The Anti-Police Terror Project is a radical-left anti-police activist organization based in Oakland, California. The organization advocates defunding the police, supporting cutting half of the budget of the Oakland Police Department and redirecting those funds towards various social welfare programs including mental health and wellness services. ¹

The group has alleged that the police have caused “community trauma” in the Black community and other communities of color. It has demanded more resources to research “police-related trauma” and the use of any research to shape the policies of the police. ²

In the fiscal year covering July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, it received $200,000 in grants from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. ³

Background

The Anti-Police Terror Project is a radical-left anti-police activist organization based in Oakland, California. The organization is an advocate of the “defund the police” movement. In the city of Oakland, the organization has advocated cutting half of the budget of the Oakland Police Department and the reallocation of those funds to various social programs such as mental health and wellness services. ⁴

The organization began as a project of the radical-left ONYX Organizing Committee. ⁵

Activist Projects

The organization seeks the abolition of the Oakland Police Department. Until the police department is abolished, the organization seeks the appointment of an independent police commission to oversee the police. ⁶

In addition to abolishing the police, it seeks more research into the “community trauma” that has been alleged to have been caused in part by the police in the Black community. It has demanded more resources to be devoted into the research of this trauma and for the results of the research to be incorporated into the policies of the police. ⁷

In January 2023, the organization opened a new community center in Oakland that has a focus on mental health. The community center, known as The People’s House, intends to offer health and wellness services, from massages and herbal medicines to psychological counseling from volunteer mental health professionals. It sees the community center as important in a community that has been “devastated by everything from gentrification to environmental pollution to poverty to gun violence.” It will also house Mental Health First, which is an organization that responds to mental health situations without police being involved. ⁸

Leadership

Cat Brooks is the co-founder of the organization. She is an activist as well as a stage actress and director. ⁹

Funding

According to its 2021 tax return, the organization the organization had $5,709,289 in revenue and $313,631 in expenses. It had $5,403,517 in assets. ¹⁰

In the fiscal year covering July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2022, it received $200,000 worth of grants from the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation. ¹¹

Sometime before November 2022, it received $3.5 million from an anonymous Bay Area family. The organization decided to give most of it away. It kept $400,000 to fund its community center and it allocated $400,000 to a mutual aid project run by the Community Ready Corps. It gave the rest of it away to Black-run organizations and others who were victims of police violence. It called the project the Radical Redistribution Fund. ¹²

1.  Ramos, John. “Oakland Crisis Center Opens to Handle Mental Emergencies without Police Help.” CBS News, January 14, 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/oakland-crisis-center-opens-to-handle-mental-emergencies-without-police-help/.
2. Chan, Rosalie. “Activists in Oakland Are Pushing for Better Research around Police …” Pacific Standard, May 25, 2018. https://psmag.com/social-justice/activists-in-oakland-are-pushing-for-better-research-around-police-violence-and-community-trauma.
3. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. June 13, 2023. Schedule I. Available at: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2023/05/BLMGNF-2021-Form-990.pdf
4. Ramos, John. “Oakland Crisis Center Opens to Handle Mental Emergencies without Police Help.” CBS News, January 14, 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/oakland-crisis-center-opens-to-handle-mental-emergencies-without-police-help/.
5. “About APTP.” APTP. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/about-aptp.
6. “Oakland Should Lead the Way: Proposal for Effective Police Oversight.” APTP. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://www.antipoliceterrorproject.org/oakland-should-lead-the-way-proposal-for-effective-police-oversight.
7. Chan, Rosalie. “Activists in Oakland Are Pushing for Better Research around Police …” Pacific Standard, May 25, 2018. https://psmag.com/social-justice/activists-in-oakland-are-pushing-for-better-research-around-police-violence-and-community-trauma.
8. Ramos, John. “Oakland Crisis Center Opens to Handle Mental Emergencies without Police Help.” CBS News, January 14, 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/oakland-crisis-center-opens-to-handle-mental-emergencies-without-police-help/.
9. “Bio.” CAT BROOKS. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://www.catbrooks.org/bio.
10. “Anti Police Terror Project Inc, Full Filing – Nonprofit Explorer.” ProPublica. Accessed June 13, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/862883695/202202679349300000/full.
11. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Inc. June 13, 2023. Schedule I. Available at: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2023/05/BLMGNF-2021-Form-990.pdf
12. Holder, Sarah. “With Millions in Tech Wealth, a Nonprofit Tries Radical Philanthropy.” Bloomberg, November 21, 2022. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-21/with-millions-in-tech-wealth-a-nonprofit-tries-radical-philanthropy.