When Power Corrupts, YOU ARE THE POWER!
How citizens are holding government accountable
Warning! This post contains:
elected mouth breathers, observed in the wild
one city attorney, resigning at full sprint
two-click heroism (phone-compatible)
Reader discretion is advised. So is showing up.
This idea isn’t Left vs. Right. It’s People vs. Power.
Emma. Arya. Ridge. Three children were ripped apart from their parents because doctors misdiagnosed a rare genetic condition.
Police assaulted a homeless war veteran, tased his service dog, Sunshine, then buried the footage to hide their wrongful citation.
Police forcefully removed Rebekah Massie from a city council meeting while her daughter watched. Speaking her mind was her only “crime.”
It can happen in your town too. The police probably already “lost” the footage. But what nobody told you is that we don’t have to wait around for a lawsuit to swoop in and save the day.
We, THE PEOPLE, already have the tools to hold officials accountable. We’re already doing it. You just missed the memo.
This is the story of a new era in governance – a pilot for how we can bring power back to the people. Citizens organizing faster than corruption can hide. Real stories. Real superheroes!
Introducing, You Are The Power (YATP) – an amazing group of advocates and volunteers who dedicate their time to fight for your rights. What’s unique is how they package up materials, so that people like YOU can easily expose corruption in real time. Resolutions often come quickly because officials aren’t used to seeing their misconduct publicly displayed on social media.
Corruption is sometimes overturned within hours outside the court without expensive legal fees.
Success Stories
Since its founding in 2022, YATP has achieved a 98% success rate in bringing justice to 50 cases ranging from wrongful removals to unlawful force. It may not sound like a lot, but they’re a small group, and they spend most of their time researching cases to make sure they’re in the right.
One of their most active missions is reuniting parents with children wrongfully taken by child protective services. Essentially, doctors are mistaking a rare brittle bone disease for abuse. Their misdiagnosis can often put the kid in a foster home and the parents in jail. Then come the legal fees, and the 2nd mortgages – all because of a rare genetic condition.
Family Reunification
After THREE years of YATP fighting, Matt and Tuckey Hernandez were reunited with their daughters Emma and Arya. Their case became the catalyst to launch YATP’s Family Reunification Program, opening the floodgates and exposing wrongful removals nationwide.
Casey and Bailey Collins endured a similar battle to reunite with their son, Ridge. Their fight ultimately led to the passage of Ridge’s Law in Georgia, which grants families the right to seek a second medical opinion. A similar measure, Patterson’s Law, is now advancing in Florida on behalf of another YATP family still fighting to be reunited. Together, these laws are establishing a legal precedent that could spread across the country.
Similar reunifications
The Whiting-Clarke Family was reunited with Anariah after 764 days.
The Sullivan Family fought for 600 days and almost lost their kids forever.
The Timms Family was reunited with Jameson after 1,180 days.
Government Accountability
Trespassing + unlawful force
Rebekah Massie, from Surprise, AZ was forcibly removed from the city council meeting because the town’s mayor passed a law banning criticism of … wait for it … city council meetings. Her 12-year-old daughter witnessed the whole thing. She got to see with her own eyes just how awful political mouth breathers can be and how amazing people are. YATP got the charges dropped. The mayor canceled his next run for office, and the city attorney resigned.
Police brutality
Gastonia, North Carolina police assaulted Iraqi war veteran Joshua Rohrer, tased his service dog Sunshine, and then buried the body cam footage. Sources say it was because police incorrectly cited the law while confronting the homeless man. Spike from YATP uncovered yet another scandal – that the city secretly shut down its only homeless shelter. He then got locals to storm City Council meetings until charges were dropped, footage was released, and Joshua had a roof over his head. Sunshine Ray was found dead shortly after being separated during his arrest.
One love
One Love Longview is a sanctuary for men and women whose mental limitations made housing nearly impossible. YATP exposed police violence against One Love clients, prompting the swift resignation of the offending Officer.
Director Amanda Veasey was charged criminally for letting her clients shelter on her own property during extreme weather. For 17 months, she lived under the threat of jail time and fines, but with support from YATP, the charges were dropped.
If this can happen to them, it can happen to your town!
But power retreats when people show up. Officials fear exposure in real time. They slip through the cracks until someone shines a light. This idea isn’t Left vs. Right. It’s top vs. bottom. And we need everyone.
We need YOU!
I believe private organizations like YATP are the future. They’re better equipped to meet individual needs and expose government corruption. But we need help. We need boots on the ground. We need Erin Brockovich. We need YOU!
I say “we” because I recently joined the force. Let’s be superhero friends!
Donate once, monthly, yearly
Send emails and give ‘em hell
Advocacy takes two clicks!
… on your phone
At the bottom of YATP’s active causes are email addresses for key officials. If you’re on your phone, just tap the email address. An email window will pop up, pre-filled and pre-addressed. The email is already written for you with all the talking points. You simply sign your name at the bottom and hit send.
Click
Sign
Send
It’s so easy. Laziness is no longer an excuse to suck at life. One minute of your time could literally be the tipping point that:
Reunites a family
Gives a crooked cop a surprise career change at Home Depot
Makes a corrupt city manager suddenly develop ethics
YATP Superhero Friends
Spike Cohen ran for president and got the 3rd most votes of any third-party candidate in the country, then built a movement to take power back from corrupt local governments.
Ryan Ralston helped pass Ridge’s Law in Georgia.
Elizabeth Melton founded an anti-surveillance org and launched a documentary exposing corruption.
Brian Lambrecht landed 70+ national TV segments, secured major newspaper endorsements, then turned that firepower on corrupt local governments.