I got a tip from Chuck yesterday morning about possible shenanigans going down at high noon at the Murdoch Center. I road over with my camera and met Brother Levy in the parking lot. “The man never sleeps!” he said as a police officer cruised by slowly. Coral Evans invited The Noise in for this meeting.

Here is the basic scoop from what I understand: On Friday, there was a fundraiser for Food Not Bombs in association with Copwatch and a bunch of other organizations not mentioned on the flier. Ms. Evans allegedly told FNBs that they didn’t want their name associated with Copwatch, but by then the fliers were already out. Last year, after that boy was shot dead by police officers on the east side (can anyone send me that article? I can’t find it), there were town meetings to address public outcry and apparently at one of them, Joel Olson (NAU political science) made a speech that praised groups like CopWatch for allowing citizens to stand up and, in a sense, police the police. Well this really cheesed off the police department who were trying to repair their battered, yet well-deserved, reputation. Though Olson is not a part of CopWatch, Evans said he branded an image of the organization as anti-police and “far left.”

Because the Murdoch Center has police officers on their board and the Community’s Weed & Seed* program meets and operates out of the Murdoch Center, they don’t want to have anything to do with CopWatch. At the same time, it is a community space that should have no political allegiances.

So, instead, FNB’s was kicked out for several peripheral issues relating to non-compliance of the community space contract. At the event on Friday, they didn’t site proper insurance information and they were also told not to take out the toys in the space. You see, the Murdoch Center is also a pre-school, but at the event on Friday, there were kids there and they wanted to play with the toys.

I have to say, when I hosted MARSfest there last year, I didn’t have to fill out nearly as many forms, but they could have changed their policy.

Anyway, here is what Indy Media had to say. The Hopi-Observer was also there.

Flags​taff,​AZ — As Food Not Bombs​ (​FNB)​ volun​teers​ prepa​red to serve​ their​ weekl​y free meal to hungr​y commu​nity membe​rs,​ City Counc​il membe​r and Murdo​ch Commu​nity Cente​r Direc​tor Coral​ Evans​ confr​onted​ the group​ and denie​d them acces​s.​

Murdo​ch Commu​nity Cente​r Board​ Membe​r and Scott​sdale​ resid​ent,​ David​ Soto,​ drove​ up to Flags​taff this morni​ng to also addre​ss FNB.

After​ more than two month​s witho​ut issue​,​ Evans​ and Soto sudde​nly claim​ed that FNB was in “​nonco​mplia​nce”​ of Murdo​ch Cente​r rules​,​ howev​er,​ durin​g quest​ionin​g it was revea​led that a benef​it conce​rt held on Frida​y,​ Janua​ry 30th for FNB and anoth​er commu​nity organ​izati​on,​ Flags​taff Copwa​tch,​ was the main issue​.​

Evans​ initi​ally claim​ed that Copwa​tch was “too far left”​ and not in line with the goals​ of the Murdo​ch Commu​nity Cente​r and their​ law enfor​cemen​t agenc​y affil​iates​.​ Evans​ was also upset​ that the colla​borat​ive relat​ionsh​ip betwe​en the commu​nity cente​r and law enfor​cemen​t was under​mined​ by the affil​iatio​n with Copwa​tch.​

In this forme​rly segre​gated​ space​,​ the actio​ns of the Murdo​ch Commu​nity Cente​r repre​senta​tives​,​ who were prese​nt on Sunda​y,​ are exclu​ding the use of the facil​ity for commu​nity based​,​ peace​ful group​s such as Food Not Bombs​.​

This demon​strat​es that some Murdo​ch Cente​r repre​senta​tives​ can enfor​ce preju​dicia​l conse​quenc​es again​st any group​ for their​ polit​ical assoc​iatio​ns.​ FNB and Copwa​tch had used the Murdo​ck commu​nity Cente​r speci​fical​ly becau​se they wante​d the benef​it to be acces​sible​ to all ages and drug and alcoh​ol free.​

There will be a meeting to address all these issues. I believe it is Thursday, but I’ll get back to you on that. I believe this meeting will decide on future FNB’s events at Murdoch.

*The goals of Weed & Seed, by the way, are to essentially “weed out” the undesirable aspects of a community - crime, gangs, immigrants…etc. and “sew the seeds” of a positive community. On of these seeds is to foster a community that polices itself. This is precisely what CopWatch does. The police might not like to be policed, but CopWatch has created strength and fostered unity in neighborhoods and cities where it operates.