FOSATH
POWERFUL GRASSROOTS COMMUNITY FORMED TO CALL FOR JUSTICE FOR MILES HALL

Soon after Miles was killed, a group of friends and community members came together. Most had never been activists, but the horror of Miles’ death galvanized them to make change. Their attitude was “We are here to make changes and will be here for the long haul.”
 
These friends were passionate and talented, pooling their skills, resources and imaginations to support the Hall family and to motivate and activate the community. 
 
This early group of activists and leaders was called FOSATH: Friends of Scott, Alexis and Taun Hall. The Hall family has said that they couldn’t have made it through those early days and months without the courageous leadership and tireless devotion of FOSATH volunteers. 

Mapping a way forward was hard and messy, but from these early conversations and leaders, the FOSATH organization started to take shape. A community was created and shaped with love: love for Miles, for the Hall family, for justice, and for change.
 
The power of FOSATH activated a powerful community of supporters that went far beyond Walnut Creek. 
 
FOSATH’s goal was to make sure government officials and the community leaders knew how angry the community was about what happened to Miles, and to push hard for changes to the culture and policies that contributed to Miles’ death. 

FOSATH organized protests, made sure every city council meeting was filled with public comments about Miles’s death, and met regularly with city administration and police to make them aware of their implicit bias and to pressure the city to make changes to their de-escalation and use of force policies.

FOSATH was part of the selection process for a new Walnut Creek police chief, created facilitated listening sessions for the city to receive direct feedback from its citizens on the city’s implicit bias and mental health response, and pressured the city to create a committee on diversity and inclusion. 
 
FOSATH created awareness campaigns to spread Miles’ story nationally, met with state legislators to create legislation to address mental health response needs, and organized support for the legislation from cities throughout the East Bay. 
 
FOSATH members worked on several Committees: government liaisons, legislative and policy reform, police training on de-escalation/use-of-force, implicit bias, social media, communications and press, DA/AG team, community partnerships, educational outreach, mental health resources, volunteer mobilization, and more.
 
Many people served on several of FOSATH’s Committees shining a powerful light on our areas of focus and making an impact far years to come.