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Breaking: Students Occupy Police Station Over Crawford Murder

October 6, 2014 Sarah Jaffe, www.salon.com , ,
A group of young people affiliated with the Ohio Students Association and the economic and racial justice network Freedom Side are now occupying the police station in Beavercreek, Ohio, demanding that police chief Dennis Evers meet with them in the wake of the killing of John Crawford III by Beavercreek police officer Sean Williams. A grand jury failed to indict Williams for the shooting on September 24, and the students, who have been organizing around Crawford’s death since August, have moved to escalate. After the news came down that Williams would not be indicted, organizer Malaya Davis tells Salon, the group sat down to consider next steps and came up with three demands.

Ferguson Protesters In Orange Jumpsuits And High Bail Set

October 5, 2014 Mariah Stewart and Ryan J. Reilly, www.huffingtonpost.com , ,
More than a dozen people arrested during protests outside the Ferguson Police Department early Friday were outfitted with orange prison jumpsuits, slapped with high bail and locked behind bars for hours longer than most others arrested in earlier demonstrations against the police shooting of unarmed teenager Michael Brown. The 13 protestors, including many seized while standing on the sidewalk, were arrested by police officers from St. Louis County Police and Missouri State Highway Patrol and were jailed in nearby St. Ann. Video of the arrests show protestors on the sidewalk, and not blocking the street, when officers moved in. They were charged with offenses that included failure to comply with police, noise ordinance violations and resisting arrest.

Mobilizing For Racial Justice In The Face Of Tragedy

October 5, 2014 Kate Aronoff wwww.wagingnonviolence.org ,
Last month, John Crawford III was shot and killed in a Wal-Mart just outside of Dayton, Ohio. He had gone to the chain store to get S’more ingredients for a cookout later that day. As he wandered through the aisles, talking on the phone to his girlfriend LeeCee Johnson, Crawford picked up a BB gun lying on the shelf. Seeing this, 24-year-old Ronald Ritchie called Beavercreek police, informing them that there was a “gentleman walking around with a gun in the store…pointing it at people.” Ritchie later changed his story, admitting to The Guardian that “At no point did he shoulder the rifle and point it at somebody.” This admission did little for the 21-year-old Crawford, who was gunned down by Beavercreek police officer Sean Williams just five minutes after Ritchie’s call. Still on the line, Johnson — mother of Crawford’s two young children — heard her partner’s last words: “It’s not real.”

March Against Police Violence Will Shut Down Georgetown Saturday

September 29, 2014 Staff, www.nbufront.org/ , , , ,
A coalition of grassroots demonstrators will march in a major commercial area demanding "Justice for Michael Brown" and other significant March to Shut Down Georgetownchanges in policing practices. On Saturday, October 4, 2014, beginning at 7:00 p.m. demonstrators will gather at the Foggy Bottom Metro Station in Washington DC and march to Georgetown. Saturday's march and rally will build on all of the past events, bringing together many organizations and individuals. Saturday's march and rally are specifically demanding the arrest of Officer Darren Wilson, the demilitarization of the police, and the institutionalization of civilian review boards of the police with the right to hire and fire.

From Watts To Ferguson: Riot Is Still ‘Language Of The Unheard.’

September 28, 2014 Rick Perlstein, www.inthesetimes.com ,
. . . in a time of dynamic change and an expanding sense of social possibility, the frustrations that were all too palpable—police forces that acted like occupying armies and municipal governments that wouldn’t give them the time of day—became all the more the focus of rage, precisely because they felt so cruelly vestigial. Rioting, paradoxically, was at least partially an act of faith: At least we can do something to get their attention. Or, as Martin Luther King, Jr. famously put it, “A riot is the language of the unheard.” So in that sense, Ferguson feels like a sort of welcome blast from that past: a place where hopes whetted by a black president who seemed to promise so much more than what he could deliver were dashed; where lingering racial boundaries in an “integrated” city are still the site of everyday contestation; and where, because of all that, the everyday humiliations of dispossession and disenfranchisement burn, and burn, and burn. At least Black Ferguson has expectations. Maybe the rest of us should take some solace from that. Let the political mobilization begin.

