On International Human Rights Day, Black & Brown Lives Matter [Chicago]

[ckaihatsu]

On International Human Rights Day, Black & Brown Lives Matter here & around the world! (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2BXj8ao3wWK63cxPTc8l8ZMrg3zYeNjIL)

December 10 at 5:30pm
Congress and Michigan

This Wednesday, December 10th is International Human Rights Day. World Can’t Wait along with a growing coalition (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2BXB%2FNHSf4S1UyWpjO0eWfsrg3zYeNjIL) will march to demand an end to crimes against humanity here in the US and around the world. Protests here in Chicago and around the country have stopped “business as usual” and awoken millions to the reality of police executions of unarmed Black and Brown men and women, with absolute impunity.

Just as every 28 hours (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=cOyoh78T7dkFxEaCATPqUsrg3zYeNjIL) a person of color is murdered by police, security, or vigilantes in this country, we know that on average, every US drone strike around the world kills 28 innocent civilians (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2BUUEU0Fu254ywyujJY8S08rg3zYeNjIL), despite US government claims of pinpoint accuracy.

Decades of US wars and sanctions have devastated Iraq and much of the Middle East. President Obama recently became the fourth president in a row to bomb Iraq and the first to extend US bombing into Syria, continuing US attempts to bomb the region into submission to US imperial control.

The United Nations Committee Against Torture recently released its report on US practices, raising grave concerns about the widespread use of solitary confinement in US prisons, continuing indefinite detention and torture at Guantanamo, and the patterns of racial profiling and murder by Chicago police that are highlighted in a major report presented by the Chicago-based group We Charge Genocide. (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=iIcqpZuq45pYL8rF9JCthsrg3zYeNjIL)

This government has no right or legitimacy to lecture other countries on “human rights!”

Guardian UK: UN torture report condemns the US (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=gsgaD5%2FuBsmUGT8rTj%2FFwsrg3zYeNjIL). Stay tuned for details on the much-awaited Senate report on torture carried out by the CIA. (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=0EqzTwZiBvFYFJBMGucGH8rg3zYeNjIL)

On Dec. 10, we will come together to demand an end to all violations of basic human rights by the US government, here and around the world. If you are on Facebook, join our event there (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=fWiW9z4SFv0kKwB%2FCY44QMrg3zYeNjIL), invite friends, bring your signs and friends and raise your voice with us this Wednesday!

http://org.salsalabs.com/o/1170/images/Chicago/scene_of_destruction.jpg

On International Human Rights Day, Black & Brown Lives Matter here & around the world! (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=SD5KAmXZvi3MR%2B7rCWBrtcrg3zYeNjIL)

December 10 at 5:30pm
Congress and Michigan

Download coalition flier (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=CxPvwyrWFcp9qb0qpQ4UNWSo7%2BlOYYPX) (text below).

The police violence we've seen unfold against Eric Garner, Michael Brown and countless others is the domestic version of a systemic U.S. violence against other peoples of the world.

The same country that makes it so dangerous for black people to exercise their constitutional rights at home, carries out deprivations of rights abroad on an industrial scale.

How else can you explain that for every “successful” targeting of an alleged terrorist by a U.S. drone bombing, that an additional 28 unknown people die? How else can you explain U.S. troops being in over 150 countries around the world, and a military budget greater than that of the next eight countries combined?

As a result of decades of U.S. war and support for thieving autocrats and sectarian regimes in the Middle East and South Asia, today the peoples of the region are experiencing more violence and trauma than at any other time in modern history.

For decades the United States has armed Israel as it evicted more and more Palestinians from their homes. For 13 years it has waged its longest-ever war in Afghanistan, causing needless misery and destruction to an already war-ravaged nation. For every U.S. soldier missing one or more limbs, psychologically scarred, or dead, there are countless more Afghan men, women and children suffering similar fates without even a second-rate VA system to support them.

