WEBVTT	#Elemental Media Engine(TM) 2.17.0.602675

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With our nation facing multiple

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crises, there's been an explosion

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of protests, as you know.

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But some activists are not only

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hitting the streets, they're

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increasingly showing up at the

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homes of some Southland officials.

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L.A. Times reporter Emily Alpert

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Reyes has written about this tactic

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and officials who accuse protesters

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of going too far.

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Hi, Emily. Always good to see you.

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How are you?

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Well, we're hanging in there.

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Let's talk first about the mayor's

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official residence in Hancock Park.

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Right. The mayor has the option

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with his family to live there when

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he is serving.

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This is not the first time, the

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Black Lives Matter protest.

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Before that, there was rent

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forgiveness people were protesting

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for.

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Tell us a little bit about this

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history of going to politicians'

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homes.

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I mean, this has been a longtime

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tactic.

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Looking in the Times archives for

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the story, there were

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a bunch of stories awhile back of

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animal rights activists showing up

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at officials' homes, both

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politicians and kind of city

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officials.

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Earlier this year, you know, we saw

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some controversy over Black Lives

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Matter showing up at Jackie Lacey's

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home and her husband pulling a gun

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on them.

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Good morning.

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Get off of my porch.

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Are you going to shoot me? I will
shoot

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you. Get off of my

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porch. Can you tell Jackie Lacey

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that we're here.

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I don't care who you are.

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Get off of my porch.

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So it's it's long been kind of

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one of the things in the tool kit

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for protesters.

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But it seemed like after the

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pandemic, it became much

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more frequent.

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And we're continuing to see it used

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as a tactic now.

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Do you think that's just because so

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many people are out of work, they

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have time?

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Well, when we've asked activists

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about, you know, why this particular

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approach, one thing they said is,

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look, politicians aren't at City

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Hall right now, they are at home.

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So if you want to get your message

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to politicians, and the whole point

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is to sort of be in their face

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and make sure they hear you, showing

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up on the steps of City Hall might

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not be the most effective way to do

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that.

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And they also have social media that

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they can use to rally the troops.

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Right. Right.

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The other thing that I've heard from

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a lot of the activists is that

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this is a time of unusual

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urgency on a number of different

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fronts.

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So for tenants, rights groups,

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the threat of eviction

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for folks who are out of work,

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who don't know how they're going to

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cover their rent because of the

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pandemic, has

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added a new urgency.

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And certainly with the protests

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following the death of George Floyd.

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You know, one young activist

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I spoke to said

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when people are being shot in the

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street, it is hard for me to feel

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like concerns about being civil

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when you show up at someone's house.

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Or, it's hard to see those

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in the same light.

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And we do have to say that those

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protests in front of the mayor's

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house have been very civil.

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I mean, at one point at one of the

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Black Lives Matter protests

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in front of his home, they were

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doing yoga.

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Yeah, I mean, there's a really wide

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range of stuff we're talking about

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here. There is one protest

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I went to go see that

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was a vigil for homeless people

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who had died on the streets.

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And the protests were calling on the

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mayor to comandeer

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hotels for homeless people to live

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in.

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But it wasn't especially noisy.

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It wasn't even especially big.

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So there is kind of a big range

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here. We've also seen others where

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people show up at 7:00 in the

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morning and hear honking horns and

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you're yelling for megaphones and,

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you know, trying to kind of get

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people up early and bug them a

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little bit.

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So it's been used in a

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lot of different ways.

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Yeah, you're right.

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And you know what we've seen around

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the country, there've been like 27

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different health officials around

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the country who stepped aside or

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stepped down.

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Many times they have been

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threatened.

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People have showed up at their

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homes. Down in Orange County, the

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chief health official there stepped

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down after a woman at

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a supervisors meeting gave

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out her home address and

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encouraged people to show up and do

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calisthenics on her lawn after

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the health official had urged

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everyone to wear masks.

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If she wants to play Russian

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roulette with the health and safety

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of our county.

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I am going to one up her.

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We are going to go to her front yard

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in front of her sidewalk in Irvine.

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We're going to do calisthenics in

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masks on her front doorstep.

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So you're right.

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There's a really wide range.

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And we have to say,

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there can be a real dark side to it.

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Not only the people who feel very

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threatened as public officials,

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but sometimes there's people who

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are, you

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know, held to a restraining

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order, as in the case of Mayor

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Garcetti.

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Right. I think the examples that you

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brought up also show this is

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something across the political

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spectrum, that we've seen people

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both on the right and left use this

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tactic for very different

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reasons.

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The case you're referring to is

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South L.A. pastor named Sherman

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Manning, who was

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showing up on the block where

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Mayor Garcetti lives, to,

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he says his goal was to advocate for

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more urgent action to help homeless

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people on Skid Row during the

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pandemic.

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Garcetti and his wife

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obtained a temporary restraining

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order against him.

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He was arrested on suspicion

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of stalking.

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He is contesting that in court.

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His attorney said, look, this was a

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legitimate protest.

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There is you know, they've contested

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the arguments about, you know, what

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he was doing, exactly how

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threatening it was.

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And that's going to be continued

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out in court.

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And Emily, what about law

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enforcement? I mean, is this

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problematic for them?

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Chief Moore has said,

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certainly earlier on, I think before

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the the

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rise in the street protests, that

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really became a much bigger

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deal, that the

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increase in protest at politicians'

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homes were creating some needs for

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them to shift resources to devote

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more attention to those areas.

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I'm not sure they would say that now

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because we've had such a

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rise in protest all across the city

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and other kinds of settings.

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But certainly it's been a concern

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that they've brought up before.

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Emily Alpert Reyes on this

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tactic of showing up

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and making politicians and officials

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feel very uncomfortable in their own

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homes.

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Thanks so much for joining us.

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Thank you.