APTP in the News
Screen cap from program featuring Wanda Johnson (Oscar Grant’s mother), Cat Brooks (co-founder of APTP), Jackie Byers (Executive Director of the Black Organizing Project), and Areva Martin (program host).
The Special Report: Police Reform & The Election
The Special Report with Areva Martin, October 26, 2020
“What I say often is that I would rather get to the gun before the bullet flies than be standing with the mother when she’s putting her child in the ground.
”And what I mean by that, is I want it so that my community to have resources that don’t lock people out of the above ground economy, so they’re forced to make a living in the underground economy. I want resources that deal with trauma. I want resources that deal with mental health. I want resources that provide economic opportunities, job opportunities, quality education. Those are the things that actually keep us safe. Those are the things that we’re redirecting dollars towards [by defunding the police].” – Cat Brooks, co-founder of APTP
Cat Brooks speaking at an event in Oakland
Cat Brooks on Refunding the Community
Pendarvis Harshaw | KQED, October 16, 2020
“…there are folks who still believe that if we do enough trainings, if we do enough body cameras, if we do enough reform, if we shift use of force policies, that maybe things will get better. And when that messaging is coming out of law enforcement, they're promising to do that. I think it's easier for some people to put their faith in the system that they know, even though it doesn't work.
“And that’s what I think this moment is begging of us, is demanding of us, is that we completely reimagine what public safety looks like. That we're committed to completely transforming the way in which we keep our communities safe. And it's time that we do something radically and dramatically different when it comes to public safety in our communities.”
Asantewaa Boykin, wearing a green sweatshirt and white glasses, raises a fist in the air
New mental health emergency response system provides alternative to 911
Noah Baustin | Oakland North, October 12, 2020
“MH First does not dispatch through 911, it has its own phone line.
“Asantewaa Boykin, Co-founder of APTP and Program Director of MH First, believes that it’s essential for mental health crisis hotlines to be separate from the 911 system.
“‘I think that we [as Black people] do absolutely everything we can before we call 911… Because there’s just an acute understanding in the back of our heads that if [the police] show up, that could also mean you lose someone you love,’ Boykin said.”
Shan’a Mason hugs her children after an Oakland protest of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police (Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle)
California moves toward policing changes, but activists hoped for far more
Alexei Kosoff | The San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 2020
“‘I’m shocked, actually. Maybe arrogantly so, or naively so,’ said Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project in Oakland. She said many of the proposals that failed were ‘no-brainers,’ given the groundswell of protests against police brutality and racism.
“‘We’re tinkering around the edges,’ Brooks said. ‘We had an opportunity to make transformative and substantive change, and I feel like a lot of our lawmakers here in Sacramento ignored us.’”
Screen capture from ABC 7 News showing Cat Brooks speaking in front of a memorial mural of Breonna Taylor.
'If there's no justice, how can we have peace?' 'Go-slow' caravan ties up Bay Area bridge traffic
Julian Glover,, Laura Anthony and Kate Larsen | ABC7 News,, September 24, 2020
"‘We’ve come together to say enough is enough is enough,’ said Cat Brooks, [co-]founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project. ‘I want to be really clear that what happened to Breonna Taylor is part and parcel and pattern of the war that is waged daily in our lives and we’ve got to start talking about it.’”
Screen capture of KRON 4 news segment, showing the virtual press conference on 9/23/2020 held by APTP, CRC, CURYJ, CA Families United 4 Justice, Voices of Strength, FAM, and Erik Salgado family.
Jonathan McCall | KRON 4, September 23, 2020
“Bay Area families who have had their own loved ones killed at the hands of law enforcement, called today’s frustrating, but not shocking.
These families know all too well the pain Breonna Taylor’s family is dealing with.
Having their loved ones shot and killed by police, but no one being held accountable in the deaths.
They say today’s decision is not justice for Taylor and is part of a system that continues to target, and rob Americans of their rights.”
Protester speaks out at Defund SFPD rally (Beth Laberge / KQED)
'Deeply Wrong': Bay Area Reacts to Grand Jury Decision in Death of Breonna Taylor
Monica Lam and David Marks | KQED, September 23, 2020
“Bay Area lawmakers and activists condemned a Kentucky grand jury's decision on Wednesday not to charge any police officers directly for the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor.
"‘The walls of Breonna Taylor's neighbors got more justice than Breonna Taylor did herself,’ said Cat Brooks, co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project and executive director of the Justice Teams Network, in an interview with KQED. ‘Apparently being Black, educated, employed and in your own home somehow creates a path for justified causation to be shot to death. ... Were she not a Black woman, we would be having a very different conversation right now.’
