Brian Allen solidarity: The noise demo.

Brain Allen was one of the protestors known as the Chase 8 who were arrested Friday morning during a sit-in at a local Chase branch on Edgewood. The sit-ins were part of the escalation against Chase Bank in the fight to prevent imminent eviction of a home in the Old Fourth Ward belonging to the Pittman family. Bonds were posted for the eight at 2:30pm on Friday however, Dekalb County policy prevents the jail from accepting a bond until the inmates fingerprints have cleared. 10 hours after being arrested, the fingerprint process began. Brian’s prints were never cleared due to a mistake made by employees and as others began to be let free, he headed to the housing floor. All prisoners in DCJ experience severe mistreatment of process especially if your poor, black, or in Brian’s case, a political activist. 

 

Through a phone conversation with a legal advisor, with the knowledge of being the last remaining activist incarcerated and with no idea how or when he would be released, Brian requested a noise demo. 

 

Occupy Atlanta, Take Back the Block, and various supporters gathered in front of Dekalb County Jail on the evening of Sunday, February 12th, for a noise demonstration in solidarity with Brian Allen and all those trapped behind enemy lines. Roughly 40 demonstrators chanted and used pots, pans, wooden spoons, drums, megaphones, sticks, and rocks to create an unavoidable sound as inmates from across the prison’s 3 buildings also made their presence known. At times, the hundreds of people on the inside banging on every window of every building became almost louder than the noise coming from the crowd who waved and pointed back at the prisoners, letting them know that so many people on the outside, in addition to remembering and caring for them, also condemn the institutions which snatched them from their loved ones, family, and friends.

 

During the highly energized and often joyous gathering in front of DeKalb County, a cardboard sign rested in the grass facing the prison which read “Free Brian Allen.”  Those rallying did not exactly know what to expect other than that their message would be heard by both the inmates and those who work to keep them imprisoned - and it can definitively be said that this objective was accomplished.  At the height of the uproar, unbeknownst at the time to those outside, a process started within the jail. The raucous rally raged on for over an hour as the police cars started filing in next to us. As more cops approached the rally was ended on the terms of the protesters. 

 

While the majority dispersed, a few people went back to the jail to check in on Brian’s status only to find out that he was already downstairs waiting to be released. Word spread quickly and everyone poured into the jail waiting for his return. The security guard was quickly losing control of the situation as supporters refused to be quiet out of excitement. Brian left the jail surrounded by cheering comrades.

 

Speculation abounds, but given the alternative and sped-up release process Brian described to the rally-goers, which differed greatly from the release process endured by others involved in the same action and arrested in the same jail, it seems clear that the noise made put enough pressure on the prison - by presenting the threat of a riotous situation - for DeKalb officials to decide to cut their losses. The protestors completely disrupted the sub-par bureaucratic process of incarceration and gained not only the support from the prisoners but their loved ones who were waiting for them in the lobby. People approached Brian and others for contacts and joined in the chants outside. One not only wanted to attend “anything that Occupy Atlanta put on” but was also interested in the projects of Take Back the Block. 

 

Both inside and out, there were clear signs that there is widespread discontent amongst large sections of the general public. There are an incredible amount of people in jail who spend days to weeks there because of petty offenses such as jaywalking and traffic tickets. It is obvious that those who get targeted are the poor, mainly people of color, who are now literally being held hostage until money is received. While Brian was in jail for 58 hours, others are there for months and years. Until all are set free, the noise continues.

 

 

"For some people, all crime and subsequently all prisoners are political, because the reaction of the state to crime is largely in the interests, values, and beliefs of the law-making power and ruling class." - Myriam Denov