Recently Obama became the fourth president in a row to bomb Iraq, hoping, like his predecessors, that such violence would somehow make it the nation he wants it to be. As if the results of his bombing of Libya and drone strikes on Yemen – today violent basket-cases – shouldn't have given him a clue. As residents of the U.S. we have particular responsibility to stop the violence – the violence caused by our country leading the world in arms exports, by its decades of support for brutal dictatorships, by its airstrikes and full-on invasions.

The brutal and sectarian attacks of ISIS are the official reasons given by the U.S. for its bombings of Syria and Iraq, but this is utter hypocrisy.

How else can you explain U.S. support for the equally brutal and sectarian attacks by close allies such as Saudi Arabia which, for example, beheaded 26 people over a recent 30-day period? And what could be more brutal than U.S. support for the recent coup in Egypt, which has resulted in hundreds of death sentences, 2500 killed, widespread torture, and 16,000+ political prisoners?

That President Obama isn't truly interested in promoting human rights, but only the perception of doing so, can be seen in his attempted suppression of what The New Yorker calls “an apparently devastating” new report on U.S. torture by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

IF the United States' goal is to promote democracy and human rights, then a plan to drop more bombs and distribute more weapons is the very definition of insanity: repeating the same actions over and over again, hoping to get a different result.

BUT IF, as most of the world realizes, and many Americans now finally suspect, peace and good will are NOT the true goals of U.S. presidents, then the violence and trauma that millions in the region are experiencing are not some innocent accident. Instead, they are the bloody by-product of a bi-partisan policy to control the Middle East's resources and profits through any means, fair or foul.

On Wednesday, December 10th – International Human Rights Day – please join us as we say 'NO MORE!'

NO MORE U.S. bombings and invasions of other countries!
NO MORE U.S. support to sectarian and oppressive regimes!
NO MORE U.S. support for coups overthrowing elected governments!
NO MORE U.S. arms exports to the region!

5:30 PM Short rally at Michigan Avenue & Congress Parkway, followed by a march to carry our message to holiday shoppers, followed by a short closing rally.

Sponsored by the newly-formed U.S. Out of the Middle East Coalition. Participating organizations include American Friends Service Committee; ANSWER Chicago; Anti-War Committee; Buddhist Peace Fellowship; Chicago Area CodePink; Chicago Area Peace Action; Democracy in the USA; Gay Liberation Network; Illinois Green Party; Iraq Veterans Against the War; Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago; Logan Square Neighbors for Justice and Peace; Neighbors for Peace; Northwest Suburban Peace & Education Project; NW Indiana Veterans For Peace; Veterans For Peace, Chicago Chapter; Vietnam Veterans Against the War; and World Can't Wait-Chicago (list in formation)

Chicago Chapter, The World Can't Wait!

Follow us on Twitter @ChicagoWCW * "Like" us on Facebook

World Can't Wait - National: worldcantwait.net 866.973.4463
Chicago Chapter: [email protected] | chicago.worldcantwait.net

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December 8-14 WEEK of OUTRAGE and RESISTANCE -- SCHEDULE



Subject: December 8-14 WEEK of RESISTANCE -- SCHEDULE

December 8-14 WEEK of RESISTANCE -- SCHEDULE

Intensify and Spread the Struggle against Police Murder and the New Jim Crow!

This is a list of protests of various kinds so far for this week. This is not comprehensive. Please check Twitter and Facebook.

MONDAY, December 8: Protest 5pm - State and Jackson. This was announced at the meeting today, we don’t know who called it. Check Twitter.

TUESDAY, December 9: 6-8pm? (working on getting a venue).

