Category: Views

Another day, another crackdown

Yet another brutal APD ‘special operation’ arrests the homeless for being poor and asking for help. It’s past time to face the growing police state in our city Above: Asheville police before raiding the Aston Park houseless camp in April 2021. In recent years the…

No salvation

The Salvation Army is so bigoted that even many conservative businesses have cut their support. Asheville city council just voted to give them nearly $1 million. How city hall funded an anti-queer hate group Above: A pride flag flies from Asheville city hall in 2015.…

How the mutual aid trials ground to a halt

The push to criminalize mutual aid crumbles in a hail of courtroom absurdity, police lies, revelations of retaliation and lawsuits Above: Art at the Aston Park build camp and mutual aid event in December 2021. The police crackdown would eventually see 16 locals hit with…

Asheville ruling direct attack on journalism

A judge’s bizarre ruling on Blade reporters’ case asserts that journalists can be arrested for inconveniencing cops, and that the First Amendment even requires it. This sets a threatening precedent for reporters everywhere On June 16 Asheville Blade reporters Veronica Coit and Matilda Bliss were…

Journalism on trial in Asheville, N.C.

In a nearly-unprecedented move, police and prosecutors insist on taking two Blade reporters to trial for doing their jobs Above: Asheville city hall by night. File photo by Max Cooper UPDATE: On June 16, after a judge told the jury they couldn’t consider the First…

It’s still police brutality

Despite some blatant APD spin, body cam footage confirms horrific police brutality against Devon Whitmire Above: A screenshot from on of the body cam videos of Devon Whitmire’s May 13 arrest, showing officers pressing his throat into the pavement Blade editor David Forbes contributed to…

The mutual aid trials, week 1

The prosecution tries to portray protest as a crime, but their tactics fall flat as defendants head to separate trials Above: A banner displayed at the Aston Park Build protest and mutual aid project, December 2021. Photo by Veronica Coit Over a year after 16…

What the cameras showed

Over 12 hours of body cam footage from the Aston Park Christmas night crackdown shows police bigotry, casual cruelty and an open attack on the rights of journalists and protesters Above: Blade journalist Matilda Bliss is hauled into the detention wagon on Dec. 25, 2021.…

Kicked to the curb

Asheville’s housing authority tosses out a free food fridge run by a local community farm group. It’s a shocking, revealing incident Above: The free fridge at the Edington Center, stocked with fresh produce, before its removal. Photo courtesy of Southside Community Farms Blade editor David…

And not a drop to drink

Sweetheart deals for the wealthy pushed Asheville’s aging water system to the brink. Incompetence and arrogance shoved it over. This is the story of our city’s water crisis Above: A tap in Candler, one of the areas hardest hit by the water crisis, runs dry.…

Older Entries Newer Entries