Activism Victory: Steep Drop In Stop And Frisk

September 28, 2014 Ian Reifowitz, www.alternet.org , ,
People protested. People marched. A good cop who blew the whistle ended up thrown in a mental hospital. Mayor Bloomberg refused to back down. Civil liberties and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit. The stop-and-frisk numbers started falling, finally, while the lawsuit moved forward. The judge then ruled the program unconstitutional. The next mayoral campaign turned on one candidate's vocal rejection of stop-and-frisk. The good guys won. Don't ever let anyone tell you that activism doesn't matter. Stop-and-frisk numbers are down 90 percent in New York City from the peak in early 2012. Ninety percent. In Harlem, they are down 96 percent in the same period.

Ferguson Police Told To Stop Wearing ‘I Am Darren Wilson’ Bracelets

September 28, 2014 Staff, www.reuters.com , ,
The U.S. Justice Department asked the Ferguson, Missouri, Police Department on Friday to order its officers not to wear bracelets in support of the white policeman who shot to death an unarmed black teenager last month, sparking protests. In a letter to Ferguson Police Chief Tom Jackson, the Justice Department said residents had told its investigators that officers policing protest sites on Tuesday in Ferguson were seen wearing "I am Darren Wilson" bracelets. Wilson killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9, causing outrage in the mostly black St. Louis suburb of 21,000 people. Wilson has not been charged in the case. The Justice Department has opened an investigation into the shooting and the police treatment of protesters, which critics say was unduly harsh.

Youth Stand Up To Police Violence

September 27, 2014 Kari Lydersen, www.inthesetimes.com , ,
We Charge Genocide and other groups are training youth to record instances of police misconduct and share them on Twitter under the hashtag #chicopwatch. On August 13, an ensemble of young, mostly Black and Latino actors captivated the crowd packed tightly into Chicago’s Free Street Theater with their dramatic slow-motion performance about the death of Deonta Dewight Mackey, a 16-year-old fatally shot by police at a Chicago gas station last February after he tried to rob an off-duty officer at gunpoint. The actors were the Young Fugitives, a performance ensemble directed by Ricardo Gamboa that gained much attention last year for its production “Cold Summer,” about Chicago violence and the closing of public schools. The group’s performance about Mackey’s death is in the workshopping stages and will debut in January, a few weeks before the anniversary of the incident.

Popular Resistance Newsletter: The People Are Rising, No More Compromising

September 26, 2014 Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers, www.popularresistance.org , , , ,
Here are more calls for action: Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples Council issued a statement which urged people to not put “our trust in governmental leaders and the leaders of industry.” People who came to NYC for the first World Conference of Indigenous Peoples urged that oil and gas be left in the ground and highlighted how Indigenous peoples all over the world are already fighting against extraction. Faith leaders pledged global action for climate justice. Green activists Jill Stein and Ben Manski are calling for a global climate strike as “a next step in the international uprising that insists that another world is possible.” And, a coalition of groups announced consecutive days of action in Washington, DC and elsewhere beginning after the elections.

Come to Ferguson, MO – October 10-13

September 26, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org , , , , ,
A call has been issued by Hands Up United, Organization for Black Struggle, and a coalition of local and national organizations demanding justice for Mike Brown, an end to police violence, racial profiling and police militarization. People across the country are being urged to travel to Ferguson on October 10 through October 13 to participate in a series of events with the main march is scheduled for Saturday October 11 in downtown St. Louis. Please answer this call from the people of Ferguson and the surrounding region. Solidarity with the people of Ferguson will strengthen the people on the front lines in Ferguson. Come with others in your community, send a delegation from your campus or church or neighborhood. Organize ride shares and a car caravan. Jump on a bus or train! This call for people from around the country to come to Ferguson October 10-13 comes at a crucial juncture in this battle as the grand jury has been meeting to determine whether the police officer who shot Michael Brown will be indicted.

