From Stop Mass Incarceration Network:

It's Right To Protest Murder By Police!

Oppose the Convictions of April 14 Protesters and Drop the Charges Against All Those Arrested for Protesting Police Terror

January 10, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

Nearly every day, we hear of cases and see videos of police murdering and brutalizing people, disproportionately Black and Latino. Walter Scott: shot in the back as he was running away. Eric Garner: choked to death on a NY City street. Omar Abrego: beaten to death as he was coming home. Michael Brown: shot and killed with his hands up as he was walking to his grandma's house. John Crawford: shot in a Walmart for holding a toy gun the store was selling. Ezell Ford: shot in the back outside of his home. Tamir Rice: 12 years old, playing with a toy gun in a park, shot within 1.7 seconds by police.

And again and again and again, the police are exonerated and hardly ever investigated, let alone punished. The cops who murdered Michael Brown, Eric Garner, John Crawford and Omar Abrego: all got off scot free. It has been over a year since Ezell Ford was murdered and there have still been no legal proceedings against the murderers. It has been a year since Tamir Rice was murdered, and grand jury proceedings are just now beginning.¹

What is the government's answer to these howling and unjust crimes?

To arrest, prosecute, intimidate and imprison those who protest against them.

In LA, three young revolutionaries were just convicted of serious misdemeanor charges from an arrest at a national protest against police murder on April 14, 2015. They have recently been sentenced². Seven others, from different perspectives, are also facing upcoming trials from this arrest. That day, in over 30 U.S. cities, thousands took the streets. In LA, over 1,000 people participated in this protest which included high school walkouts, a march through Skid Row and the shutting down of the Blue Line train for over an hour. This national day of protest helped to keep open the door of mass resistance against murder by police which began in 2014.

In addition, numerous people from the Black Lives Matter movement and others who filled the streets in the last year and a half to protest police terror are all also facing upcoming trials.

These brave resisters have already faced more time in jail and in the courts than most of the police who murder and brutalize Black and brown people. This is unacceptable.

These arrests and prosecutions are meant to send a message of fear and intimidation to force people to accept the business as usual of murder and brutality by police; they are meant to send a message that "if you act in meaningful and determined political resistance, we will shut you down." Whether it be the tanks and tear gas in the streets of Ferguson, boycotts and bully threats aimed at silencing prominent voices who speak out or mass arrests in Baltimore, LA or NY. We will not accept this.

We demand:

• Drop the charges on those arrested for protesting murder by police.
• No jail time for political resisters.
• Stop Police Terror.

 

1. The Cleveland police who murdered Tamir Rice have walked free, with no charges filed. [back]

2. They were sentenced to two years "summary probation," large fines and community labor. [back]

 

Join:

Benny Anderson, brother of Johnny Anderson, killed by Lakewood sheriffs, 2015
Rafael Angulo, Clinical Professor, USC School of Social Work
Nicole Berry, sister of John Berry, killed by Lakewood CA Sheriffs, 2015
Paris Bey, cousin of Janisha Fonville, killed by Charlotte, NC police, 2015
Peter Coyote, actor, writer and Zen Buddhist priest
Carl Dix, co-founder, Stop Mass Incarceration Network; Revolutionary Communist Party
Carey Downs, father of James Rivera Jr., killed 2010 by Stockton CA police
Leanne Estrada, mother of 17 year old Hoopa Tribal Member Richard Fredrick Tis-Mil Estrada, killed by California Highway Patrol on 12-18-2014
Martin Garbus, attorney
Kimberly Griffin, mother of Kimoni Davis, killed by Hanging Rock OH police, 2015
Georgia Farrell, mother of Jonathan Ferrell, killed by Charlotte, NC police 2013
Yohana Flores, daughter of Ernesto Flores, murdered by San Bernardino County police, 2015
Chemika Hollis, partner of Nate Wilks, killed by police in Oakland, CA, 2015
Alice Howell, grandmother of Justus Howell, killed by Zion IL police, 2015
Sikivu Hutchinson, author
Tawanda Jones, sister of Tyrone West killed by Baltimore police in 2013
Kevin Kellom, father of Terrence Kellom, killed by Federal ICE agents in Detroit, 2015
Alicia Kirkman, mother of Angelo Miller, 17 years old, killed by Cleveland Police in 2007
Tom Morello, musician, activist
Rev. Cecil L. Murray, Pastor retired at First AME Church, Los Angeles. Professor, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, USC
Edith Obdulio Oliva, father of Carlos Oliva-Sola, killed by LA Sheriffs, September 2013
Erica Parker, sister of Dante Parker, murdered by San Bernardino Sheriffs, 2014
Nate Parker
Marcus Pettiford, son of Anthony Anderson, murdered by Baltimore police, 2012
Mary Ratcliff, Editor, San Francisco Bay View Newspaper
Ishtyme Robinson, mother of Ahjah Dixon, died in police custody, Corsicana, Texas, 2010
Andre Royo, actor
Chris Silva, brother of David Silva, beat to death by Bakersfield CA police, 2013
Sunsara Taylor, writer, Revolution newspaper, StopPatriarchy.org
Terri Thaxton, sister of Michael Nida, killed by Downey CA Police, 2011
Paul Von Blum, Senior Lecturer, African American Studies Dept., UCLA
The Lareko Williams family, Lareko Williams was tasered to death by Charlotte, NC police, 2011
Rev. Frank Wulf, Pastor, USC United University Church, Los Angeles

 

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