His name is Alonzo Lee-Perkins.

And his story is not an anomaly. It is the logical outcome of a system that criminalizes Black youth, surveils our neighborhoods, and treats our children as threats rather than children.

But Alonzo’s story is also about something bigger.

It’s about a city that herds over 180 teens onto buses, zip-ties their hands, and fines their parents $250—and calls it a “successful” night. It’s about a mayor who says the shooting was “unfortunate” but the night was otherwise a success. It’s about a police department that refuses to answer eight basic questions, releases no body cam footage, and then charges the victim to justify its own violence.

This is not about one young man. This is about the Black Urban Regime and who truly benefits from this violent apparatus.

The Black Urban Regime: Who Benefits?

For decades, Detroit has been governed by a Black political class that has successfully navigated the terrain of interracial urban regimes. They have secured power, prestige, and material benefits for themselves and their professional class. But their success has nothing to do with how well they have served working-class Black residents.

As political scientist Adolph Reed, Jr. wrote in his seminal essay “The Black Urban Regime: Structural Origins and Constraints,” black politicians and managers have consistently promoted a developmental agenda for downtown expansion and investment—diverting public capital away from addressing deteriorating housing, infrastructure, dwindling job prospects, and under-resourced public schools.

They have channeled demands for investment in public goods into contracts for Black-led nonprofits and bootstrap social programs. They have cemented ties to the real estate industry, which plays an outsized role in postindustrial urban economies. And they have managed the contradiction between the social needs of their working-class constituents and the economic interests of the biracial coalition.

The result? A city where Black professionals and politicians thrive—while working-class Black families face poverty, unemployment, unaffordable housing, failing schools, and relentless police violence.

As Preston Smith II writes in “Black Political Incorporation under Neoliberalism,” the longevity of Black urban governance speaks to the routinization of interracial urban regimes and, with it, the persistence of working-class precarity in the neoliberal city.

This is class warfare—and Black youth are the casualties.

The Summer Policing Playbook

Detroit’s summer safety plan is a textbook example of this regime in action. The city’s “6-Point Safety Plan” includes:

• Free gun locks (a band-aid on a bullet wound)

• Neighborhood safety action teams (more surveillance)

• Crackdowns on unlicensed after-hours businesses (criminalizing informal economies)

• Curfew enforcement—for children 15 and under, curfew is 10 PM; for 16- and 17-year-olds, it’s 11 PM

• Fines for parents: $250 for a first offense, $500 for subsequent violations

• “Occupy the Summer”—keeping recreation centers open until 11 PM

But let’s be honest: these policies are not about safety. They are about managing Black youth. They are about sending a message: young Black people are not welcome downtown. They are not welcome in public space. They are not welcome unless they are surveilled, controlled, and punished.

Police Chief Todd Bettison calls it an “aggressive enforcement plan.” We call it a season of terror.

And when a teenager is shot in the back and the city calls the night a “success,” they are telling us exactly what they think of our youth.

The Surveillance State

Detroit’s policing apparatus is fueled by a web of surveillance technology that treats Black neighborhoods as laboratories for militarized policing:

• ShotSpotter – acoustic sensors that cover 39 square miles at a cost of $7 million—yet only 0.03% of alerts lead to arrests.

• Flock cameras – 262 AI-powered license plate readers tracking every vehicle.

• Project Green Light – 800+ private and public cameras feeding the Real Time Crime Center.

• Facial recognition – with error rates as high as 96% for Black faces, yet still used to falsely arrest Black Detroiters.

As Tawana Petty has written, “Surveillance ain’t safety.” And the city’s continued investment in these tools—while gutting funding for youth programs, mental health services, and affordable housing—is a betrayal.

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What We Demand

The community demands:

1. Release all body camera footage – immediately and without redaction.

2. Drop all criminal charges against Alonzo Lee-Perkins.

3. Fire and prosecute the officer responsible for this unjustified shooting.

4. No immunity, no cover-up, no internal affairs whitewash.

5. A full apology from the City of Detroit – for the shooting, and for the narrative that criminalizes youth.

Join Us: We Will Not Look Away

We are hosting a teach-in and fundraiser to learn, organize, and fight back.

📅 Thursday, July 9 | 6–8 PM
📍 Alkebu-lan Village – 7701 Harper Ave, Detroit

We’ll cover:

• Alonzo’s story & Detroit’s policing crisis

• Detroit’s history of policing

• National trends & occupation

• Midwest political economy

• Abolition & alternatives

This is a fundraiser. All proceeds go to Alonzo’s legal defense and family support.

