By Mustafa Abdullah
On the morning of Tuesday, Aug. 19th, staff at the ACLU of Missouri read several tweets from protesters in Ferguson indicating that they were not being allowed to protest. I immediately went to Ferguson to meet up with the protesters, hear their stories and educate them on their rights.
Peaceful protesters were being told by the police that they were not allowed to stand on the sidewalk for more than five seconds. I fully understood that I would be arrested if I did not comply with the order. In fact, I was subsequently told that I could not walk back and forth over the same block, nor could I stand and pray on the sidewalk. I was harassed a total of five times within an hour.
The only reason this absurd five-second rule is no longer in effect is a successful Federal Court challenge to the 5 second rule that was won by the ACLU of Missouri. Most of the goings-on in Ferguson have made it clear that US law enforcement officers are defaulting to militarization as opposed to de-escalation in times of civil unrest. In reaction to the larger trend of police using excessive force during these episodes the ACLU has created Mobile Justice.
Mobile Justice is the most important app you will download all year. With the increasing militarization of police forces nationwide, Mobile Justice allows for people to record interactions with law enforcement and to have those recordings be automatically sent to the ACLU of Missouri. People can also use the app to fill out a written incident report and to notify other app users within a mile of the exact location of an ongoing interaction with law enforcement. As Prof. Justin Hansford, a leader in the local Don’t Shoot Coalition, said, Mobile Justice “is the next best thing to having a civil rights attorney on speed dial.” The app has Know Your Rights materials on tap for reference that provide important guidelines on what to do when you find yourself in a sticky situation with law enforcement. Apps like this are essential to ensuring our democracy and preservation of our basic civil rights.
The app should equip all Missourians, including the leaders of this movement, with more courage to protest and have their voice heard. The app will also hold law enforcement officials accountable when they violate the law or the constitution. Broadly speaking, no matter what conclusion is handed down from the Darren Wilson grand jury, it will not negate the reality that Michael Brown’s death is part of a national pattern of police officers using excessive and sometimes fatal force against law-abiding Americans. The intention of this app is to stop this trend and to stop it now.