New NPR Series: "We Keep Us Safe" from the Embedded podcast

0:00Hi, Planet Money listeners. Kenny Malone here because we wanted to let you know about a new investigative series that's coming out from our colleagues at Embedded, which is NPR's award-winning documentary podcast. We could explain what that series is, but honestly, they've put together an incredible trailer and we'd like to just share that. So here's that trailer.

0:21Will James:Back in 2020, a remarkable experiment took place. After an intense standoff with anti-police brutality protesters, police abandoned their own precinct. Protesters stayed and started occupying about eight city blocks in the middle of Seattle. There's several hundred people being completely peaceful. It's like a block party. They set up tents. There was free food, a mutual aid station, a stage for speeches and music. I want my world to change. I want my world to change. It evolved into this community. They called it CHOP. The Capitol Hill organized protest. A place with no police. It was their attempt to build a better world.

1:07For a moment there, it was utopia. But protesters feared an attack from right-wing activists. Taking my group down around City Hall to monitor the group of the Proud Boys.

1:20Will James:Some protesters appointed themselves CHOP security, began walking around in tactical gear, carrying guns. I'm not very familiar with firearms. AR-15. That's an AR-15. AR-15. And then one night, a jeep drove into the camp. Shots are fired. Shots are fired, Joe. Shots are fired. Protesters thought they were under attack and shot at the jeep. Move out the way! Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus. Out the way! Out the way! After the shooting ended, one of the jeep's passengers was dead. 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. That night, protesters saw him as a threat. But his dad, who taught him what it means to be Black in America, says his son was there for the cause.

2:01To be honest, if it meant that I'd have my son back, I wouldn't teach my son Black history. Because I want to have him back right now. That's the man they have with Black history.

2:10Will James:Six years later, the case remains unsolved. And no one has been able to explain how this place built to protect Black life ended up killing a Black teenager.

2:25I'm Will James.

2:26Will James:And I'm Sydney Brownstone. For more than a year, we've been investigating what happened that night, sifting through rumors. He put in work for the streets, I guess. That's what they were saying. That's why he got killed. Digging up new witnesses. Is someone chasing you? Oh, yeah, for sure. In a car chasing you? Yes, like multiple cars. And uncovering never-before-seen evidence. See this right here? That's a long gun out of the front seat. Holy ****. Listen to We Keep Us Safe, a new true crime series from NPR's Embedded podcast, the Seattle Times and KUOW.

3:09You can find Embedded wherever you get your podcasts or at npr.org slash embedded. Thank you.