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In the Hills of Forest Grove

from It's Been A Year by Virtual Bird and David Rovics

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In the sleepy suburb of Forest Grove, Oregon, one family discovered the potential consequences of having a Black Lives Matter lawn sign, when an armed off-duty cop named Steven Teets decided in the course of a drunken binge that it would be a good idea to lay siege to a family's home late one night.

lyrics

In the Hills of Forest Grove

In the hills of Forest Grove, there's not a whole lot going down
It's a mostly residential kind of quiet town
Further toward the coast, to the west of Hillsboro
If you want to have a family it's the kind of place you go
In the hills of Forest Grove, in the middle of the night
If the car alarm goes off, you figure that it might
Be a wandering raccoon, not an off-duty cop
Ignoring all your pleas and your children's cries as you beg him to stop

Seven minutes of terror that went on and on and on
There's a policeman on your lawn

In the hills of Forest Grove, on one side of a locked door
One little family wondered when it might hit the floor
And what would happen then, with no barrier between
Them and their attacker, in this terrifying scene
In the hills of Forest Grove, as his fists continued to pound
Who knew if this might end with bodies on the ground
The man was dangerous and armed, you could hear the glasses shatter
And what it was that set him off said “Black Lives Matter”

In the hills of Forest Grove, there was nary a dry eye
When the dispatch only asked, would you recognize the guy
Would you recognize him – because otherwise we could
Just pretend it didn't happen, like we normally would
In the hills of Forest Grove, no one's body cam was on
No consequences – now five months gone
They gave the officer a desk job – the indoor beat
In another five months you'll find him somewhere on the street

In the hills of Forest Grove

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from It's Been A Year, released May 28, 2021

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David Rovics Portland, Oregon

Singer/songwriter, writer, podcaster (on Spotify, Substack & Patreon), anarchist, dad, lover of life.

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