Priscilla Grim was a lead organizer for the Occupy Wall Street movement, one of the founding editors of the movement’s four-page broadsheet, the Occupied Wall Street Journal, a writer for the Radical Blogger Fund, and editor-in-chief of Let’s Rethink This. 1 2 3
Grim was arrested on March 5, 2023, alongside 22 others who were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism during violent protests at the site of a planned police and fire training facility, dubbed “Cop City” by opponents, in Atlanta, Georgia. 4
Career
Priscilla Grim is a digital strategist and was a lead organizer for the Occupy Wall Street movement, a protest demonstration that took place in lower Manhattan, from September 17 through November 15, 2011. The New York “occupation,” centered on Zuccotti Park, sparked imitator demonstrations by left-wing protesters worldwide, and was initially conceived by staff at the far-left Canadian magazine Adbusters. 5
Grim, who grew up in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, before moving to New York City, worked for the Occupy Wall Street social-media team on Facebook and Twitter and was one of the founding editors of the Occupied Wall Street Journal, a newspaper that was published to provide updates on the Occupy Wall Street movement. Grim was also the co-founder of the We Are the 99 Percent blog on the social media platform Tumblr. 1 2 6 7
She has worked as a writer for the Radical Blogger Fund, an “activist social network” that supported blog writers who provided content to Occupy Wall Street and its social-media channels. According to ActBlue Charities, a pass-through organization created to facilitate donations to left-of-center 501(c)(3) nonprofits, administrative oversight for the Radical Blogger Fund was handled by the “team behind Tweetship and the Alliance for Global Justice,” an organizing group that serves as a fiscal sponsor to numerous left-wing and radical-left initiatives. 8 9
Grim was listed as the editor-in-chief of the left-of-center media organization Let’s Rethink This. The organization was founded by Jerry Ashton, the co-founder of RIP Medical Debt, a private organization that allows donors to buy debt portfolios at pennies on the dollar, then forgive that debt on behalf of individuals. Since the group was founded, it claims to have forgiven approximately $8.5 billion in medical debt for around 5.5 million Americans. 3 10 11
She has also written for the left-of-center media organization the Indypendent and co-founded Real Punk Radio in 2010. She was also the digital-marketing manager for Library Journal and School Library Journal. 2 12
Controversy
In early March 2023, several left-wing protesters were arrested and charged with domestic terrorism during violent protests at the site of a planned police and fire training facility, dubbed “Cop City” by opponents, in Atlanta, Georgia. 4
The 23 arrested protesters, all but two from out of state, were accused of leaving a nearby music festival to head to the construction site of the training center to “conduct a coordinated attack on construction equipment and police officers.” Authorities alleged that the group changed into black clothing and threw Molotov cocktails, commercial-grade fireworks, bricks, and rocks at police officers in the area. 13
Grim, who was one of the protesters arrested, was aided by the Atlanta Solidarity Fund, an initiative of the Network for Strong Communities, a left-of-center organization that provides legal assistance to left-wing protesters arrested during demonstrations. After to her arrest, Grim left her job as a digital-communications specialist at Fordham University. Grim was charged with domestic terrorism as she and other protesters were allegedly carrying shields, which police deemed violent. 1 14 15
References
- “A Longtime NYC Activist Was Arrested in GA During Stop Cop City Convergence.” Indypendent. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://indypendent.org/2023/03/a-longtime-nyc-activist-was-arrested-in-ga-during-stop-cop-city-week-of-action/.
- Grim, Priscilla. “As Occupy Wall Street’s 10th Anniversary Approaches, I Choose Hope and Solidarity Because It’s Our Duty to Win.” Indypendent. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://indypendent.org/2021/09/as-occupy-wall-streets-10th-anniversary-approaches-i-choose-hope-and-solidarity-because-its-our-duty-to-win/.
- “Priscilla Grim.” Let’s Rethink This. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://letsrethinkthis.com/article-index/item/priscilla-grim.html.
- Riess, Rebekah. “23 face domestic terrorism charges after arrests in ‘Cop City’ protests at planned police training site in Atlanta.” CNN Business. March 6, 2023. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/06/us/atlanta-cop-city-protests/index.html.
- Staff, The Week. “Occupy Wall Street: A protest timeline.” The Week. January 8, 2015. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://theweek.com/articles/481160/occupy-wall-street-protest-timeline.
- “The Occupied Wall Street Journal.” National Museum of American History. April 3, 2012. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/search/object/nmah_1590531.
- Anderson, Aengus. “Episode 33: Priscilla Grim – The Conversation.” Accessed April 3, 2023. http://www.findtheconversation.com/episode-33-priscilla-grim/.
- Grim, Priscilla. “Mama Underground Wants to See You In Washington D.C. This Week.” Indypendent. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://indypendent.org/2017/01/mama-underground-wants-to-see-you-in-washington-d-c-this-week/.
- “Radical Blogger Fund.” ActBlue. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/radicalbloggerfund.
- Ted. “About LRT.” Let’s Rethink This. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://letsrethinkthis.com/about-lrt.html.
- “About Our Organization.” RIP Medical Debt. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://ripmedicaldebt.org/about/.
- “Priscilla Grim.” Sched. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://organizing2019nyc.sched.com/speaker/priscillacgrim.
- Chasmar, Jessica. “Atlanta bail fund rushes to support arrested ‘Cop City’ activists after 23 charged with domestic terrorism.” Fox News. March 6, 2023. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/atlanta-bail-fund-rushes-support-arrested-cop-city-activists-23-charged-domestic-terrorism.
- “Network For Strong Communities.” Accessed April 3, 2023. https://networkforstrongcommunities.org/.
- “Donation Information.” Atlanta Solidarity Fund. Accessed April 3, 2023. https://atlsolidarity.org/updates/donation-info/.