The Carolina Public Press covered a meeting featuring Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan and Asheville Police Chief William Anderson. Mysteriously held two days before mayhem broke out in Ferguson, MO, it was a public information/gripe session on the topic of police brutality, and things unfolded as usual.
There was the discussion about race and profiling. There were arguments that the police should wuss it up even more and never, never, never use force; in other words, they should just disappear and let violence run rampant and unchecked. Then, there were the usual drug-induced comments about legalizing pot. Breaking the pattern was a complaint about the filming of Mountain Immoral Monday. Chief Anderson alleged it would be used for training purposes, but a citizen brought up a resolution passed by city council last year that read:
City of Asheville employees do not and shall not collect, maintain or disseminate information of any individual, association, organization, corporation, business or partnership based solely on political, religious or social views, associations or activities, unless said information is directly related to an investigation of criminal conduct.
The language is, admittedly, vague; but since Mountain Immoral Monday is anti-religious, claims to be apolitical, and embraces as its only unifying agenda varying degrees of interest in public protest; I think the police are safe.
