Police violence

Minneapolis City Council Members Consider Disbanding The Police

June 7, 2020 Hannah Jones, City Pages. Create! Minneapolis, Police, Police violence, Racism

If you’ve been tuned into the Minneapolis public safety scene, you know that for years, Reclaim the Block and other grassroots community groups have been asking the city to do one thing: stop investing in policing. Budget meeting after budget meeting, they’d turn out with their petitions and signs, demanding the city put less money into its police department and more money into programs that stop crimes from happening in the first place – affordable housing, addiction counseling, violence prevention programs. The council's been listening. “I think we’ve had a vision for a while of wanting to see another kind of city response to those [911] calls,” says Council Member Steve Fletcher, whose Ward 3 covers parts of downtown.

Defeat The War Against The African/Black People In The US And Abroad

June 6, 2020 Ajamu Baraka, Black Agenda Report. Strategize! Black America, Police violence, Power Elites, Rebellion2020

The ruling class is befuddled and confused about how to respond to the ongoing street demonstrations sparked by the murder of George Floyd. The mobilizations clearly disrupted their plans for “normalcy” with the forced opening of the economy. The ferocity of the demonstrations that had not been seen since the brief uprising in 92 in response to the Rodney King verdict seems to have caught the authorities completely by surprise. In the 1992 street actions in Los Angeles the nation and the world saw the first multi-racial, multi-national street action that was very different from the Black rebellions that rocked the U.S. in the 1960s. The racial configuration of the participants captured the range of non-European national minority communities and migrant peoples from across the Americas’ region.

Here Are Five Ways You Can Start Holding Police Accountable

June 6, 2020 Andrew Ford, ProPublica. Create! Accountability, Police Departments, Police violence, Public information

The death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis has drawn historic levels of interest in police misconduct and drawn condemnation from law enforcement leaders nationwide. As a reporter covering law enforcement for the Asbury Park Press in New Jersey, and now in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network, I use investigative reporting techniques to strengthen police accountability. Other journalists do the same. But, in truth, any citizen can apply the same methods to ensure the law enforcement system they’re funding is serving them well. Police culture can be insular and tough to penetrate. But I’ve been surprised by how often it’s possible, though time consuming, to expose important issues by requesting and examining records and data from police departments and other government agencies and engaging citizens and key leaders.

More Than 10,000 People Reportedly Arrested At US Protests

June 6, 2020 AP News. Resist! Arrests, First Amendment, Police violence, Rebellion2020

More than 10,000 people have been arrested in protests decrying racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death, according to an Associated Press tally of known arrests across the U.S. The count has grown by the hundreds each day as protesters spilled into the streets and encountered a heavy police presence and curfews that give law enforcement stepped-up arrest powers. Los Angeles has had more than a quarter of the national arrests, followed by New York, Dallas and Philadelphia. Many of the arrests have been for low-level offenses such as curfew violations and failure to disperse. Hundreds were arrested on burglary and looting charges.

Push Back: US Police State Faces Revolt

June 5, 2020 Aaron Maté, The Grayzone. Resistance Report Black Liberation, Police violence, Rebellion2020, Systemic Racism

Dr. Gerald Horne on the George Floyd protests, the black freedom struggle, and Trump’s expansion of the US police state at home and around the world. Historian and author Gerald Horne discusses the US uprisings against police brutality and systemic racism sparked by George Floyd’s killing; the devastating impact of the US government’s decades-old war on the black freedom struggle; the ongoing “Russia-baiting” of the protests; and how, amidst the suffering and repression at home, the U.S. government, in bipartisan fashion, continues to attempt to impose its will on countries abroad, from China to Venezuela. Guest: Dr. Gerald Horne, Moores Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston. Author of more than three dozen books, including the forthcoming The Dawning of the Apocalypse.

Climate Activists: Here’s Why Your Work Depends On Ending Police Violence

June 4, 2020 Dany Sigwalt, Medium. Strategize! climate crisis, Police violence, Power structure, White Supremacy

We live in a world where government agents can kill hundreds of people a year, without the whole system being held accountable. When the crisis presents the opportunity for billionaires to extract even more wealth from people and the planet, how can we expect that same government to be accountable to climate change? To win on climate, we need to reinvent the power structures that haven’t functionally changed since slavery. To win on climate, we need to pry our economic systems away from the legacies of colonialism, slavery, genocide, and violence on which our country is founded and push it towards liberation, freedom, autonomy, and justice. Police violence scares me more than climate change.

What Will It Take To Stop The Police From Killing?

June 3, 2020 The Collective, Anarchist News. Create! George Floyd, killed by police, Police violence

We’ve reached a breaking point. The murders of George Floyd—and Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, and the other Black people whose lives were ended by police just this month—are only the latest in a centuries-long string of tragedies. But in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the state is openly treating Black communities as a surplus population to be culled by the virus, the arrogance and senselessness of the murder carried out by Officer Derek Chauvin crossed a line. Supported by hundreds of thousands across the US and beyond, the people of Minneapolis have made it clear that this intolerable situation must end, no matter what it takes.

