Hands off Noche Diaz!!

December 22, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

 

Noche Diaz in Ferguson

Noche Diaz. Photo: Special to revcom.us/Revolution

In the protests after the murder of Mike Brown and the grand jury decisions not to indict the cops who murdered Brown and Eric Garner, Noche Diaz has been singled out by the NYC police for threats, brutality, and arrests. The police have pulled Noche out of protests of thousands and singled him out for political persecution—piling up charges against him: inciting to riot, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and unlawful assembly. Noche is a member of the Revolution Club NYC and a young front-line fighter and leader in the struggle against police brutality and mass incarceration. He is known and hated by the police for his role.

In response to the outbreak of protests against police murder and oppression of Black people, police are attacking protests, prosecutors are bringing heavy charges against some protesters, police unions are threatening athletes, students are being warned against walkouts, revolutionaries are being singled out, martial law is imposed in communities of the oppressed, and other forms of repression are being carried out. In every case, those coming under attack must be defended politically—and in the courtroom—as part of building resistance. We will be continuing to address this situation. Send reports on attacks on the movement for justice to: revolution.reports@ yahoo.com.

In an interview with revcom.us/Revolution, Noche described what happened when he was arrested at a protest on November 25:

“They 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.” (Read the whole interview online at www.revcom.us.)

In going after leaders of the movement, the police are targeting different political forces and perspectives, and these have to be defended. Within that, they have gone after the
Revolution Clubs in Chicago and New York City with a lot of venom and violence. It is imperative that the police and government officials know that the people have Noche's back and will not tolerate any further injustice or brutality against him.

The Revolution Club has been calling on people to support Noche at his court dates. His next one is on January 29 at 100 Centre Street, NYC.

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