deficit Picture: Mayor Andre Dickens updates the city council about the city's water failure during a council meeting at City Hall in Atlanta on Monday, June 3, 2024. (Arvin Temkar/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)
March 18, 2025 at 2:42 PM
micahh.bsky.social
any time a pro-Palestine student sneezes, the admin sends a university-wide email denouncing it––meanwhile last week the former Israeli prime minister suggested giving student protestors exploding pagers and of course the uni has said nothing
screenshot of crimson article: At Harvard Talk, Former Israeli PM Joked He Would Give Exploding Pagers to Protesters Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke to Harvard affiliates at a talk at the Harvard Business School on Thursday. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke to Harvard affiliates at a talk at the Harvard Business School on Thursday. By Sarah G. Erickson
March 13, 2025 at 5:00 PM
micahh.bsky.social
though I don't expect better at this point, it's complete malpractice for NYT to describe Elon Musk's mission as "reducing waste, fraud and abuse in government" as opposed to "dismantling the federal government"
NYT screenshot with the following text, and the words in between the em dashes highlighted: "Cabinet officials almost uniformly like the concept of what Mr. Musk set out to do — reducing waste, fraud and abuse in government — but have been frustrated by the chain saw approach to upending the government and the lack of consistent coordination."
March 7, 2025 at 7:14 PM
micahh.bsky.social
Wow –– Atlanta Mayor @andreforatlanta.com has been working hard to destroy the independent oversight board created to root out corruption.

Now, remaining members of that board have referred EIGHT CASES to the feds of misconduct from the mayor's office for criminal investigation.
Screenshot of an article from the AJC. Headline: Atlanta inspector general’s office staff accuse city officials of retaliation, refer investigations to feds Subheading: Senior staff in watchdog office requested whistleblower protections in letter that outlines eight criminal investigations. Photo description: A photo at Atlanta's City Hall on March 23, 2018. (AJC file)
March 4, 2025 at 10:48 PM
micahh.bsky.social
In 2022, ATL voters approved a $660 million bond package to build & update infrastructure. But only 7% of that money has been spent so far––and as you can see, it's been disproportionately spent in the whitest and wealthiest parts of the city.

More failure from @andreforatlanta.com
Map of Atlanta council districts, with caption: Where the Moving Atlanta Forward money has been spent, by council district A recent audit of the Moving Atlanta Forward infrastructure bonds has revealed the city has spent less than 10% of funds overall, and that spending has been disproportionately lower in districts with higher poverty rates. NOTE: Citywide projects account for $12,132,076 (or 19%) of the spending. Another $1,631,980 (2%) has been spent on multi-district projects. Light blue is the least spending, dark blue is the most. Map shows that southwest ATl council districts are various shades of light blue, and north/central ATL are generally darker shades of blue.
February 27, 2025 at 4:26 PM
micahh.bsky.social
didn't have a grand jury recommending that a municipal police department be abolished on my 2025 bingo list
Grand jury recommends Alabama police department be 'immediately abolished' Five officers were indicted amid a probe into the Hanceville Police Department. By Meredith Deliso February 19, 2025, 9:10 PM
February 20, 2025 at 7:36 PM
micahh.bsky.social
My god. The Mayor of Johnston, RI just announced he's using eminent domain to seize 31 acres of land that was supposed to become affordable housing, and to build a "new public safety complex" –– sounds a lot like a cop city!

I hope the people of Johnston say no!
Mayor Joseph M. Polisena Jr. Announces Taking of 31-Acre Low-Income Housing Site by Eminent Domain for Public Safety Complex Our police officers and firefighters have endured unsafe and inadequate working conditions for far too long. Firefighters are dealing with the absence of a fire alarm system, a leaking roof, a flooding dispatch room, and no female bathrooms or showers. Their living quarters are dangerously exposed to toxic fumes from the apparatus room, posing serious health and safety risks. Similarly, the police station faces numerous challenges: an outdated electrical system, no toilet in the locker room, no hot water, and working in closets rather than offices. Additionally, the basement floods during rain events, affecting the sally port, cell block, locker rooms, and electrical systems. Our town hall presents a problem as well. Constructed when just 9,000 people lived in Johnston, there is no handicapped accessibility, senior citizens struggle with the narrow stairs, there are holes in the roof, the HVAC system does not work, and there are now only 8 public parking spaces. Today, I am announcing my intent to take all 31 acres of land on George Waterman Road, the site of the proposed 252 low-income housing apartment complex, by eminent domain. In this location, the town will construct a public safety municipal complex consisting of a new fire headquarters, police station and municipal hall. The Johnston Town Council will hold a special meeting on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. at the Johnston Municipal Court to discuss and vote on Resolution 2025-10, authorizing the eminent domain taking of Assessor's Plat 37, Lot 193. Residents are encouraged to attend. To fund this project, we are going back to our original intention of renovating the high school with an emphasis on creating new career and technical trades programs. In saving tens of millions of dollars coupled with our $40 million cash reserves, we are using our financial prudence to continue …
January 28, 2025 at 4:26 PM
micahh.bsky.social
Honestly kind of shocked to see the AJC acknowledge that a new Fulton County jail is NOT the answer –– that the problems come from jail leadership and the culture of neglect and violence starting with Sheriff Labat
DOJ, critics say new Fulton jail not among solutions to solve inmate death crisis Federal investigators in recent report blamed Sheriff Patrick Labat, county leadership for the violence and dysfunction in the county jail
December 5, 2024 at 3:21 PM