Leora smith

Lawyer to courageous people. Also a writer. Co-Director of @cjc_TO. Stories w @Propublica @TheAtlantic @NYTmag & CBC, @Harvard_Law alum

[AngryWorkers @WorkersAngry]

Cops in Madrid call the fire brigade to open the door to a house whose inhabitants were supposed to be evicted. The fire brigade workers refuse. "We rescue people, not banks". Winner of the working class hero award for today!

[Doctors For Defunding Police @DrsDefundPolice]

A reminder in this extremely cold winter morning that Khaleel Seivwright, a literal Canadian hero, tried to build tiny homes for our unhoused community members but @JohnTory & and the city of Toronto stopped him.

[A.C.E.S. @ACES_thatsus]

Khaleel was criminalized for building a stop gap measure for people who otherwise would have frozen to death or caught COVID. The city said that the Tiny Shelters were a fire hazard and the city had to avoid liability. But why isn't the city liable when people die in the cold?

[Michael Spratt @mspratt]

No, there are enough Crowns. The way out of this is to get the shit out of criminal court. Our dockets are clogged with minor “crimes” driven by mental health, poverty, and addiction issues. Also, restoring Legal Aid funding would help.

[Alec Karakatsanis @equalityAlec]

Thread. This week, the New York Times's recent dangerous reporting on "crime" reached a new low. I try to document what happened carefully below, because what happens to the leading newspaper in the U.S. has effects on how we all get information about the world.

[Jeff Gray @jeffreybgray]

One protester charged with possession of a weapon allegedly had a bottle of water mixed with milk, which she had been using to clear police pepper spray from other protesters’ eyes. Police described it as “some type of unknown white liquid.” #TOpoli https://t.co/53DGDRR0tl

[RenovictionsTO @renovictions]

Toronto multi-family listings often highlight when a building’s rents are below market rates, signalling to potential buyers that revenues can be increased if existing tenants are pushed out.

Getting rid of tenants is the only way to "reposition" a building or close "rent gaps".

[Diana Chan McNally @DianaCMcNally]

On Jan. 1st, 2022, @fordnation will allow landlords to be able to raise the rent on rent-controlled units by 1.2%. Yet, @fordnation only increased the minimum wage by 0.007% on Oct. 1st.

Pretty clear whose welfare is important in this scheme. https://t.co/1Rj8Hut4Wl

[A.C.E.S. @ACES_thatsus]

“Of the three major parks that were cleared one of them [Alexandra Park] didn’t involve any protesters and therefore didn’t involve any police.”
-@JohnTory

Photos: Alexandra Park on eviction day

[Diana Chan McNally @DianaCMcNally]

From @JohnTory: “I think the traditional inquiry is an entirely inappropriate thing to do here. It suggests some wrongdoing on the part of our public servants who work so hard, including the police by the way.”

The Mayor does not think this resembles "wrongdoing."

[Dave Gray-Donald @dgrdon]

My partner was followed, tackled, and wrongfully arrested by plainclothes police after attending an anti-homelessness press conference a couple weeks ago.

Recovery has been challenging, but she very bravely wrote this account of what happened. #topoli https://t.co/d43adWyKOI

[Alec Karakatsanis @equalityAlec]

Last week, NYT published a major story that suggested falsely that police prevent murder and that one reason for increased murders during a global pandemic was civil rights criticism of police! The NYT did not disclose that the reporter was former CIA/Palantir/police/DA paid.

[Toronto Coalition for Housing (TorCH) @TOR_C_H]

Statement from TOR_C_H

[The Globe and Mail @globeandmail]

Faced with a growing affordability crisis, Berlin will ask voters this month to consider a radical housing decision: whether or not to evict the city’s biggest landlords and transfer 240,000 rental units to public ownership.

https://t.co/oDKw7mMIj7

[n th n - #FreeThemAll @n_th_n_]

Every journalism school should make students study this incident before they’re allowed to get a statement from cops about anything.

[Gru @Gruesomebrat]

Sept 16 @ 10 AM, come to a press conference at John Tory's condo to support the 50+ encampment residents & defenders ticketed/charged for standing up against the City’s brutal evictions. Let Tory hear demands loud & clear:
#StopEvictions
#DropAllCharges
#RollOutPermanentHousing