Hands Off Revolution Club NYC
Drop the Charges on Noche Diaz and Jamel Mims!
August 4, 2013 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
The system can give George Zimmerman a license to kill, but the system will not allow people to speak out!
Noche Diaz and Jamel Mims, Stop Mass Incarceration Network organizers and members of the Revolution Club NYC, were arrested in Harlem on Saturday, July 27. Noche, Jamel, and other revolutionaries were leading a speak-out and protest at the Harlem State Office Building against the outrageous acquittal of George Zimmerman in Trayvon Martin’s murder.
Noche and Jamel called on people to step up and speak. A woman in a wheelchair who had been listening intently and holding up the “Three Strikes” poster with her granddaughters on her lap, took the bullhorn: “I am the grandmother of 34 children. I know what these youth face.” She called out to people walking by, “Don’t just walk by. Stop and demand justice for Trayvon.” A well-known Harlem artist stepped forward and began to sing about the coming battles for freedom.
That’s when the police (including white shirts, the commanding officers) swarmed in and grabbed Noche Diaz. As people surged forward to protect Noche, another line of cops moved in to push them away. More people stopped and yelled at the cops. The pigs swooped in again, this time grabbing Jamel Mims.
Some of the other revolutionaries began agitating and climbed up on a light pole calling on people to join with the protest, and that attacks on revolutionaries cannot be allowed! About 30 people took up the “3 Strikes” posters and Revolution newspapers in their hands and several people joined the revolutionaries in a march to the precinct house to demand that the pigs not harm Noche and Jamel and that they be released.
Noche and Jamel are well-known and loved by the people. They have been out leading the people to fight the outrageous acquittal of Trayvon Martin’s killer, and have been on the frontlines in the struggle to stop mass incarceration, as part of fighting the power, and transforming the people, for revolution.
The pigs targeted Noche and Jamel in an attempt to silence them and send a message to others, “Don’t dare lift your head. Don’t dare stand up to the outrage of Trayvon Martin’s murder and the system responsible for it and a million other crimes. Don’t dare connect with the leadership and vision of BA and the movement for revolution.”
People phoned in to the precinct to demand the release of the two revolutionaries, and supportive attorneys intervened. Noche and Jamel were released from jail at 1:30 am on Sunday, July 28. The charges against Noche and Jamel are resisting arrest, obstruction of government administration, and disorderly conduct. These are totally unjust charges. At an emergency support rally at 8 pm that night, and another on Sunday afternoon, people gathered to deliver the message that they will not get away with the murder of Trayvon, and they will not be allowed to attack revolutionaries. Plans were forged for gathering broad support for these two revolutionaries and deepening the resistance around Trayvon Martin.
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