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State Violence

A Story Of Police Violence In France

November 23, 2019 Ross Domoney, Roarmag.org , , , ,
ROAR is proud to present a powerful new independent documentary that tells the story of three lives affected by police violence in France during the popular uprising of the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) movement. Mutilations and deaths through so-called “sub-lethal” riot control weapons have become all too common in the modern day Republic. Two dozen people lost the use of an eye from LBD (flashball) rubber bullet launchers, and five people have had their hands blown off by military grade grenades thrown by the police at the protesters.

Bolivia’s De Facto Government Grants Impunity To Police, Armed Forces

November 17, 2019 Telesur. , , ,
The de facto government of Bolivia issued a decree Saturday exempting Armed Forces and National Police from criminal responsibility when committing acts of repression against protesters who have taken to the streets to reject the coup d'etat. "The personnel of the Armed Forces, who participate in the operations for the restoration of order and public stability, will be exempt from criminal responsibility when, in compliance with their constitutional functions, they act in legitimate defense or state of necessity," the decree reads. The document also states that security forces may use firearms to suppress protests, as they are allowed to “frame their actions as established in the approved Force Use Manual, being able to make use of all available means that are proportional to the operational risk,” it adds.

Bolivian Senate’s Leader Attacked By Police And Coup Supporters

November 14, 2019 Staff, Telesurenglish.net , , ,
The legitimate President of the Senate, Adriana Salvatierra, was violently assaulted by the police as she was trying to enter the Senate on Wednesday in order to comply with the constitutional rule that automatically proclaims the head of the upper chamber the Interim President when the President steps down, after Evo Morales was forced to resign on Sunday. In a press conference that followed the attack, Salvatierra told reporters that she was ready to open the parliament session and assume the presidency of the Plurinational State of Bolivia as mandated by law.

Chile And The Economic And Political Violence Of The State

October 25, 2019 Patricio Zamorano, Coha.org , , , ,
The media had to double down through a constant barrage of violent photos and videos arriving through social networks so that especially non-Chileans, who are accustomed to the mythical image of a stable and exemplary country, could internalize and believe the spectacle of fire and blood on their screens. The president of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, realized a feat impossible to imagine after almost 30 years since the return of democracy: provoke street clashes between Chilean youth, who were not raised during the dictatorship, and military troops, while enforcing  a curfew, a state of emergency, and the suspension of some constitutional guarantees.

Rio de Janeiro’s Police Killed A Record Number Of People In Three Months

August 23, 2019 Frances Jenner, Latinamericareports.com , ,
Yesterday, on May 6, police snipers from a helicopter fatally shot eight people in a densely populated area of Rio de Janeiro, according to reports from the Brazilian news outlet UOL. The community Facebook page Maré vive posted a photo of what appears to be schoolchildren in the neighborhood of Complexo da Maré running from the attacks. The killings follow a succession of shootings by police across the state. In the first three months of this year, according to official data reviewed by the Associated Press, Rio de Janeiro police killed 434 citizens. This amount is up from 368 in the same period last year.

“Culture Of Violence?” You Betcha, Mr. Trump, But It’s Not The Video Games

August 12, 2019 Mike Ferner, Counterpunch.org , ,
Give him credit for finally recognizing white supremacy and web sites that promote it as problems. But the other causes he mentioned – video games and mental illness – come straight out of Trumpian illogic. On the subject of video games, which Trump said make it “too easy today for troubled youths to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence,” Western Michigan University sociologist, Whitney DeCamp, along with others who have researched the subject, say it’s not likely.

Enemies Of The State: Three Eco-Defenders Killed, Countless Criminalized Each Week

August 1, 2019 Staff, Globalwitness.org , , ,
Calls to protect the planet are growing louder – but around the world, those defending their land and our environment are being silenced. More than three such people were murdered on average every week in 2018, with attacks driven by destructive industries like mining, logging and agribusiness. This year, our annual report on the killings of land and environmental defenders also reveals how countless more people were threatened, arrested or thrown in jail for daring to oppose the governments or companies seeking to profit from their land. These are ordinary people trying to protect their homes and livelihoods, and standing up for the health of our planet.

Rosselló’s Gone, But Puerto Rico’s Fight Against Police Repression Continues

July 27, 2019 Marisol LeBrón and Mari Mari Narváez, Truthout.org , , , ,
On Monday night, protesters were gathered outside of the governor’s mansion in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, as they had been for more than a week, in order to demand the resignation of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. Although the protesters had been demonstrating in a peaceful manner all evening, around 10 pm, the police suddenly announced that a few protesters had become “aggressive” and then used their own claims as a pretext for a brutal crackdown. The police told members of the crowd that they had 10 minutes to evacuate before the police would start firing tear gas and forcibly removing protesters.

