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

The investigative series *We Keep Us Safe* examines the 2020 Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) in Seattle, where protesters occupied eight city blocks and established a police-free community following intense standoffs with law enforcement. While initially envisioned as a utopia centered on mutual aid and racial justice, the experiment collapsed into violence after protesters, fearing right-wing attacks, formed armed security patrols. The investigation focuses on the unsolved killing of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr., a Black teenager shot by CHOP security members who mistook his vehicle for a threat. Through new witness testimony and previously unseen evidence, the series probes the tragic irony of how a movement dedicated to protecting Black lives resulted in the death of a Black youth. Reporters Will James and Sydney Brownstone sift through years of rumors to uncover the systemic failures and internal tensions that led to the camp's violent end.