FORUM: “I Can’t Breathe” to share stories of people of color about : •Institutional racism; •Systems of oppression; •Police brutality

Anyone who would like to speak, please email [email protected]

WEDNESDAY, December 10:

Call for high school students to organize actions: die-ins, walkouts. Here’s a call from students in Los Angeles last week on what you can do. http://revcom.us/i/363/LA-Rev-club-dec-3-flyer.pdf

5:30 pm “On International Human Rights Day Black & Brown Lives Matter Here & Abroad” protest at Congress/Michigan. www.facebook.com/events/982586638424724

2:45 pm Day of Action – End Mass Incarceration. 26th & California Cook County Courthouse and Jail. (meet at 24th and Calif at 2:45) Called by SOUL, IIRON and Organizing Catholics for Justice. https://www.facebook.com/events/1507708742838811
5pm Vigil – Chicago Theological Seminary, Hyde Park

THURSDAY, December 11: 6 pm. Report back from “We Charge Genocide” on Chicago Police torture of Black youth presented to UN Torture Committee in Geneva, Switzerland in November. Roosevelt University. https://www.facebook.com/events/1502625336676345

FRIDAY, December 12: Protest Attorney General Eric Holder, 11 am. We demand justice for Eric Garner, Michael Brown, and ALL victims of police murder and terror. NO MORE!. Sheraton Towers. Holder’s speech to the IL Judges Association Convention starts at noon. Be there at 11 am, bring signs, “I Can’t Breathe” etc. Sheraton Chicago Hotel, 301 E. North Water Street (South of the River, East of Michigan – exact meeting spot to be announced).

SATURDAY, December 13:
10:30 am Washington DC march called by Eric Garner’s family, demanding justice. If anyone or group is chartering busses from Chicago let us know and we will spread the information.

1 pm Chicago demonstration in support of DC protest (above). 1 pm State and Jackson. Community groups, churches, students, everyone should mobilize. Organize feeder marches from the South Side, West Side, and other places to converge at 1pm at State and Jackson

SUNDAY (and FRIDAY & SATURDAY): Calling on even more faith communities to go into the street during or after worship services to disrupt traffic and business as usual. NO MORE to police murder. Today, Sun Dec 7 dozens of churches in Chicago walked out and protested on the South Side, West Side, and in Edgewater.

Below is a report from today’s (Dec 7) church protests:

A video call-to-action by 7 South Side ministers led to coordinated actions this Sunday by about 100 churches. They held a variety of protests of the murder of Eric Garner and Mike Brown, from sermons to marches to street takeovers, to occupying a major CTA train station.

Father Pfleger of St. Sabina Church said “As a symbol, that as we interrupt traffic, we want to interrupt this racial profiling, interrupt a social justice system that is not working in this country, the injustice and the killing of black youth.” About 250 parishioners marched out of St. Sabina and “interrupted traffic” with a die-in on 79th. At Trinity United Church of Christ on the South Side, more than 500 church members marched out and took over the CTA station at 95th & State singing “We who believe in freedom cannot rest...” The moving video of their action is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaDooyKiHm8#t=71
From the Black neighborhoods on the West Side, 500 or more people from at least 9 churches shut down Madison and Pulaski for an hour.

They were joined by rabbis and 2 dozen people from a Jewish Congregation in the far north suburb of Glencoe, and representatives from the Muslim community. People at the main Episcopalian church in downtown Chicago reportedly marched. The new Archbishop of Chicago led the Holy Name Cathedral congregation in raising their “Hands Up”. In Rogers Park and Edgewater dozens of churches had protests and walk-outs.



--
Stop Mass Incarceration Network - Chicago
[email protected] • (312) 933-9586
www.facebook.com/SMINChicago
@StopMassIncChi
stopmassincarceration.net



The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is building a movement to stop the injustice of mass incarceration and police brutality; and the racially biased policies and practices of the police, the courts and the U.S. legal system; and to support the rights of prisoners and the formerly incarcerated. We call on all to join us.









Mass Incarceration Action Flyer_forprint.pdf
1512K

[ckaihatsu]

URGENT: BAIL NEEDED NOW! Fghting for Justice is NOT a CRIME -- Free Iggy and Alfredo


---- Forwarded Message -----


From: Stop Mass Incarceration Network Chicago <[email protected]>

BAIL LINK - https://www.crowdrise.com/IggyAlfredo/fundraiser/williamcalloway.


