Group accuses the mayor of spying on Black activists in N.O.
19th June 2017 · 0 Comments
By C.C. Campbell-Rock
Contributing Writer
With temperatures soaring and humidity high in New Orleans, members of Take Em Down NOLA (TEDN) Coalition and other civil rights group activists stood firm on the steps of City Hall, in the glaring sun, and blasted New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu for wasting taxpayers’ money in hiring a private security firm to take down “white supremacy monuments,” for being labelled a “subversive group,” and for TEDN computers and social media outlets being hacked.
TEDN also said members were spied on and characterized unwanted surveillance as “trickled down,” federal CointelPro activity. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, “The FBI carried out CointelPro a surveillance program that spied on leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, Stokely Carmichael and other movement leaders. This is no more than “trickle down federal tactics, that go all the way back to Marcus Garvey,” said Quess? Moore, a TEDN organizer.
TEDN held the press conference to discuss the $2.1 million Mayor Landrieu spent to take down four monuments. “We are here to protest what was reported as the private security out of Dallas, “being hired to spy on and monitor our activity. We’re here also to denounce the Mayor’s attempt to equate Take Em Down NOLA, which has never threatened anybody, with these white fascists that came to town bearing weapons,” said TEDN spokesperson Malcolm Suber.
Suber said at least two members’ computers were hacked, including his, “which no longer functions.” The group’s Facebook and Twitter accounts were hacked and members were subjected to threats of violence and intimidation by pro-Confederacy supporters.
“We want an explanation from the Mayor of why he spent taxpayers’ dollars, when he could have gotten other city departments to remove the monuments,” Suber added.
In a June 14, FOIA request to Mayor Landrieu, TEDN requested “copies of all letters, emails, memos, texts, bills, and any types of communications with or about Trident Response Group by all employees of the City of New Orleans.” “We are questioning why the Mayor paid $750,000 to Trident and what services were agreed to and rendered.”
If the Mayor doesn’t turn over the documents, TEDN will file a lawsuit against Landrieu and the City.
Mayor Landrieu’s Office of Communication responded to TEDN claims. “The claims are outlandish and completely false. Due to the widely known acts of violence, death threats, harassment, and additional security risks associated with monument removal project, threat assessments by the Office of Homeland Security concluded that the City engage the services of Trident Response Group, a well-established threat assessment and security operations firm to provide protections to all New Orleanians and contractors associated with the monument removal process.”
“The NOPD and Trident Response Group failed to protect protesters from competing right wing groups that came from all over to protest the monuments’ removal,” Suber explains. “Although Louisiana has an open carry law, no weapons are supposed to be carried with 1,000 feet of schools or peaceful demonstrations,” he continued, no one did anything to stop that. “They are still there with weapons, guarding the Albert Pike monument,” at Jefferson Parkway and Canal Street.
The Mayor’s office disputes TEDN’s claims that the City failed to protect its citizens during the monument removals. “The NOPD worked closely with Take Em Down NOLA to provide robust security for multiple marches and protests they executed, including the last march from Congo Square to Lee Circle. Throughout the process, NOPD worked to ensure that all citizens — on both sides of the issue— were free to exercise their right to protest, peacefully and lawfully. The entire operation concluded without significant violence or harm to persons or property, and that is due in large measure to our efforts. We should all be thankful for the great work by law enforcement,” said Tyronne B. Walker, Landrieu’s Communications Director.
Mayor Landrieu made national and international news for supporting the removal of the four Confederate-era monuments: Liberty Place Monument, CSA President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Generals P.G.T Beauregard and Robert E. Lee. He was seen as a champion by many.
“The Mayor has gotten accolades for taking down the statues but it was our activity, prodding and pushing that made it possible,” says Suber.
“This is about taxpayers, money. That $2.1 million could have been better used to solve serious problems in New Orleans. We have 56 percent of African American men unemployed, 50 percent of our children are in poverty, and we lead the nation in incarceration,” he adds.
The TEDN Coalition vows to continue to advocate for the taking down of white supremacy monuments. “We want to assure the City that we have not stopped any activities. Andrew Jackson is our next target,” Suber confirms.
“We are planning a national and international conference to take down white supremacy monuments. There is a worldwide effort to take down symbols of white supremacy. South Africans took down a monument of Cecil B. Rhodes and Serbians removed 5,400 street signs in one day,” Suber offers.
Lauded for saving New Orleans during the “Battle of New Orleans,” Jackson owned 300 slaves and was the architect of the “Trail of Tears,” which removed First Nation Tribes from their homelands under the auspices of eminent domain. Remove Jackson may be TEDN’s biggest challenge to date. “Pressure bursts pipes,” Suber says of TEDN’s ongoing battle to remove white supremacists names from public spaces, schools, parks, and streets in New Orleans.
“As for removing other Confederate monuments, Mayor Landrieu has been clear that he proposed removing the four monuments that we took down because they were erected to celebrate the Cult of the Loss Cause and that did not reflect who we are as a City. While Mayor Landrieu has no intention to remove other monuments, any citizen can follow the same process outlined in the law to address any other statues they believe are a nuisance,” Walker concluded.
This article originally published in the June 19, 2017 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
