State Violence

Border Patrol Violently Assaults Civil Rights And Liberties

July 24, 2020 Andrea Flores and Shaw Drake, ACLU.org. Educate! Civil Liberties, Customs and Border Patrol, Portland, State Violence

In the past week, unidentified federal officers in camouflage fatigues, labeled only “police,” abducted people off the streets of Portland in unmarked vehicles and threatened the “Wall of Moms” standing up for our Constitution. The administration later confirmed the unidentified officers were Border Patrol agents. This blatant demonstration of unconstitutional authoritarianism is demonstrating to the entire country the cruel capabilities of the U.S. Border Patrol. For communities that have historically borne the brunt of Border Patrol’s abuses — and still do — seeing these agents pose as a “secret federal police” force on the streets of Portland is no surprise. The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency, which includes Border Patrol, has been conducting secret, violent arrests of immigrants for years.

Justice Department Report Finds Systemic Excessive Use Of Force By Prison Guards

July 24, 2020 Eddie Burkhalter, Alabama Political Reporter. Educate! Alabama, Department of Justice, Prisoner rights, State Violence

The U.S. Department of Justice on Thursday released a report that details why the federal government believes systemic use of excessive force within Alabama’s prisons for men violates the Eighth Amendment. The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Alabama found systemic problems of unreported or underreported excessive use of force incidents, a failure to properly investigate them and attempts by correctional officers and their supervisors to cover them up.

Bolivia At The Gates Of An Electoral And Political-Military Coup D’état

July 21, 2020 Katu Arkonada, Resumen English. Educate! Bolivia, Elections, State Violence, US coup

Once the coup d’état was consummated in November, a series of devices were put in place in Bolivia aimed at legitimizing a coup president who came to power in an unconstitutional manner and anointed by the military, who were, together with the police, not the architects but the legitimizers of the coup. A coup d’état that could have been consummated by a bad decision of the direction of the process of change, which made the third person in the chain of succession, the President of the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra (MAS-IPSP), resign once Evo and Alvaro were out of the country and on their way to Mexico, leaving a power vacuum not foreseen by the Political Constitution of the State.

Mapping The State’s Strategy Of Repression Against The Rebellion

June 23, 2020 It's Going Down. Strategize! FBI, Rebellion2020, Repression, State Violence

While the recent rebellion against the police and white supremacy has been historical, it has also been coupled by an attempt by the State to drown the uprising in a sea of tear-gas and rubber bullets. While demonstrations and actions continue, the State is now gearing up for a more long-term strategy of repression, as a vast network of FBI agents, attorneys, and local police comb through hours of footage and social media, looking for targets. Already, over 10,000 people have been arrested across the so-called US and around 75 currently have federal charges; many of which carry extensive prison sentences. Moreover, there are reports of FBI door-knocks and visits to those that have recently been arrested. Often times people are being asked if they are involved in “antifa” while some are even propositioned with becoming informants.

National Guard Troops Refuse Trump’s Race War

June 7, 2020 Courage to Resist. Resist! Military Resistance, National Guard, Rebellion2020, State Violence

Courage to Resist is currently assisting members of the National Guard who resisted Trump’s orders to violently attack people on the streets of Washington DC peacefully and lawfully protesting racial injustice. Now that Trump is threatening to use the 1807 Insurrection Act to send active-duty troops in cities across the US, it’s time for every member of the military to search their conscience. We want to make sure we’re there to support the brave men and women who continue to refuse these illegal orders. One Guardsmen who is resisting Trump’s orders originally hoped to join medical missions assisting in natural disasters. Addressing the current situation he says, “I can’t do it. Even looking at my uniform is making me feel sick that I’m associated with this...