Beyond Moral Persuasion In The Struggle For Migrant And Refugee Justice

July 23, 2019 William I. Robinson, Versobooks.com , , ,
The United States is currently ground zero in the war against migrants and refugees waged by the global police state. Yet, it is also central to the resistance to that war. Yet, this resistance has so far been driven mainly by a moral outrage and appeals to social justice. In this essay, William I. Robinson offers 5 thesis to considerations necessary to put forward an analysis of the political and structural forces that drive the war against migrants and refugees. The United States is currently ground zero in the war against migrants and refugees waged by the global police state.

Colombia Worldwide Protests Called Against Murder Of Colombian Social Leaders

July 23, 2019 Staff, Telesurenglish.net , , ,
The Defenders of Peace Movement said Monday that in the last one month at least 10 social leaders were killed in Colombia and called for an international march on July 26 in protest of the murders. “We invite all citizens to walk with us and make a presence in the events scheduled for that day for the life of those who defend life and peace in the territories,” the organization said in a statement. Another social leader was killed in Colombia last week. Humberto Diaz was a community leader and president of the Community Action Board of the Guadalupe District. He was shot by intruders in his home.

Police Turn Violent In Massive Protests In Hong Kong Over Controversial Extradition Bill

June 14, 2019 Christopher Bodeen, AP , , , ,
HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong police fired tear gas and high-pressure water hoses against protesters who had massed outside government headquarters Wednesday in opposition to a proposed extradition bill that has become a lightning rod for concerns over greater Chinese control and erosion of civil liberties in the semiautonomous territory. The afternoon violence marked a major escalation in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory’s biggest political crisis in years. It came after protesters earlier in the day forced the delay of a legislative debate over the bill...

NYPD Apologizes For 1969 Raid Of Stonewall Inn

June 8, 2019 Jennifer Peltz, AP.org , ,
NEW YORK — Nearly 50 years after a police raid at the Stonewall Inn catalyzed the modern LGBT rights movement, New York’s police commissioner apologized Tuesday for what his department did. “The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong, plain and simple,” Commissioner James O’Neill said during a briefing at police headquarters. “The actions and the laws were discriminatory and oppressive,” he added. “And for that, I apologize.” The apology comes weeks ahead of the milestone anniversary of the raid and the rebellion it sparked the night of June 27-28, 1969...

A Michigan College-Bound Student Was Among The 35 Beheaded By Saudi Arabia

April 26, 2019 Tyler Huckabee, Relevantmagazine.com , , , ,
Mujtaba al-Sweikat was only 17 years old when he was detained by the Saudi Arabian government in 2012 for the alleged crime of attending a pro-democracy rally. He’d been planning on leaving the country to attend Western Michigan University, where he’d been accepted as a student, and was in fact detained at the airport as he was preparing to board an international flight to the United States. But al-Sweikat was convicted based on a confession extracted via torture and beheaded on Tuesday along with more than 35 other men who were executed for various crimes — most having to do with pro-democracy demonstrations and denouncing the authoritarian regime, according to the Saudi Press Agency.

US & Its Afghan Trainees Now Killing More Civilians Than The Taliban

April 26, 2019 By Alexander Rubinstein, Mintpressnews.com , , ,
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — For the first time in recorded history, the U.S. and the Afghan government, whose forces are trained by Americans, killed more civilians than did the Taliban in the first quarter of 2019, according to a United Nations report. Increased bombing campaigns by the U.S. and increasingly reckless search operations by pro-government forces have fueled the trend reversal. While the U.S. war in Afghanistan was bloodiest in its infancy, little data is available until 2009, when the UN started keeping track of civilian casualties and the U.S. started accounting for the bombs and munitions it drops on the country.

Puerto Ricans Are Resisting Policing As A Solution To Crisis

April 25, 2019 Anton Woronczuk, Truthout.org , ,
In Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico, author Marisol LeBrón shows how Puerto Rico’s colonial relationship with the U.S. has shaped policing in the archipelago as a form of “colonial crisis management.” Her new book exposes the ways policing harms marginalized communities and deepens social inequality. In this interview, LeBrón discusses the legacy of punitive “solutions” and the various ways Puerto Ricans are challenging state violence and building alternative forms of justice.
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