We need you in the room. Bring a friend. Bring your questions. Bring your rage.

Justice for Alonzo is justice for all of us.

We will not look away.

Lemme Break It Down is a publication of BYP100 Detroit. Subscribe, share, and stay in the fight.

His name is Alonzo Lee-Perkins. He has a 7-month-old daughter. He loves music, he loves making people laugh, and he has a future that nearly ended on a summer night.

The police narrative is crumbling.

DPD claims an officer “feared for his safety.” Yet they refuse to say what prompted that fear. They claim Alonzo was armed, but the evidence will show he never touched a weapon during the police interaction. There was no probable cause. No warrant. Just racial profiling of a Black teenager – plain and simple.

And when he ran – as anyone would when confronted by armed officers – he was shot in the back.

The city calls it a “success.”

Mayor Sheffield called the fireworks night a “success.” Teferi Brent called the shooting “unfortunate” but otherwise a success. Herding 180 teens onto buses, zip-tying their hands, and fining their parents is not success. It is a message: young Black people are not welcome downtown.

Shooting Alonzo sends an even darker message: this is what could happen to you.

The city’s failure to provide actual resources, programming, and opportunity for young people is the real crisis. But instead of investing in youth, the city invests in policing – and then calls it success.

We reject that framing.

Our Demands

The community demands:

1. Release all body camera footage – immediately and without redaction.

2. Drop all criminal charges against Alonzo.

3. Fire and prosecute the officer responsible for this unjustified shooting.

4. No immunity, no cover-up, no internal affairs whitewash.

5. A full apology from the City of Detroit – for the shooting, and for the narrative that criminalizes youth.

BYP100 Detroit Is Taking This Fight to the Highest Offices

We are not waiting for reform. We are organizing for accountability. BYP100 Detroit is engaging with the Mayor’s office, City Council, the Board of Police Commissioners, and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office to demand:

• Immediate release of body cam footage

• Independent investigation

• Dismissal of all charges against Alonzo

• Structural accountability for DPD’s pattern of violence

We are also supporting the family through every step of this process – from legal defense to community advocacy. We are building a campaign that holds power accountable, and we are not backing down.

Read the full statement: Justice for Alonzo: A Family’s Demand for Truth, Transparency, and Accountability

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How You Can Help

This family is fighting alone against a powerful system. They need our support.

Donate to the Justice for Alonzo Legal Defense & Family Support Fund: on SupportNow

Every dollar goes toward:

• Legal fees to fight the charges and hold DPD accountable

• Family support – transportation, lost wages, and basic needs

• Community advocacy to demand transparency and justice

Then, take action:

• Call Mayor Sheffield, Chief Bettison, and City Council. Demand answers.

• Share this post and the full statement with your networks.

• Follow us at @byp100_detroit for updates.

Justice for Alonzo is justice for all of us.

We will not look away.

Lemme Break It Down is a publication of BYP100 Detroit. Subscribe, share, and stay in the fight.

We’re in the heat of summer — politically, physically, and spiritually. Police violence is accelerating. Surveillance contracts are on the table. A teenager is fighting for his life in a hospital bed. And through it all, we’re building, fighting, and refusing to look away.

Here’s what’s on our radar this week — and how you can show up.

🚨 TEEN X – HOLD DPD ACCOUNTABLE

An 18-year-old father was shot by Detroit police during the fireworks. He was handcuffed to a hospital bed for days. No charges. No body cam release. No answers.

Call for release of body cam footage and no charges!

Stay tuned for more actions. We’re standing with the family.

🎥 CITY COUNCIL VOTES ON SHOTSPOTTER – TUESDAY, JUNE 30

Detroit is considering a $2.06 million contract extension for ShotSpotter (SoundThinking). A study found that **only 0.03% of alerts led to arrests** during its first deployment. The system covers 39 square miles at a cost of $7 million so far.

BYP100 stance: Against additional surveillance. This is weaponized tech that expands over-policing, wastes public dollars, and does not make us safer. SoundThinking is a weaponized AI firm — we oppose it.

Take action:

• In person: City Council meeting, Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, 13th Floor, Erma Henderson Auditorium – arrive by 10:05 AM to submit a public comment card.

• Online: Join via Zoom at detroitmi.gov/Online-CC-Meeting

• Submit written comment: Email cityclerk@detroitmi.gov

Public comment is powerful. Use your voice.

🚁 DPD WANTS DRONES — BOARD OF POLICE COMMISSIONERS MEETING, THURSDAY, JULY 2

DPD is now floating the use of drones for “crime-fighting” and “emergency response” — including monitoring drag racing, drifting, and other activities. They cite Dearborn’s use of drones to break up a car theft ring.