Black Lives Extinguished, Black Ancestors’ Bodies Desecrated

June 7, 2020 Marsha Coleman Adebayo, Black Agenda Report. Educate! African Cemetary, Slavery, State Violence, Systemic Racism

This week, the progressive community is deeply traumatized over the slaughter of innocent Black people and the determination of ruling elites in politics, media and civil societies to patch up a deprived, debased and white supremacist system. One prime example is Minneapolis officials charging Officer Derek Chauvin with 3rd degree murder and manslaughter. Is this charge a revisiting of the idea that Africans are 3/5th human? White supremacy fault lines have intentionally deepened and the murder and incarceration of young, primarily black men, is the norm -- in fact, it is expected. Black leadership, usually channeled through corporate sponsorship called the Democratic Party, has completely failed.

Washington State Patrol Instructed Officers To Assault Protesters

June 5, 2020 Michael Stone, Patheos. Educate! Police abuse, Rebellion2020, State Violence, Washington

In an alarming report the Washington State Patrol (WSP) has issued an apology after a command officer was caught on video telling fellow officers to assault protesters. The officer said: Don’t kill them, but hit them hard. Seattle Times reports: The Washington State Patrol has apologized after video surfaced of an officer telling his team, “Don’t kill them, but hit them hard,” while preparing to clear protesters from the streets in Seattle’s Capitol Hill on Tuesday evening. Newsweek reports: A Washington State Patrol officer was recorded telling his officers to hit protestors hard ahead of a night on patrol in the Seattle area Tuesday. The officer, who has not been identified, was filmed speaking to others in the patrol group, telling them, “Don’t kill them, but hit them hard.” The video was later shared to social media. The video, taken shortly before 7:45 p.m. Tuesday by Krystal Marx, executive director of Seattle Pride, and a Burien City Council member and deputy mayor, is alarming.

Lessons From Palestine: People Of Color Need A Sustained Resistance Movement

June 5, 2020 Miko Peled, Mintpress News. Strategize! Black America, Palestine, Rebellion2020, State Violence

Will Smith was quoted saying that racism isn’t getting worse, it’s getting filmed, and indeed, it is being filmed a lot lately. No sooner did we begin to recover from one victim of racist violence, the next victim is slain. Just as we began to wrap our heads around the murder of Breonna Taylor, we saw the lynching-murder of Ahmaud Arbery, and then came the murder of George Floyd. It’s interesting that the murders of Ahmaud Arbery and George Floyd took place in broad daylight, in plain view, and were caught on camera, meaning that the perpetrators felt they could act with impunity. It is also clear that it was the public outcry and the use of social media platforms in the wake of these murders that drove the authorities to act. Without being filmed and without demands for justice, the perpetrators would probably not have been held accountable.

As Attacks On Protesters and Journalists Increase, Coverage Of Communities And Police Need To Change

June 3, 2020 Timothy Karr, Free Press. Resist! Media, Police abuse, Press Freedom, State Violence

The weekend saw escalating police violence against protesters and reporters at nationwide demonstrations against the police killing of George Floyd and systemic racial injustices. There has been an unprecedented number of attacks against journalists at many of these protests as law-enforcement officers have specifically targeted those engaged in First-Amendment protected newsgathering and reporting. This mirrors the ways police are targeting those engaged in First-Amendment protected protest. President Trump has egged on the police crackdown in a series of recent tweets, including one that labels news outlets covering the protests as the “Enemy of the People.” Reporters and researchers at the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker are investigating more than 100 separate incidents in which officers attacked reporters, permanently blinding a photojournalist in one eye and causing other grave injuries.

ACLU Demands Congressional Probe Into ‘Politically-Motivated’ Attack On Peaceful Protest

June 3, 2020 By Jon Queally, Commondreams. Resist! George Floyd, militarism, Police abuse, State Violence

Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's Human Rights Project, denounced both the nature and the timing of the assault on the unsuspecting demonstrators, given that it happened just as Trump delivered a speech from the Rose Garden in which he threatened tougher police tactics—including use of U.S. military forces—to quell protests in cities nationwide. "This appears to be grossly unjustified use of a dangerous chemical weapon on protesters and raises serious human rights concerns under international law," Dakwar said of what transpired in Lafayette Square. "Health experts warned that the use of tear gas can have long-term effects on respiratory function. Elected officials, including Congress, must investigate this politically-motivated and life-threatening use of indiscriminate weapons."

