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Garner Protesters Hold Candlelight Vigil For Slain Officers

December 23, 2014 Carly Schwartz, Alana Horowitz and Sebastian Murdock, www.huffingtonpost.com , , , , ,
At a candlelit gathering in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, a half-mile from where officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu were shot to death execution-style by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28, on Saturday, several dozen people held makeshift lanterns made of Dixie cups as they marched from Herbert Von King Park to St. Philips Church in silence. The attendees, including many who have spent the past month protesting the police killings of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, said they came to honor the officers who were killed and those who have been killed by officers. "Tonight is an opportunity to come together for a moment of reflection," Michael Premo, 32, a freelance journalist and Bedford-Stuyvesant resident who helped organize the vigil, told The Huffington Post. "There's a lot of confusion, a lot of pain. ... The loss of these officers is absolutely tragic. Any loss of life is tragic." At the Bedford-Stuyvesant vigil, 25-year-old Darius Gordon dismissed recent remarks by NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton that linked recent protests against police brutality in New York City to the murders of Liu and Ramos. "It's not comparable," Gordon said. Brinsley "shot his girlfriend before coming here from Baltimore. It's not related at all.

Garner’s Daughter Visits Memorial For Slain Police

December 22, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , ,
Emerald Snipes-Garner, the 22 year old daughter of Eric Garner visited the memorial for the two police officers killed over the weekend. She is the youngest daughter of Eric Garner Snipes said she was moved by the comments of 13-year-old Jaden Ramos, the son of Officer Rafael Ramos, who said, ‘Today I had to say bye to my dad.’ She said of his comment “It hit my heart because I know what it feels like, with this upcoming season and you don’t have your father around, I know firsthand what you’re feeling.” She told the NY Post that she had earlier visited the family of one of the slain cops, Officer Rafael Ramos. Snipes laid flowers and placed a candle at the memorial site. She said her father would not have wanted violence: "And I just want everyone to know that we have to pray for the mental health of the activists and people. … And you know, I want to let everyone know that we have to be peaceful. My father wasn’t a violent man. He was very peaceful. There are ways that you can do things without letting tragedies happen."

Murder Of New York Police: Violence Will Not Reduce Violence

December 21, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , ,
Popular Resistance joins with #BlackLivesMatter and Ferguson Action in being shocked and saddened by the deaths of two police officers in New York. We extend our sympathy to the families, friends and colleagues of the people killed by an obviously troubled person. Civilian violence is not the solution to police violence, indeed it will lead to an escalation of violence. We need to de-escalate violence between police and the people and not want to do anything to encourage its escalation. It is important to emphasize that these murders were not connected to the movement against police abuse, brutality and racism. The three murders by a troubled man, two police officers and his former girlfriend, are not acts of protest but of someone who needed mental health treatment. Organizers of these nationwide protests have consistently emphasized nonviolence. Peaceful protests across the country have begun to move the issues surrounding the re-making of the relationship between police and the people. Popular Resistance does not want to see that progress undermined by violence, especially the killing of anyone -- civilian or police.

3,000 Rally at Mall of America, Police Shut Down Mall for Hours

December 21, 2014 Black Lives Matter Minneapolis, www.facebook.com , , ,
On December 20, 2014, 3,000 community members including families, clergy, and youth peacefully gathered today at the Mall of America rotunda to sing songs and chant demanding an end to police brutality and the racial inequities people of color face. “Today’s protest was our biggest success yet,” said Mica Grimm an organizer with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis. “Thousands of people stood together, refused to be intimidated, and disrupted business as usual on the busiest shopping day of the year at the biggest mall in the country. As long as innocent Black and brown lives are disrupted by police without consequence, we cannot go about business as usual.” Police and security decided to shut down stores and entrances across the entire mall for hours in response, and as the singing ended and participants began to exit, police in full riot gear confronted the crowd. Entire groups of workers left their stores to join the demonstration standing outside of their stores with hands raised until police ordered them back inside. “In this season which is supposed be about love and peace, it felt like holy work to join such a well organized and peaceful demonstration to demand justice and honor Black lives,” said Rev. Justin Schroeder, Senior Minister at First Universalist Church of Minneapolis, “I stood with my wife and six year old son and dozens of clergy and many people of faith. I was disappointed to see the police meeting peaceful protesters in full riot gear. For my family showing up at this protest was the most important thing we could do this holiday season.”