They claim they’ll have “rigorous policies” like the ones they use for facial recognition (which has a 96% error rate for Black faces).

BYP100 stance: No. No more surveillance. No more weaponized tech. No more expansion of the police state in our neighborhoods.

Take action:

• When: Thursday, July 2, 3:00 PM

• Where: Detroit Public Safety Headquarters — Skylar Herbert Room, 1301 Third St, Detroit, MI 48226

• Online: Zoom Meeting ID: 81981390642 | Join here

Make public comment. Tell them: surveillance is not safety. Invest in people, not drones.

🌡️ EXTREME HEAT — STAY SAFE, HELP NEIGHBORS

Temperatures are soaring into the 90s and lower 100s. DTE’s time-of-day rate increases will make cooling even more expensive — a capitalist-induced climate crisis that hits our communities hardest.

What we can do:

• Check on elderly neighbors and those without AC.

• Stay hydrated. Drink water before you’re thirsty.

• Recognize heat exhaustion: heavy sweating, nausea, clammy skin.

• Heat stroke is a medical emergency: high body temp, hot/red skin, confusion. Call 911.

In the long term: We need to fight for a just transition — away from fossil fuels and toward community-controlled energy. But today: survive, hydrate, and protect each other.

🔗 PROTEST AT WOMEN’S HURON VALLEY — WEDNESDAYS

We support the ongoing weekly protests at Women’s Huron Valley Correctional Facility. Three women died in less than a month from medical neglect: Ashley Hoath, Keira Howard, and Rebecca Fackler.

Demands:

• Resignation of MDOC Director Heidi Washington

• Closure of Women’s Huron Valley

• Release of women with critical health conditions

Join the protests. Be safe in the heat. Solidarity is action.

🎉 WE THE BIRTHDAY! – BYP100 TURNS 13

BYP100 is turning 13 on the 13th! For 13 years, we’ve organized, built community, and fought for collective liberation.

How you can support:

• Subscribe to this newsletter.

• Make a contribution: Donate here

• $13 for 13 years

• $130 to sustain organizing

• $1,300 to invest in the next generation

Detroit chapter: We’ll be hosting a celebration. More details soon.

📋 HOW TO GET INVOLVED

We’re building power against data centers, weaponized tech, and the surveillance state. Our basebuilding campaign — “We Outside” — is growing.

Fill out the BYP100 Detroit Interest Form:
👉 bit.ly/bypDetroit

Get involved. Build Black futures. Stay outside.

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📣 FINAL WORD

There is a lot happening. The oppressions are accelerating. But we must build and fight together.

We are seeing police violence, surveillance expansion, and community harm — but we are also seeing resistance. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

We keep us safe. Not DPD. Not the mayor. Not the surveillance state.

Come to the meetings. Speak at the hearings. Call the officials. Check on your neighbors. Organize your block. And never stop fighting.

In solidarity,

BYP100 Detroit

Detroit — An officer shot a 19-year-old during a foot chase near Cadillac Square, hours before the Ford Fireworks. The teen is in serious condition. Police Chief Todd Bettison called it “one of the more peaceful fireworks.” Mayor Mary Sheffield called the night a “success.”

Let’s sit with that for a moment.

A young Black man is lying in a hospital bed, shot by a police officer who, according to DPD, “feared for his safety” – though they still won’t say what prompted that fear. The department ignored eight questions from Local 4, including the most basic: What specific actions led the officer to fear for his safety? And yet, the official verdict from City Hall is success.

Not “we’re investigating.” Not “we’re mourning.” Not “this is a tragedy.” Success.

Meanwhile, 180 minors were detained for curfew violations – up from 156 last year. Their hands were zip-tied behind their backs, they were marched onto city buses, and their parents were hit with $250 fines. Eight firearms were confiscated. And one teenager was shot.

Let’s name what this actually is: summer policing as a season of terror.

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Reindustrialize is not a blueprint for working‑class revival. It is a Trojan horse – funneling public resources to the billionaire class, normalizing war profiteering and AI-driven automation, and deepening the underdevelopment of Black Detroit.

War profiteers, not workers

The conference brings together Palantir (the digital backbone of ICE), Lockheed Martin (global arms sales), and other AI‑weapons contractors, alongside Trump administration officials and military brass. As the protest call notes, these are the same people profiting from the war on Iran, the genocide in Gaza, and ICE collaboration in our own neighborhoods. The Black Alliance for Peace reminds us that militarism and climate/environmental warfare are inseparable. The same AI that targets “high‑value” deportees also consumes the water and energy that should go to Detroiters. This is not development – it is occupation by another name.

