Local Nonprofit Accuses APD of Illegally Raiding Offices

Attorney Rebecca Webber (right) responds to Austin Police's raid of WDP offices on Nov. 10 (Courtesy of Workers Defense Project)

Workers Defense Project, the Austin-based nonprofit that fights against wage theft and for labor rights, has accused the Austin Police Department of illegally raiding its headquarters. The public-interest law firm's attorneys say that on Nov. 10, officers used a crowbar to break open their office, which is closed for renovations, and seize security video recordings that are covered by attorney­-client privilege.

Past leaders of WDP include Travis County District Attorney José Garza and outgoing Council Member (and congres­sion­al candidate) Greg Casar, and the group is allied with justice advocates who've pushed back against perceived APD excesses. In its complaint filed with the Office of Police Over­sight on Nov. 17, WDP claims police "seized the nonprofit's entire security footage recording apparatus, including weeks of confidential video recordings, instead of simply emailing a subpoena for the relevant two hours and five minutes of footage to the organization's Executive Director [Emily Timm]." In response, the department issued a statement emphasizing that WDP had refused to release the footage voluntarily.

The story began last month, when the owners of a food truck operating in WDP's parking lot reported that a woman had threatened them with a knife. The incident was captured by WDP's security camera, and on Oct. 20 APD requested a copy of the video. But as WDP staff attorney Hannah Alexander told the Chronicle, "We have an internal policy that we do not voluntarily cooperate with the police, because we represent and work with communities of people of color, of low-income folks, of immigrants. And we know that police have a history of harassing and harming those communities."

After being informed that WDP would not immediately release the footage, APD obtained a subpoena that WDP says was never properly served, although it made its way into the hands of a WDP staffer. Police subsequently obtained a warrant to search WDP's office when the footage wasn't turned over, and on Nov. 10, five armed officers began knocking on the closed office's doors and windows. The two WDP staffers inside called for help, and attorney Rebecca Web­ber, a member of WDP's board, arrived within minutes.

Police circled Webber's minivan as she argued with their supervisor in the parking lot. "It was intense," Webber said. "I was angry and they were angry and we were shouting. I was telling them that they were liars, when they were lying to me. And that's not exactly the kind of lawyering that I'm experienced in."

Alexander arrived next as police jumped the fence to access the property, peering into windows, where they saw a staffer removing bathroom fixtures with a drill as part of the ongoing renovations. At that point, they decided to break in: "The supervisor came and said to me, 'There are people inside destroying evidence and we're going in,'" Webber said. "That did terrify me because it's in those kinds of situations where someone can get hurt. At that point, I completely stopped trying to convince them." Instead, she explained, "We focused on making sure that they knew exactly where the people inside were going to be standing," to minimize the risk of a violent encounter.

Alexander described what happened then: "Our staff cooperated and told [the officers] where our security system was located. They unlocked the door for the officers and officers started removing it. But even after that, the officers felt the need to search the entire building ... They drew their guns and raised their guns and walked through the building, I guess searching for some sort of threat, even though the only people in the office were the two staff members ... in the entryway, with their hands visible, to ensure the officers felt safe."

Fellow justice advocates have rallied behind WDP. Emily Gerrick of Texas Fair Defense Project said in a statement, "It is difficult to imagine that APD would have similarly raided the offices of Apple or Tesla to obtain video footage of something that may have happened in their parking lots." And Sukyi McMahon of Austin Justice Coali­tion said, "Of course we stand with them in their justifiable contempt of all that occurred on their premises. This needs to be investigated."

Timm said that actions like this raid cause people to distrust police. "We are a nonprofit space that frequently welcomes clients seeking legal support, hosts community meetings and events, and more," she said. "This unnecessary escalation and raid could have been executed in the presence of Austinites already traumatized by policing. That it didn't is sheer luck." Timm went on to note that the footage sought by APD likely no longer exists; it would have been automatically recorded over after 21 days, on Nov. 4 – three days after WDP claims they would have responded to a properly served subpoena, and 10 days before the raid.