🎧 Police State USA

Episode summary: We talk to Adom Getachew, Jasson Perez and Gary Gerstle about the politics of protest and the politics of policing in America. What does ‘Defund the Police’ mean in practice? Is the current crisis likely to empower or curtail the surveillance state? How are the current protests different from ones we’ve seen in the past? And where Minneapolis leads, will the world follow? Plus we talk about the implications of the protests for the November elections. Talking Points: The ‘defund the police’ movement has gained a lot of ground in the last few weeks. - This movement wants to defund and disband the police and invest resources in things that get at the roots of harm and violence in communities. - Minneapolis already had a successful campaign to divest. Local organizations knew how to relate to a spontaneous rebellion and use that energy to push the agenda. - Other cities will have to figure out how to do this in their organizing communities. - Alternatives to policing exist but they are chronically underfunded.…