Baltimore Protesters Disrupt Police Chief Vote:
“No justice, no peace!” Stop the vote!”

October 15, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

 

Dozens of determined, defiant protesters—many of them high school and college students—chanting “All night, all day, we will fight for Freddie Gray! No justice, no peace!” and “Stop the vote!” disrupted a meeting of the Baltimore City Council meeting yesterday. Freddie Gray was 25 years old, a Black man minding his own business, not bothering anyone, when on the morning of April 12, he was viciously assaulted by Baltimore police for making eye contact with a pig(!). He died a week later from the severe injuries inflicted by police.

In spite of the protests, the council voted to confirm Kevin Davis as the new Baltimore police chief.

Before the meeting, a coalition of activist groups issued a statement denouncing and demanding an end to violent repression of protests including “the deployment of the National Guard replete with tanks and rifles” and “officers without badges and name tags, undercover cops acting as protesters carrying firearms, and [making] wrongful arrests.” They demanded that authorities stop treating ordinary people and protesters as “enemy combatants.” And called out the “heightened aggression from law enforcement towards protesters” since Davis became acting chief.

The fact that people have to go to jail to demand the authorities not deploy the military with tanks and rifles against protesters against police brutality, stop sending armed undercover cops posing as protesters, and stop treating protesters and people doing nothing at all as "enemy combatants" tells you a hell of a lot about the nature of this system. AND it demands people be in the streets refusing to accept this situation!

After the City Council voted to confirm the appointment of Davis, dozens or protesters refused to leave the hearing room and at 4:45 AM, sixteen were arrested for trespassing.

 

 

 

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