The Detroit that doesn’t make the brochure

Meanwhile, the Detroit the summit ignores is one where youth unemployment remains catastrophic, where teen takeovers of Downtown are a cry for attention, not a crime wave. Where Black working‑class families are priced out of neighborhoods while luxury towers rise.

The late Detroit organizer and autoworker James Boggs saw this coming. In The American Revolution (1963), he argued that the U.S. had reached a point where it no longer needed a mass workforce. Automation created a permanent class of “Outsiders” – the structurally unemployed. Reindustrialize offers us assembly lines without workers, data centers without living wages, and a “tech renaissance” that benefits the Epstein class – not the families on the blocks around the Hudson’s site. James Boggs would call this a fraud.

Who paid for the stage?

Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock received massive tax breaks, land grabs, and public subsidies to build the Hudson’s site. Those public windfalls of approximately $618 million in tax capture, and $60 million of City Detroit tax abatements then go to Gilbert’s private investment arms (ROCK and Detroit Venture Partners) which proudly sponsor and boost the Reindustralize Detroit Summit. Sociologist G. William Domhoff’s research on the power elite and their policy‑planning networks shows how corporate rich – through foundations, think tanks, and conferences like this – set the agenda for city, state, and national policy. The summit is not an innocent trade show. It is a site where the ruling class coordinates its priorities, with Detroit as the backdrop, not the beneficiary.

What we should do instead

First, cancel the incentives. No more public subsidies for luxury development or war tech. Redirect that money to community land trusts, cooperative housing, and renewable energy.

Second, real industrial policy. Not data centers and ‘exascale’ industries that employ ten people, but investments in retrofitting homes, building public transit, and training Black workers for green jobs that cannot be automated.

Third, democratize the economy. Follow models like Cooperation Jackson or Detroit’s own nascent solidarity economy. Put land and capital under community control, not billionaire portfolios.

Join us on June 14 and 16

Before the summit even opens, we have work to do. This Sunday, June 14, from 2–6 pm at the General Baker Institute (15798 Livernois) , we’re gathering for an art build and political education session – making signs, sharing analysis, and preparing to meet the moment. Then on Tuesday, June 16, at 4:30 pm, we will rally at 1274 Library Street – behind the Gucci store, in the shadow of the Hudson’s tower – to say no to war profiteering and techno‑feudalism. We will also say yes to a Detroit where Black working‑class people are not outsiders in their own city. Bring a sign, bring a friend, and bring a vision of what genuine reindustrialization could look like – if the people, not the billionaires, held the blueprint. Join us Sunday to build. Join us Tuesday to march.

Teddy White is a community organizer with BYP100 Detroit and a writer focused on abolition, climate justice, and Black working‑class power. He lives in the neighborhood where he grew up, a few blocks from the Hudson’s site.

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We’re BYP100 Detroit –

a member‑led, Black queer feminist, abolitionist chapter of young organizers who refuse to watch our city be sold to billionaires and war profiteers. We relaunched in Fall 2025 because Detroit needed a political home that wasn’t afraid to fight data centers, surveillance, and the tech‑fascist project.

We’ve already screened Finally Got the News with 70+ Detroiters, held a Revolutionary Discussion, launched the FAFO Black Solidarity Bail Fund, and gotten ready to march against the Reindustrialize conference on June 16.

Lemme Break It Down is our newsletter – because we’re tired of jargon, tired of hand‑wringing, and tired of watching billionaires call the shots. We’re writing now because the Trojan horse is already at our gates.

What to expect

We’ll post every two weeks – sometimes more often when action heats up. You’ll get:

• Another Trojan Horse – tracking bad development deals, data centers, and techno‑feudalism

• Cadre Corner – study circle notes and political education you can actually use

• FAFO updates – who we bailed out, how the fund is growing

• On‑the‑ground dispatches – from art builds, protests, and chapter meetings

• Read this, not that – short, sharp reviews of radical books and zines

Why subscribe? Because you want to know what revolution actually looks like on Detroit’s blocks – and you’re ready to be part of it.

Call to action

Subscribe now – it’s free, and every new issue goes straight to your inbox.

Share this post with a friend who needs to hear this. Forward it to your block club, your study group, your union local.

Join us – bit.ly/bypDetroit
Follow us – @byp100_detroit on Instagram

Let’s break it down together.

– Teddy & the BYP100 Detroit collective