NYPD Seeks Mass Arrests Of Protesters Without Warning

December 18, 2014 Staff, www.justiceonline.org ,
The De Blasio administration is asking the federal Circuit Court for the authority to engage in the mass arrest of protesters when they take to the streets peacefully, just as they have been doing recently against police brutality. This request for the legal authority to engage in wholesale mass sweeps of demonstrators would allow the police to do so without any notice or warning to them that they are even allegedly in violation of any law. In the Occupy Wall Street case at issue the NYPD trapped and mass arrested 700 people after police commanders led and escorted them onto the Brooklyn Bridge. "This is the most significant and most defining legal case on protesters' rights in the last 40 years, since the mass arrests of May Day 1970," said Carl Messineo, PCJF Legal Director. "Mayor De Blasio seeks the authority to arrest today's protesters in the same manner Mayor Bloomberg falsely arrested Occupy Wall Street protesters by the hundreds."

Oakland Activists Blockade Police Station 4 Hours & 28 Minutes

December 16, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , , ,
In an impressive multi-layered blockade of the Oakland police headquarters, activists made clear points about the police brutality and abuse they have experienced in Oakland and many have experienced throughout the country. The blockade included a combination of blockading tactics, activists linking arms or using lock boxes, blockading four doors of the police station, blockading roadways and sidewalks. They successfully held the space for more than four hours singing songs about justice and chanting about racism and solidarity. One person climbed a flagpole and flew a flag with the faces of African Americans killed in police violence which remembered the lives of Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, Alex Nieto, Renisha McBride, and Michael Brown. They showed exceptional solidarity and coordination of activities. At the same time other activists blockaded other roadways and the entrance to a highway.

Photo Essay: First Day Of A Week Of Outrage

December 14, 2014 Michael Nigro, www.truth-out.org , , ,
Less than a week ago, this Unarmed Civilian (me), became a One-Armed-Unarmed-Civilian. Nothing broken, thankfully, just a torn up shoulder. December 8, 2014, (Day 1 of the Week of Outrage) was the first night back on the street for me after being injured. Below is the story of that first night, written from the ER in Brooklyn, NY. Thousands took to the streets of NYC on December 3, 2014, the night after a grand jury voted not to file any charges against NYPD officer David Pantaleo - the cop who took the life of Eric Garner by putting him in an illegal chokehold. Like the Michael Brown protests and the Flood Wall Street action last September, these marches, metaphorically, have the properties of quicksilver: flow where there's an opening, fissure when blocked and then pool together again elsewhere. At 7pm December 8, I found myself with hundreds of protestors flooding 47th and 6th Ave., where non-violent acts of civil disobedience turned tense when - and only when - the police themselves became aggressive.

Howard University Law Students Open Letter On Policing

December 14, 2014 Staff, www.law.howard.edu , , , ,
As Howard University School of Law students, we stand on the shoulders of change agents like Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall and Charles Hamilton Houston. In our halls each day, we are reminded of their extraordinary impact on our country and their desire to make it clear that all lives matter and should be treated equally. In our classes, we learn about the various standards of proof involved in courtroom proceedings. We often hear about the magnitude of the “beyond a reasonable doubt” standard of proof that is placed on the state during criminal trials. We also learn about the standard of proof for grand juries: probable cause to believe a crime has been committed by a criminal suspect. This is a very low bar. It means that in order to indict a criminal suspect, the grand jury has to find that there was probable cause for ANY of the charges suggested; charges ranging from firstdegree murder to involuntary manslaughter. Probable cause does not require the grand jury to find that the suspect is clearly guilty or even that the suspect more than likely committed the crime. Notwithstanding, on November 24, 2014, the grand jury in Ferguson found that there was no probable cause to believe that Officer Wilson committed a crime when he shot and killed Mike Brown. On December 3, 2014, the grand jury in Staten Island found that there was no probable cause to believe Officer Pantaleo committed a crime when he placed Eric Garner in a chokehold, which contributed to his death. What happens now? How is faith restored in the criminal justice system for people of color?

Why Young Protesters Bum-Rushed The Mic

December 14, 2014 Kirsten West Savali, www.theroot.com , ,
Billed as a rally against rampant police violence, Saturday’s Justice for All March in Washington D.C., organized by several civil rights organizations, including Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network and the National Urban League, faced heavy criticism in the days leading up to it. The primary concern among critics is what appears to be the purposeful distancing of Saturday's march from the revolutionary movement that began in August after the state-sanctioned shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown by former Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson, while simultaneously benefiting from its momentum. Johnetta Elzie, 25, an activist on the ground in Ferguson and St. Louis who has emerged as a leading voice in the movement, stormed the stage with other young organizers after NAN officials reportedly denied them access. When I caught up with Elzie via phone after the march she said that they came to participate in a protest, not be denied access to a “VIP section.” “When we first got there, two people from NAN told us that we needed a VIP pass or a press pass to sit on the ledge,” said Elzie in disbelief, the frustration still resonating in her voice. “If it is a protest, why do you need to have a VIP pass?”