Ferguson Chief Apologizes, Protest Calls For His Resignation

September 26, 2014 Jade Walker, www.huffingtonpost.com ,
Police in Ferguson, Mo., arrested a number of protesters late Thursday night after a scuffle broke out while Police Chief Tom Jackson was walking with the crowd, KMOV.com reported. According to CNN, Jackson was about to make a statement around 11 p.m. when a scuffle broke out behind him. Officers responded by pushing demonstrators back across the street and making arrests. Earlier in the day, Jackson released a video in which he apologized for the way the Michael Brown case, and ensuing protests, had been handled. "The right of the people to peacefully assemble is what the police are here to protect. If anyone who was peacefully exercising that right is upset and angry, I feel responsible and I'm sorry," Jackson stated.

Holder Prosecuted Whistleblowers & Journalists, Not Bankers & Torturers

September 25, 2014 Kevin Zeese, greenshadowcabinet.us , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
We urge President Obama to replace Holder with a public interest not a corporate lawyer; that will put the rule of law before corporate power. This appointment is an opportunity to shut the revolving door between big business and government. We also hope the next attorney general will put rule of law ahead of the security state, prosecute torture and other war crimes, protect privacy from US intelligence agencies and protect Freedom of Speech, Assembly and Press. Finally, we hope to see an attorney general that will confront the war culture that has allowed the president to ignore the constitutional requirement that Congress is responsible for deciding when the US goes to war, not the president; and one who respects international law and requires UN approval before the US attacks another nation.

Be On The Look-Out For Ray McGovern; No More

September 21, 2014 Staff, www.justiceonline.org
The PCJF filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of Mr. McGovern challenging the arrest and brutality, and seeking an injunction against the State Department related to its issuing a "Be On the Look-Out" ( BOLO) alert against Mr. McGovern which directed agents to stop and question him on sight. We have obtained the relief sought in the litigation against the Department of State and confirmed that the BOLO alert is now rescinded and that the U.S. State Department has advised other law enforcement that it is non-operational. The reasons cited for issuing a BOLO alert against Ray included his "political activism, primarily anti-war" — a clearly unconstitutional basis.

Fury Of Ferguson Descends On St. Louis County

September 17, 2014 Steve Giegerich and Tim O’Neil, www.stltoday.com , , , , ,
The fury of Ferguson descended on the seat of St. Louis County with a vengeance Tuesday night with demonstrators unleashing a torrent of chants, invective and threats at a County Council that listened for two hours in stunned silence. Protesters demanded the arrest of Darren Wilson, the police officer who shot 18-year-old Michael Brown to death on a Ferguson street five weeks ago, the removal of County Prosecutor Robert McCulloch from the Brown case, the resignations of County Police Chief Jon Belmar and Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson and accountability from the elected county legislative arm. But the bulk of the ire was directed at Steve Stenger, the 6th District Democratic councilman facing Republican state Rep. Rick Stream in the November general election in the race for county executive. Several speakers demanded that Stenger call on his “BFF (Best Friend Forever)” St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch to resign by noon today. McCulloch was the councilman’s chief political ally in Stenger’s primary defeat of incumbent County Executive Charlie Dooley four days before Brown was shot to death.

Victory! ‘Urban Shield’ Finished In Oakland

September 7, 2014 Anna Lekas Miller, www.wagingnonviolence.org , ,
On Friday, around 300 protesters blocked Broadway between 9th and 11th streets in downtown Oakland, protesting the second day of the eighth annual Urban Shield convention. The event could not have occurred at a more timely moment. Only a few weeks after images of SWAT teams in riot gear pointing military-grade assault rifles towards peaceful protesters and arresting dozens in the streets brought the hyper-militarization of the police to national attention, the Urban Shield convention is taking place in downtown Oakland, bringing together law enforcement forces from around the world for a two-day trade show followed by a series of trainings taking place throughout the Bay Area. Late Friday, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan announced in a press conference that the convention will not be returning to Oakland next year. Despite the victory, many activists recognize that resisting events like Urban Shield, and other manners of police militarization will be a long battle.
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