September 15: Rally and Be in Court for Noche Diaz—On Trial for #ShutDownA14 Arrest

September 7, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

Note from Editors: We received this from someone working on Noche Diaz’s political defense

 

On September 15, Noche Diaz will go on trial in Brooklyn Criminal Court for charges thrown at him after he was arrested during the April 14, 2015, action in New York City that was part of the national #ShutDownA14 actions to Stop Murder by Police. Noche is a young revolutionary leader who works with the Revolutionary Communist Party and the NYC Revolution Club. He is known and loved by people in Harlem and far beyond, from pre-teens hassled by the cops to veteran fighters against police brutality and injustice. He is also well known to and hated by forces of authority, concentrated in the NYPD, for being on the front lines of struggle for years.

On April 14, thousands made no business as usual a reality across the country. In New York City, 1,500 protesters surged into the streets in protest against police terror and murder, breaking into the national media and inspiring many more. More than 40 were arrested. ALL cases except Noche’s have been settled without criminal convictions.

Consider this: The cops who murdered Mike Brown and Eric Garner did not even face a trial—nor were they punished in any way. This injustice goes on every day all over this country—Black and Brown people are killed at the hands of the police, and the killer cops walk free. Yet the people who protest police terror are the ones who are attacked, arrested, and hit with criminal charges.

Noche faces three misdemeanor charges from the April 14 protest: obstructing government administration, which could bring a one-year jail sentence; resisting arrest; and disorderly conduct. He has already spent more time in jail than 99 percent of those murdering cops and is being threatened with a full year in jail

The authorities are trying to send a message: Don’t you dare lead others to protest police terror—and especially don’t even think about making an actual revolution. The people need to send a very different message: We are NOT intimidated, we will NOT be silenced by these attacks and threats from the powers-that-be, we will stand with Noche and rally others to stand with him—to demand that all the charges be dropped. Noche needs to be out in the streets where he belongs, as a leader of the people. We will wage a fierce political battle to keep him out of their clutches.

As we do, we will step up the fight to STOP POLICE TERROR—joining with Noche, the Revolution Club, and the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and many, many others in building for a powerful national march in New York City October 24 to STOP police terror and murder.

The Stop Mass Incarceration Network and Revolution Club are calling for everyone to pack the court on Tuesday, September 15, and to rally at the court at 9 am—120 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn—before going inside. They are also calling for people to write statements of support for Noche demanding that the charges be dropped and send them to stopmassincarceration@gmail.com.

Since righteous protests erupted after the August 9, 2014, murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, Noche has been blatantly singled out by the NYPD for persecution. In an interview with revcom.us/Revolution, Noche described what happened when he was arrested at a mass protest on November 25, 2014, the day after the announcement that the cop who murdered Michael Brown would not be indicted:

“[The police] were saying things like, ‘I know you, you already have a case, you better go home, cuz when we get you, you ain’t going nowhere for a long time, we’re gonna put you away...’ ... They were trying to isolate people who were trying to lead things, especially people in the Revolution Club, including myself. But they weren’t able to do that and they kept striking me on the back of the head.... The police had me pushed against a car, and finally were able to pull me out of the crowd. They had made a decision to really go get me. Despite efforts from the crowd to protect me, they got me. They slammed me to the ground. Then they pulled me up to my feet and took me behind the police line. One said, ‘Let’s take him down behind the truck where no one can see.’ So I stopped walking and faced the crowd.”

This fall Noche is scheduled for trial on charges stemming from that arrest, as well as another arrest in August 2014 in a mass action right after Michael Brown was killed. Keep reading www.revcom.us for updates in the political and legal battle to demand that all the charges from all these arrests be dropped and that they stop targeting Noche!

 

 

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