#DayOfResistance Covers The Nation In Protest

December 13, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , ,
The #DayOfResistance covered the nation in protest with major events in Washington, DC and New York City as well as many cities across the country. Among the cities represented below are Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Miami, Portland, OR, Oakland, San Francisco, San Antonio, Seattle, St. Louis and Los Angeles. The protests are a new crescendo in the escalation that has been growing since the grand jury decided in Ferguson, MO not to indict the officer who killed Michael Brown. They escalated again with the decision of a Staten Island grand jury not to indict the officer who killed Eric Garner. And, throughout this time there were additional killings of African Americans in other cities. All of this has led to an awakening of a culture of resistance throughout the nation against police abuse and the killing of African Americans across the nation. The failure of government to adequately respond ensures these protests will continue.

DC March For Justice Followed By Protests Shutting Down DC

December 13, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
Washington, DC saw two very different kinds of protests on the "Day of Resistance." There was the DC March for Justice organized by Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network which became known as the Justice for All march; that was followed by a series of protests throughout Washington organized by DC Ferguson which shut down business as usual in various parts of the city and on a key highway. The DC Ferguson organizers made it clear that they did not have anything to do with Sharpton's march and interrupted the march to exclaim that it was the Ferguson protesters who had created this movement and who should be speaking at it. Sharpton called them provocateurs. To our eye, they are the real protesters. The reason people separate themselves from Sharpton is because he is an extremely partisan Democrat who will not criticize President Obama. He has consistently tried to funnel the movement against police abuse into the Democratic Party, even though many of the officials in Ferguson who have abused the African American population are Democrats. Black Agenda Report urged people not to go to the Sharpton march and explained why, with Margaret Kimberly, an editor and senior writer for the publication, writing: "His job is to keep black people in line while making it appear that he is leading a popular movement."

Newsletter: Respect Our Human Rights Or We’ll ‘Shut It Down’

December 13, 2014 Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
This week we marked the 66th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was signed by the United States at its inception but has never been ratified. Perhaps because we live in a country that does not protect our human rights, many people in the United States lack an understanding that they exist. In the work for justice, important tasks are to learn about our rights, recognize that they are being violated and to stand up with the demand that these rights are honored. Throughout history it has been organized people-power that has won rights. We cannot expect to gain them any other way. We’ll highlight many areas where people are fighting for rights.

Erica Garner Stages Die-In Where Her Father Was Killed

December 12, 2014 Amanda Holpuch, www.theguardian.com , , , ,
Just outside a Staten Island storefront on Thursday night, Erica Garner laid down on the sidewalk where her father collapsed after being put in a chokehold by aNew York police officer. Garner led a group of protesters on a march to a memorial for her father, Eric Garner, who died shortly after the incident. The group staged a “die-in” next to the makeshift memorial, with people lying in the streets on a nearly freezing cold night in the New York City borough. Garner said she will continue to lead protests in Staten Island twice a week in memory of her father, who died at age 43 after NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo put him in the chokehold. Garner’s last words – “I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe” – have become a rallying cry for protesters across the US since a grand jury decided not to indict Pantaleo last month.

This Saturday National Day of Action: Wave Of Indignation

December 10, 2014 Staff, www.millionsmarchnyc.org , , , , ,
This movement for justice has been dubbed a “Wave of Indignation” across the country. What started as an urban revolt of young black people in Ferguson, MO has grown into a national movement for Black lives. The entire nation is awakening to the reality of our broken criminal justice system. We cannot stop or slow down now. This Saturday, we’re taking it to the next level. We’re asking you to join everyone in the streets this weekend and #ShutItDown. It’s our civil disobedience, marching and chanting that got us this far— and we must keep going. When you hit the streets, you’re letting them know: body cameras are not enough. Blue ribbon commissions are not enough. We need broad, decisive action NOW.

Three Nights Of Protests And Aggressive Policing In Berkeley, CA

December 9, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , , , ,
The corporate media has described protesters in Berkeley destroying property and being violent, but reports from protesters describe it as a police riot. Police have repeated trapped protesters in kettles and made mass arrests, used billy clubs aggressively to attack protesters and used smoke bombs. They describe an organized protest being turned into confused havoc as a result of the 'police riot.' Protesters have been shutting down roadways and highways. The aggressive policing is not stopping the protests. On the third night of protests highways were shutdown and people laid down in front of an Amtrak train; once again there was police kettling and more than 100 were arrested.
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