Above: #DCFerguson protest takes the steps of the Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC.
DC Police Chief Kathy Lanier announced there would be civil disturbance platoons (riot squads) and electronic surveillance units in response to the supposed threat of unrest in reaction to the grand jury decision in Ferguson. Reportedly Chief Lanier has activated 17 civil disturbance platoons and told all members of the special operations division they will be working on Sunday and Monday (there is some expectation that the grand jury decision will be announced on Sunday). She also said that special operations units that include K-9, the bomb squad and the emergency response team would be activated. Lanier has also deployed the electronic surveillance unit which has the capability of recording any protest or demonstration.
This is the kind of provocation that will actually increase the chance of violence. There have been many protests in response to the killing of Michael Brown and none have been violent, none have caused any property destruction or looting. Why would Chief Lanier make such an announcement? The best response from the police in Washington, DC and across the country would be a low-key one where people are able to exercise their rights to Freedom of Speech and Assembly and protest police abuse and injustice.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Executive Director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund warns the use of riot police would be illegal under DC law: “If Chief Lanier deploys riot-gear police against peaceful protesters, she will be breaking the law. We caution Chief Lanier not to engage in the provocative, repressive and violent acts that have been carried out by the police in Ferguson and in Washington, D.C. in the past. The District has paid out tens of millions of dollars in lawsuits to protesters over the last decade as a result of unconstitutional police tactics. In addition to litigating these cases, the PCJF worked with the D.C. Council to pass new laws precisely to prevent the same from happening again, to make the District a place that was hospitable rather than hostile to protests.” Verheyden-Hilliard points to Section 116 of the First Amendment Rights and Police Standards Act, which says that riot-gear police may only be deployed where there is a danger of violence.
#DCFerguson Movement Announces Plans in Event Darren Wilson Not Indicted—Responds to MPD ‘Preparations’
Day after the verdict: 7:00 p.m. Mt. Vernon Square Park
In the event Ofc. Darren Wilson is not indicted in the killing of Michael Brown the #DCFerguson Movement will be holding a march and rally in response beginning at 7pm at Mt. Vernon Square Park.
In our view this case needs to be decided in front of a jury. There is more than enough evidence to indict Ofc. Wilson. Grand Juries indict people for far less on an everyday basis all around this country. There has been a remarkable double standard when police officers kill. They are allowed to take long paid vacations while the “facts” are determined and more often than not face no charges or at best low level charges that don’t reflect their actual actions. These double standards must end as must the impunity with which the police kill and brutalize people, in particular young Black males.
It has also come to our attention that police chief Cathy Lanier has ordered “Civil Disturbance Units” a nice phrase for “riot squads” to be on alert for disturbances Sunday and Monday. We view this as entirely unacceptable. #DCFerguson has coordinated a large scale response for a number of months without any incident. In fact protests surrounding the murder of Trayvon Martin, Troy Davis, the Jena Six and Sean Bell all took place for a number of weeks over the past few years without any incident.
The Metropolitan Police Department has no reason to expect anything different in this case. It is clear that the only real goal of this announcement is to place a chilling effect on the exercise by citizens of their First Amendment rights. It creates the perception that there is some danger in going into the streets to express opposition to a potential non-indictment. This is a pattern taking place around the country. Ferguson revealed significant police violence, yet somehow the police have turned the narrative into some expectation of massive violent acts coming from those outraged at the killing of Michael Brown, something that bears zero resemblance to the reality of the movement so far nationally or locally.
Chief Lanier has shown through her own actions (jumpouts, unconstitutional checkpoints) and words (support for the 1033 program) that she is a supporter of militarized policing. Her announcement regarding potential “disturbances” is a thinly veiled attempt to deflect rising anger in the District around militarized policing.
Recent Council hearings clearly established the fact that MPD employs racially biased and militarized methods of policing in communities across the District. By attempting to put a damper on protests following a potential nonindictment that will also highlight MPD practices Chief Lanier is attempting to hide from District residents the reality of policing in D.C. particularly, again, for young Black males.
#DCFerguson demands that the MPD rescind the Civil Disturbance Unit activation and apologize for creating any implication that protesters are planning to do anything more than what they have for years—assert their rights in the street, and demand an end to dehumanizing, racist practices by police departments around the country. Further we demand that the D.C. Council, Mayor Gray, and Mayor-elect Bowser disavow this order and affirm that they support the right of #DCFerguson and anyone else to express their outrage free of police intimidation.
We reiterate to residents of the D.C. Metro Area that our protest is welcome to all outraged by the killing of Michael Brown and police abuses here in D.C. and other area municipalities. We will not be silenced.
The original Call to Action for #DCFerguson explains: “Residents of the District of Columbia, just like millions around the country recognize that at the root of Ferguson are the social, racial and economic injustices that exist nationwide. They know that Ferguson could really be anywhere and Michael Brown could be any young Black male. According to a report by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, every 28 hours a Black person is killed by a police officer, security, or vigilante in the United States. There is almost complete impunity for the perpetrators of most of these crimes. The political marginalization and racialized poverty that exist in Ferguson are replicated in communities across the country.”