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Austin's first Autonomous Zone

6,733 Views | 62 Replies | Last: 10 mo ago by Keeper of The Spirits
The Fall Guy
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AG
Blinders man. Eat the hay in front and ignore your surroundings. Lol
Apache
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Quote:

The homeless and other random troublemakers are a lot like Covid, blown way TF outta proportion

Respectfully disagree. Have you seen the tremendous amount of trash they generate on our city streets & greenspaces? How they defecate & use drugs on the sides of the road in broad daylight?
Are you aware of the amount of theft & vandalism that goes on around their camps? The general harassment of regular folks just going about their business?
I've been approached & threatened, as has my wife & numerous friends.

I occasionally work with business to provide security solutions & there has been a major boom all along the Ben White corridor for me. From Oak Hill all the way to 183. Lights, Cameras (no not hollywood) and 10' tall chain link with razor wire. If it isn't nailed down, they'll steal it.

Just wait until downtown opens back up & people go back to work and play downtown. It's a setup for trouble. The conflict is going to get worse before it gets better. Hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
wargograw
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Keeper of The Spirits said:

I prefer to not be around screaming children as well. I've also got no problem send my kid to AISD


No one likes screaming children. But I fail to see how that's relevant to what things are like while inside your house. Struck me a just a potshot from the anti-kid crowd.

And that's your call my friend. I went to Westlake then we moved and I was in AISD. Vastly inferior education, especially now when they want you to think about the white colonial implications of 2+2=4.
Keeper of The Spirits
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Just like Covid, some to bad things happen that are preventable. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence and horror stories but on the whole it hasn't had a huge effect. Yeah the camps look gross and I wish they weren't there but Austin is light years ahead of Dallas or Houston when it comes to overall safety.

It is a problem that needs to be addressed and as downtown opens back up I think it will be. Tent cities should be back on the ballot in November and June to Sept always thins the homeless population. They either seek AC or cooler climates. Maybe we can pitch in on bus tickets to San Fran or DC?
Potcake
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Really, people who don't like kids? This is your hill?
Tobias Funke
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To steer this suburb vs city pissing contest back to the original subject...


Apparently the Thursday "you have to leave" deadline came and went, and the group is still there this morning. Hopefully the city doesn't think that putting up eviction notice signs is going to just make this group just up and leave on their own.

Really interested to see how this plays out. The more I read about their "cause" and what prompted all of this, the more full of crap they are.
Definitely Not A Cop
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Didn't they burn down a building in the past two years?

I think the biggest issue is that you have two groups of people experimenting with illegal substances, college kids and the homeless, and they are living right next to each other. It's going to lead to more problems down the road if it's not addressed soon. At the very least, the should move the largest homeless centers east of 35 away from the campus.

Tobias Funke
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You honestly think that's the heart of the issue?
Definitely Not A Cop
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Tobias Funke said:

You honestly think that's the heart of the issue?


The one that will grab the most headlines? Yeah. People don't really care about a homeless guy killing another homeless guy, or even destroying property. They will care about a 20 year old college girl getting shot or stabbed by a junkie.


Edit: sorry, was talking about the biggest issue with Austin supporting the homeless, not the autonomous zone.
AgOutsideAustin
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The summer heat will have them pack up and leave ? LOL. I doubt it. I travel for work and you know the city that doesn't have tents everywhere and look like **** ? El Paso. Their downtown and to the border fence looks like East Austin from the mid 90's. Must be the dry heat keeping them away.
Aust Ag
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Tobias Funke said:

To steer this suburb vs city pissing contest back to the original subject...


Apparently the Thursday "you have to leave" deadline came and went, and the group is still there this morning. Hopefully the city doesn't think that putting up eviction notice signs is going to just make this group just up and leave on their own.

Really interested to see how this plays out. The more I read about their "cause" and what prompted all of this, the more full of crap they are.
If you saw the video link, at the end they asked the 2 girls, "What are you going to do if the police force you out?" The basically said, let'em try and see what happens.

I think that's why they're still there, Adler is afraid of the potential fallout of another wide-scale protest and dust-ups.
Aust Ag
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Apache said:

Quote:

The homeless and other random troublemakers are a lot like Covid, blown way TF outta proportion

Respectfully disagree. Have you seen the tremendous amount of trash they generate on our city streets & greenspaces? How they defecate & use drugs on the sides of the road in broad daylight?
Are you aware of the amount of theft & vandalism that goes on around their camps? The general harassment of regular folks just going about their business?
I've been approached & threatened, as has my wife & numerous friends.

I occasionally work with business to provide security solutions & there has been a major boom all along the Ben White corridor for me. From Oak Hill all the way to 183. Lights, Cameras (no not hollywood) and 10' tall chain link with razor wire. If it isn't nailed down, they'll steal it.

Just wait until downtown opens back up & people go back to work and play downtown. It's a setup for trouble. The conflict is going to get worse before it gets better. Hope I'm wrong, but I doubt it.
I actually think as things open up downtown, 2 things will happen: 1) People will be appalled by the transformation that has occurred since they left and create more pressure on City Hall to get something done and 2) The sheer numbers of "regular" people walking around will push them more underground or at least not so obvious. This would have happened if SXSW would have went off as normal.

But yeah, initially, I agree....the first of the folks that come back downtown will inevitably be in for some conflict. I know I went back to my office off Congress a few months ago (just to see what things were like) and as I got ready to park my car (in almost empty garage), I saw some questionables start walking toward me. I decided right there this was a bad idea and turned the car around and went home. Haven't been back since.
MouthBQ98
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You were wearing the wrong "uniform". Put on a high vis vest and hard hat and they never bother you. It's awesome. It's like they know someone who sweats at work doesn't have time for their crap.
Keeper of The Spirits
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Some do pack up leave and but most end up actually using the shelters because even being whacked out in meth 105 is hot
austinag1997
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SteveBott said:

People live in suburbs for kids.


