From the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, LA

Defend the A14 Freedom Fighters

November 11, 2015 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

Police Repression Continues
Inside the Courthouse

Dropping any pretext that the trial of the protesters arrested April 14 in downtown LA is about something other than political repression, the sheriffs, who were involved in making the arrests of the defendants on April 14 and who also control the entrance to the Superior Court building, have been harassing the defendants when they come to the courthouse for their hearings.

First, several defendants and supporters were detained by sheriffs for wearing “BA Speaks: Revolution—Nothing Less” T-shirts and were only permitted to go up to their hearing after the judge ordered that those shirts are allowed. Five armed sheriffs then came into the courtroom during the hearing and stood menacingly around where all the defendants were seated. Another defendant was stopped because the sheriffs believed the defendant was “secretly” wearing a “Black Lives Matter” T-shirt underneath his shirt.

One defendant in particular has been singled out for bag searches and was kicked out of the courthouse for having a few palm cards with political messages in her bag. The judge she was supposed to appear in front of had to order the sheriffs to allow her in to her own hearing. The sheriffs continue to say she will be kicked out of the courthouse if she returns with any “prohibited literature.” No one else entering the courthouse is searched in any similar way.

Revcom.us received the following leaflet from the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, Los Angeles.

October 26...A young Black woman assaulted and brutalized by school police in her classroom at Spring Valley High in South Carolina. October 28... Almonderez P. Green, 18, chased, shot and killed by St. Louis and Ferguson police who then claim that he killed himself. November 3... Louisiana police shoot five bullets into the chest and head of SIX-year-old Jeremy Mardis, killing him as they shoot up the car driven by his unarmed father. Tamir Rice... Michael Brown... Eric Garner... Sandra Bland... Charly “Africa” Leundeu Keunang... case after case, name after name, video after video we see the spearhead of a slow genocide unfold before our eyes. Illegitimate killing after illegitimate killing; brutality that wouldn't be accepted against an animal, found "justifiable" again and again when used against a people that have been criminalized and rendered less than human. Police who murder Black and Latino people almost never face charges, but those who protest to stop police murder are arrested, charged, and threatened with years in prison.

On November 5th trial began for the first three of ten people who were arrested during #ShutDownA14 protests to stop police murder. After the nationwide protests of the murders of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, when the movement that has shaken the country since Ferguson was being attacked and slandered, on April 14th people took to the streets in more than 30 cities nationwide to say we are not backing down and nobody should accept a "business as usual" in which police kill people every day—more than 970 so far this year.

While cops murder and walk free, the A14 protesters face three misdemeanor charges because the Blue Line train in downtown L.A. was stopped for an hour during the protest. Each charge carries a possible one-year jail sentence. This is outrageous and all charges should be dropped immediately. The people arrested are Stop Mass Incarceration Network members, people from the L.A. Revolution Club, communists, and others who stepped forward for #ShutDownA14. They must be defended.

This battle to get the charges dropped is an important part of further building the movement to STOP police murder and terror—which has reached a new level through the #RiseUpOctober actions in New York City October 22nd - 24th. Culminating October 24th, thousands—led by family members who have lost loved ones to murder by police—marched through Manhattan, carrying pictures of the people killed, demanding an end to police murder and terror and putting the challenge to the whole world: Which Side Are You On? Anyone who wants to see an end to terror by police needs to side with all those under attack, from the #ShutDownA14 defendants to Quentin Tarantino to all the #BlackLivesMatter protesters—standing up together in the face of attempts to stop this growing movement.

We cannot allow the state to repress this movement by taking leaders and fighters from us. Defending the A14 freedom fighters is part of continuing to Rise Up to Stop Police Murder and Terror. We cannot allow them to turn reality upside down by painting freedom fighters as criminals instead of the murdering police! Support the A14 defendants! Their unjust charges must be dropped!

What you can do:

Pack the courtroom Thursday, November 12th and daily throughout the trial: 210 W. Temple St., Department 46, daily from 10:30 am-1 2pm and 1:30-4:30 pm.
Pack the courtroom again Monday, November 16th when the remaining seven defendants appear to begin the next trial. Join the 8 am press conference in front of the courthouse.
Demand City Attorney Jennifer Waxler drop ALL charges on ALL those arrested for #ShutDown14: call her at 213.978.7840 or e-mail support statements to Jennifer.Waxler@lacity.org (cc: StopMassIncarcerationSoCal@yahoo.com)
Spread the word everywhere on social media: #DropTheCharges on all those arrested on #ShutDownA14! Jail killer cops, not freedom fighters!

Find us on Facebook, and/or call 213-840-5348. SMIN meetings are Tuesdays 7 pm at the USC School of Social Work.

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