An Uprising Was Inevitable

June 3, 2020 By Zenobia Jeffries Warfield, Nation of Change. Educate! Police, Rebellion2020, State Violence, Systemic Racism

There’s no greater frustration than working every day to build and inspire others to build a more just, compassionate world, only to be so brutally reminded of how far away that world is, as we are bombarded by videos of an atrocity such as the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd. Witnessing someone being killed is terrorizing. I am experiencing episodes of terror after seeing the life leave Floyd’s handcuffed body under the knee of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, while two officers held down Floyd, and another stood idly by. That image will stay with me for a long time, just as Eric Garner’s has, just as Philando Castile’s has, and Terence Crutcher’s, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice’s.

Pentagon Ready To Send Troops To Minneapolis If State Asks

June 3, 2020 James LaPorta and Robert Burns, Associated Press. Educate! George Floyd, militarism, Rebellion2020, State Violence

The Pentagon said Saturday it was ready to provide military help to authorities scrambling to contain unrest in Minneapolis, where George Floyd’s death has sparked widespread protests, but Gov. Tim Walz has not requested federal troops. Jonathan Rath Hoffman, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said several military units have been placed on higher alert “as a prudent planning measure” in case Walz asks for help. The Associated Press first reported on the potential deployments and, citing sources with direct knowledge of the orders, named four locations from which soldiers would be drawn. Hoffman did not identify the units, but other officials said they are mainly military police. Hoffman said these are units normally on 48-hour recall to support state authorities in the event of crises like natural disasters. They are now on four-hour alert, Hoffman said.

13 Percent of Environmental Activists Are Killed Worldwide

June 3, 2020 Telesur English. Educate! Environmental Movement, Nonviolence, State Violence

The Autonomous University of Barcelona's Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA-UAB) published a study that shows that 13 percent of environmental activists are killed and another 18 percent are victims of physical violence worldwide. Research reveals that citizen movements halt ecological degradation by up to 27 percent of environmental conflicts, despite the high rate of criminalization, violence, and murders, especially in conflicts related to mining. The Environmental Justice (ENVjustice) scientists analyzed 2,743 cases of environmental conflicts from around the world recorded in the Global Atlas of Environmental Justice (EJAtlas), an interactive map that identifies and locates existing ecological conflicts.

George Floyd Protests: Police Escalating Violence Across The US

June 1, 2020 By Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. Resist! George Floyd, Media, Police abuse, State Violence

While some in media have condemned the protests as violent “looters” imposing “tyranny” upon the country, much of the violence is being deliberately instigated and propagated by an out of control police force that appears to have gone berserk over the widespread public challenge to their authority and their impunity to act as they wish. Six days after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin killed George Floyd, asphyxiating him by keeping his knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes, America is still burning with outrage. Violent clashes have broken out across the nation as the killing has proven to be a catalyst for protests against a racist justice system.

‘Justice For Iyad, Justice For George’

May 31, 2020 By Oren Ziv, +972 Magazine. Resist! Israel, Minneapolis, Palestine, State Violence

Hundreds of Israelis and Palestinians demonstrated Saturday evening in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv against the killing of Iyad Hallak, a Palestinian man with autism who was shot dead by police officers in Jerusalem’s Old City. Hallak, 32, was on his way to the special education school he attended and worked at near Lion’s Gate when Border Police officers began pursuing him, claiming he had been holding a weapon. Hallak reportedly fled and hid behind a nearby dumpster, where the police officers shot and killed him. No weapon was found at the scene of his death. Both officers were detained in the wake of the incident; one was released under restrictive conditions, while the other is under house arrest. In Tel Aviv, over 200 people protested outside the city’s police headquarters while over 150 left-wing activists, including a dozen Palestinians, marched on Jerusalem’s King George Street.

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