The Cop Block Tour – Syracuse

Note that the videos below are all raw shot with my HTC Evo 5 via Cop Block’s Bambuser channel, my chest-mounted GoPro, and/or my Canon Vixia HF R10. At the conclusion of The Cop Block Tour I’ll make time to put-together some solid, over-arching videos using content from this stop. In the meantime, if you are so-compelled, you’re welcomed and encouraged to utilize this content and all other content at CopBlock.org.

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On February 19th, 2013 I departed Rochester and headed about 90-min east on I-90 to Syracuse, the second-to-last stop of The Cop Block Tour. On the way into town I stopped by the abode of Curt Williams, founder of Syracuse Cop Block.

Syracuse Cop Block

• http://facebook.com/Syracusecopblock
• syracusecopblock@gmail.com

While there I sat-in for a segment on the James Freeland Show, which is hosted on Oracle Broadcasting – the same outlet used by Williams for his show, Room 101 Radio (which in the past has featured Copblockers such as Davy V and myself). After giving an update on the status of tour and some anecdotal stories, Jim and I spoke about police accountability and found much common ground on our advocacy of the non-aggression principle. Great to know that message is reaching more ears (and minds).

Shortly after Curt, his wife Jodi, and I grabbed a bite and ventured to the meetup location – the aptly named Freedom of Expresso – where we worked for a few hours before being joined by Jim and Kozz, who has the gear and experience for audio presentations and stage management.

We’d all hoped for a bigger turnout but it was what it was. In this case, quality not quantity. And after all, it has to start somewhere.

Fast-forward an hour or two and we’d had some good brainstorming, including the idea of a reoccuring event (monthly?) that’d mix music with speakers with name-it-and-it-could-be-included in an effort to bring people together for a fun, thought-provoking time.

The idea reminded me of the shin-digs hosted by Mike Salvi in Philadelphia, which feature a musician, guest, and comedian.

Near the end of the meetup four Syracuse police employees entered the venue. One went to the bathroom and came out looking a bit perplexed. I guess he’d seen one of the flyers I had left there (an outreach tactic I often do and one that I saw just the night before bear fruit when in Rochester, as a guy who emerged from the bathroom held up the Cop Block business card I’d left and smiled and gave us a big thumbs-up).

When packing-up, after sharing some literature to the rest of the crew present, I approached the police employees, noted that I didn’t want to take much of their time, gave a brief overview of Cop Block – nothing that it wasn’t anti-cop and solicited feedback specifically on the “Welcome LEOs” page. I left a couple flyers lighter. Kozz said that if something can work in Syracuse it can work anywhere. If the regular events mentioned above gets going and proves fruitful (ie erodes the fear and look-to-the-claimed-authorities Statist Quo mindset and grows and strengthens the community of good folks who recognize that the initiation of force is wrong, no matter ones place of employment) – that’s a model that could be replicated elsewhere. Same too with a city-specific outreach materials with a layout similar to the Who Owns You? card, which has info on the front and resources on the back. I’m looking forward to seeing what gels in Syracuse!

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