David McAtee, Louisville business Owner, Killed By Authorities

June 3, 2020 By Phillip M. Bailey and Darcy Costello, Louisville Courier Journal. Educate! Kentucky, Police violence

Louisville, KY - David McAtee, who turned his talent for food into a popular West End eatery, was shot and killed by law enforcement officers early Monday morning, an incident that's now under state, local and federal investigation. McAtee, the owner of YaYa's BBQ in western Louisville, was known as a "community pillar," said his mother, Odessa Riley. "He left a great legend behind. He was a good person. Everybody around him would say that," she said. "My son didn't hurt nobody. He didn't do nothing to nobody." Riley was among the hundreds who had swarmed the corner of 26th and Broadway Monday where Louisville police and National Guard personnel were breaking up a "large crowd" that had gathered in the parking lot outside a Dino's Food Mart, according to law enforcement officials.

Residents Sheltered Dozens Of Protesters From Police

June 3, 2020 Colleen Grablick, Jason Fenston and Natalie Delgadillo, DCist. Resist! Police violence, Rebellion2020, Solidarity, Washington DC

Nearly two hours after the 7 p.m. curfew went into effect on Sunday night, dozens of people were corralled by police in a one-way block — Swann Street NW, between 14th and 15th — as they made their way north from downtown. As officers closed in on the group, they began setting off what appeared to be pepper spray and flash bangs, sending the crowd running. “I heard ‘bang bang’ and a lot of thumping and pepper spray everywhere, my eyes started burning, people screaming, and a human tsunami coming down the street, of piles on top of people,” says Rahul Dubey. Several residents opened their doors, including Dubey. “I flung open this door,” he said. “I was like, ‘Come in, get in the house. Get in the house.’ The police were running after these 20- and 30-year-olds and grabbing them. They’re tripping, coughing. And I was pulling them into the house.”

Majority Of Americans Support Uprisings, Disagree With Trump

June 3, 2020 Chris Walker, Truthout. Educate! George Floyd, Minneapolis, National Consensus, Police violence

As President Donald Trump threatens to invoke the Insurrection Act to use aspects of the U.S. military against Americans involved in the demonstrations in response to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week, polling so far shows that most people are not happy with how he has handled the situation. Indeed, the data demonstrates that a majority of Americans appear to be in support of the protests in general. A Morning Consult poll conducted on May 31 and June 1 — several days after demonstrations began in protest over Floyd’s killing at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer who held a knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly 9 minutes — finds that 54 percent of Americans either strongly support or somewhat support the protests that are going on. Conversely, just 22 percent say they somewhat oppose or strongly oppose the demonstrations.

State Violence: When Does Democracy Cease To Exist?

February 23, 2020 Emma Justum, Open Democracy. Strategize! Democracy, France, Police violence, Yellow Vests

On January 30, 2019, already one year ago, the Council of Europe through its Commissioner for Human Rights expressed “very serious concerns” about the type of injuries wreaked on Gilets Jaunes protesters (the Yellow Vests) by French police forces. Later in February 2019, the European Parliament and the UN strongly condemned the disproportionate use of police violence in France. One year later, by the 51st day of protest against the neo-liberal measures of Emmanuel Macron’s government, involving members of almost all professions (nurses, electricians, lawyers, doctors, teachers, university professors and researchers, dockers, sewer workers, gas workers, train drivers, subway drivers, radiologists, postmen, labour inspectors,and so forth), what is the outcome? One year later the picture is frightening, a fortiori when it comes to a democracy.

Chile: 3,765 Injured,10,000 Detained Protesters Since October

February 23, 2020 Telesur English. Educate! Chile, Neoliberalism, Police violence, Torture

Four months of protests in Chile against the neoliberal policies of Sebastian Piñera's government has resulted in more than 3,700 people injured, 951 filed complaints of torture and 195 for sexual violence, according to updated figures released Tuesday by the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH). According to the agency, from Oct. 17 to Feb. 18, some 3,765 people were injured, of whom 445 suffered eye injuries. The data was gathered directly by its officials through observations of demonstrations, police stations, and health centers. The organization reported that 2,122 people were injured by shots from different types of ammunition, with pellets being the most commonly used, causing 1,681 injuries.

Ecuadorian Protests Against President Moreno Continue, Face Police Repression

October 12, 2019 Telesur TV. Resist! Ecuador, Lenin Moreno, Neoliberalism, Police violence

Saturday, October 12, Quito, Ecuador - In the early hours of the morning of this Saturday, law enforcement began an attack against protesters in an area near the Arbolito Park. The Ecuadorian police launched pellets and tear gas against a group of protesters in the immediate vicinity of the National Assembly of Ecuador on Saturday, the tenth day of social protests against the economic reforms of the government President Lenín Moreno. In the early hours of the morning of this Saturday, law enforcement began a raid against protesters in an area near the Arbolito Park, calling for the repeal of several measures, which include increases in fuel prices. As yesterday, the police repressed the concentration of protesters with pellets and tear gas.

Yellow Vests “Get Back To Work” Of Protesting

September 8, 2019 Popular Resistance. Resist! Gilets Jaunes, Police violence, Yellow Vests

France - After a quieter period during the summer, the Yellow Vest movement hit the streets in larger numbers for Acte 43 on Saturday. Protests were held throughout France from Rouen to Paris to Montpelier. Police responded, as they have been, with tear gas and other forms of violence. Permanent Revolution reports that hardcore yellow vest protesters continued to march every Saturday throughout the summer and also demonstrated at the G7 meetings in Biarritz. The increase in protests on Saturday was marked as a "return" in what the movement is calling a "Black September." President Macron's popularity is still low, and distrust in the government is high. They write: "The first visible lesson is that this Saturday marked a re-mobilization of the hardcore of Yellow Vests, from a few hundred to several thousand in large cities, or even making its return in a series of medium-sized cities."

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