People live in suburbs to stay away from Austin City Council.
Apache
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They may not bother you but they'll dang sure steal the tools out of the back of your truck while you are on the job.
Keeper of The Spirits
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Ha! Now that's the truth
The Fall Guy
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https://www.kxan.com/traffic/fire-at-homeless-camp-on-i-35-in-south-austin-destroys-tents-damages-bridge/

The ghosts of Austin. Lol
Keeper of The Spirits
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We lived at 12th and Chicon for a few weeks which is close to this place. There is a huge public housing project right there as well. I was a little intimidated by the housing project for a bit until I started to talking to some of the folks who would be sitting outside on the porch. They were great. Surprisingly I dropped my wallet pretty close to the intersection and thought it was lost forever, only to have a guy, hitch hike over to the address on my license (our house we were remodeling) and drop it off fully intact. I just gave him the $100 in cash that was in it.

The AZ seems to be pretty disorganized from my driveby I did, I'd imagine if they ignore them they will eventually go away. These are run of the mill austinites these are instigators.
agmag90
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Keeper of The Spirits said:

These are run of the mill austinites these are instigators.
Interesting take...
BadMoonRisin
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Commentary Aside, I will try something new; reporting the facts:

About the area, directly from the website in the OP.
Quote:

On Sunday, February 14th, 400+1's L1 Collective led an eleven mile car procession around the perimeter of what is now 400+1 protected territory, renaming the area Orisha Land, and rejecting the state's authority within it.

Orisha Land is a zone in East Austin, the eleven mile perimeter of which is formed by Manor Rd., 51st Street, Springdale Rd., 7th Street, I-35, Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and Franklin St.

Jordan's Place, the capital of Orisha Land and formerly known as Rosewood Park, is located at 2300 Rosewood Avenue, on the side of the park closest to Pleasant Valley.

400+1's action came as a response to the fatal shooting of Jordan Walton, a 21 year old Black youth who was murdered by Austin Police Department while experiencing a mental health crisis on Wednesday, February 10th.


On the day he was murdered, Jordan's parents utilized the mental health crisis resources provided by the state to no avail.

No tangible assistance was offered to them and, instead, Jordan was shot dead by police officers while his brother and father looked on.

400+1 demands justice for Jordan through a complete and total abolition of the state, of police, and of capitalism; institutions and systems that were ultimately to blame for Jordan's death.


Here is more information on Jordan Walton via the Austin American-Statesman

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/2021/03/03/man-fatally-shot-police-during-february-hostage-situation-east-austin-idd-police-say/6903651002/

Quote:

Austin police have identified a man an officer fatally shot last month during a hostage standoff as 21-year-old Jordan Walton.

Officers on Feb. 10 responded at around 5:18 p.m. to a 911 call about a black Jeep that had crashed into a house at the intersection of Rogge Lane and Manor Road. The caller said a man walked away from the scene of the crash, police said.

At 5:21 p.m., a 911 caller said someone had broken into their home on Rogge Lane. When officers responded to the home, police heard a disturbance and forced their way inside
.
This is when police said Walton shot at officers. Police fired back and Austin police SWAT officers were called to the scene.

Police said Walton then left the home while holding a child hostage. An Austin police SWAT officer shot Walton and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The child and a woman inside the home were uninjured.


The two officers involved in the shooting have not been identified by police. Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said the patrol officer who first responded to the call and fired at Walton has been with the Police Department for eight years. The SWAT officer who fatally shot Walton has been with the department for 13 years.

Both were placed on administrative leave, which is the Police Department's standard protocol for shootings that involve officers.

The incident was captured on police body worn cameras. In May, Manley signed a policy that says police will release video from shootings involving officers within 60 days of the incident.

A criminal investigation by the Austin police Special Investigations Unit in conjunction with the Travis County district attorney's office will be conducted. An administrative investigation managed by the Austin police Internal Affairs Unit will also be conducted with oversight from the Office of Police Oversight.

"On the day he was murdered, Jordan's parents utilized the mental health crisis resources provided by the state to no avail." said the people attempting to take over the government, with no evidence.

You decide for yourself.
I know I ain't leavin' you like I know He ain't leavin' us
I know we believe in God and I know God believes in us
Keeper of The Spirits
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Are we supposed to decide for ourselves here? I don't think anyone on this thread is voicing support for Orisha
Tobias Funke
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Keeper of The Spirits said:

Are we supposed to decide for ourselves here? I don't think anyone on this thread is voicing support for Orisha

Ha, exactly. Thanks for presenting the facts, I guess?


Not sure how the Orisha folks think that somebody having mental illness precludes them from being shot by a cop when they wield a weapon and use a child as a human shield. This isn't the old Area 51 arcade.
fig96
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I do think there's some issues to be considered when it comes to police violence, but given the facts of this case as we know them this seems like a really odd hill to take a stand on.
Tobias Funke
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Guess it's over? Good times

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/san-antonio/news/2021/03/12/after-nearly-a-month--black-revolutionary-group-no-longer-occupying-east-austin-park-in-protest
Keeper of The Spirits
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Sometimes the best approach is to ignore them. Police interactions with citizens is an issue worthy of discussion but this was likely not the case to debate on.
SteveBott
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Agreed that was a weird hill to die on. The article says police were not totally telling the story and the family called them about his mental issues. I am sorry but if you have a child hostage I dont care what mental problems you are having. You are getting confronted with legal force.
Keeper of The Spirits
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