"‘The officers shouldn't have been going into her house in the first place, right? So [they needed to] protect themselves from whom? Breonna Taylor and her partner, who were asleep in their bed, which was their right to do?’ Brooks said. ‘Officers aren't the ones who need to be protected in this country. Black bodies need to be protected in this country, from police officers.’"
Oakland Police Department vehicles (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)
Where Calling the Police Isn’t the Only Option
Sarah Holder and Kara Harris | Bloomberg CityLab, September 3, 2020
“Because the [MH First] model operates in its own framework, without the support or approval of local government, it could be easier to scale it up in other cities, [Asantewaa Boykin, co-founder of APTP] says. While MACRO is still in the planning phase, APTP launched a Mental Health First hotline in Oakland on August 28; already, they have hundreds of volunteers signed up for trainings.
“It’s that independence from city institutions that Boykin and Oakland APTP’s [Cat Brooks] say will best serve communities like theirs. “‘It’s important to be separate,’ said Boykin, ‘because what we’re talking about is trying to capture folks who are historically mistrusting of the police and of 911.’”
Oakland group launches non-police mental health hotline
Garrett Leahy | 48 Hills, August 30, 2020
“APTP and MH First Oakland co-founder Cat Brooks said that in creating the hotline, APTP hoped to work towards destigmatizing mental illnesses and those who suffer from them, particularly in underserved communities.
“‘We need to stop criminalizing mental health crises and destigmatize them so we can get people the help that they need.’”
Oakland Activists Launch Mental Health Hotline as Alternative to Police
Laura Wenus | San Francisco Public Press, August 28, 2020
“The initiative also responds to racial disparities in mental health care exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic. […] Black and Latino people have substantially lower access to mental health and substance-use treatment.
“‘There needs to be understanding that it’s not sufficient to think about coming to therapy for 50 minutes a week without also thinking about structural interventions and changes,’ [Daniela] Kantorová [MH First Oakland volunteer] said. ‘Because I see a lot of people who come into therapy presenting with trauma, and in my opinion, trauma is very much rooted in white supremacy and capitalism.’”
Protesters hold a yellow banner which reads “Black Power Matters” at a demonstration at Oakland Councilmember Dan Kalb’s home (Zach Land-Miller)
Oakland lays groundwork to liberate city from excessive police spending
Nikki Fortunato Bas, Cat Brooks, and Jackie Byers | The San Francisco Chronicle, July 31, 2020
“The people are demanding systemic change and evolving the status quo. We are in the midst of it in Oakland. And as we move forward together — even with many challenges ahead — we are reassured by another Oakland leader, Assata Shakur: ‘We have nothing to lose but our chains.’
OPD body camera footage from June 1 shows an officer preparing to throw a tear gas canister and grenade.
Federal judge restricts OPD use of tear gas and rubber bullets
Darwin BondGraham | The Oaklandside, July 30, 2020
“A federal judge issued a preliminary injunction yesterday that prohibits Oakland police from using rubber and wooden bullets, “Stinger” grenades, and pepper balls, and limits their ability to use tear gas. The judge’s order was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Anti Police-Terror Project last month alleging that police violated the constitutional rights of protesters in Oakland by using tear gas and other less-lethal weapons against them during recent protests against police brutality and systemic racism.”
Asantewaa Boykin, wearing a mask, at the MH First Oakland training in July 2020 (Pete Rosos)
A new mental health crisis response team is organizing in Oakland to create an alternative to the police
Zack Haber | The Oaklandside, July 28, 2020
“Founded by Asantewaa Boykin, who worked as a psychiatric nurse for over a decade and currently works in emergency healthcare, MH First launched in January in Sacramento with the goal of replacing police responders to mental health calls with unarmed volunteers equipped with skills to deescalate situations and address underlying problems that can lead to mental health crises. […]
“Boykin said MH First can help to ‘prevent police contact’ with community members who are in a vulnerable state. ‘A lot of our folks who are harmed or murdered by police are done so while in the midst of a mental health crisis,’ she said.”
Protesters stand behind a chainlink fence facing federal agents in fatigues on the other side. The air is filled with teargas. (Octavio Jones for The New York Times)
Peaceful Protesters With ‘Room for Rage’ Sympathize With Aggressive Tactics
Kate Conger, Thomas Fuller, and Mike Baker | The New York Times, July 27, 2020
“The debate among organizers, [Cat Brooks, APTP co-founder] said, is the tactics that protesters should use. Her own view is that protesters cannot be blamed for responding forcefully when confronted with rubber bullets and pepper spray, as they have been in Portland.
“‘I don’t consider property destruction violence,’ she said. ‘Violence is when you attack a person or another living, breathing creature on this planet. Windows don’t cry and they can’t die.’”