David “Iggy” Rucker and Alfredo Reyes are still in jail, facing felony aggravated battery charges resulting from the Chicago Police Department attacking the #MillionMarchChi demonstration Sat. Dec. 13. Bond was set at $75,000 each Sunday, December 14, which means we need to raise $16,000 ($7,500 each + fees) to get them out. Please go to the link above and donate generously, every contribution makes a difference.

https://www.facebook.com/events/965976790098974/?context=create&previousaction=create&source=49&sid_create=3641938703

http://revcom.us/i/365/Chicago-protests-1213-20141213_154642-400.jpg

Sitting in at Nordstrom's

Saturday Dec. 13 March in Chicago as part of national Week of Resistance

At 1:00 p.m. an overwhelmingly young and very multinational crowd began to gather at State and Jackson in downtown Chicago as part of the national day of protest against police terror. There were some short speeches and then the march took off. The whole march had a very radical edge. SMIN worked with other groups who played a very dynamic role throughout the march. Some people brought homemade signs, and many carried Stop Mass Incarceration Network (SMIN) signs. There were a lot of new people on the march and there was a lot of love amongst them as they expressed their determination that police terror has to end.

There was a massive showing of Chicago pigs and they were aggressive and vicious. Early on the MC of the rally from SMIN and two others were arrested for stepping out into the street. And as the march continued, the police jammed people back onto the sidewalk. One foot in the street got another person arrested. But the march was not deterred.

Once over the Chicago River, at the south end of the “Magnificent Mile” of Michigan Avenue, teeming with Christmas shoppers, a die-in was staged for 4 ½ minutes by around 400 demonstrators. The shoppers moved into the street to pass by. Many joined the march after it stepped off, as it covered a good two city blocks heading north. The march stopped again at the north end of the Mag Mile, across from Macy’s, where a tense stand-off took place, as the march strove to cross the street. Blocked by the police, the demonstration staged another die-in at this major intersection, packed with holiday shoppers. During the 4 ½ minutes, an eerie silence befell the entire area, not just among the demonstrators. It was as if time stood still, and the mad dash to obey-consume-repeat was halted for a reflective moment.

The march lasted over four hours. At one point the march headed south again, to Nordstrom’s. While some people held a big “Stolen Lives by Police Murder” banner in front of the store entrance, a number of marchers zipped in and staged a die-in. The police soon realized what was going on and swooped in after them – arresting at least 11 people. More arrests and vicious assaults on the crowd were made back on the street where the pigs grabbed several people, including a young woman from the Revolution Club, and viciously beat another young Revolution Club member who has been very active in the protests. These young revolutionaries were targeted by the police. All told 23 people were arrested and three people are facing felony charges.

But these outrageous attacks did not go down unopposed. The police department got so many calls condemning their actions that they resorted to not even talking to people, but just making stupid sounds. Nordstrom’s also must have thought twice about their role in this because they refused to press charges against all those arrested in their store. Supporters immediately went to the police station where people were being held to demand their release, staying ‘till after midnight.

--
Stop Mass Incarceration Network - Chicago
[email protected] • (312) 933-9586
www.facebook.com/SMINChicago
@StopMassIncChi
stopmassincarceration.net



The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is a project of the Alliance for Global Justice, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. The Stop Mass Incarceration Network is building a movement to stop the injustice of mass incarceration and police brutality; and the racially biased policies and practices of the police, the courts and the U.S. legal system; and to support the rights of prisoners and the formerly incarcerated. We call on all to join us.

[ckaihatsu]

Where’s the Outrage Now? -- Statement of Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration in Response to Shooting Death of Two NYC Police Officers

[please excuse duplicate postings; to subscribe / unsubscribe, contact [email protected]]


Where’s the Outrage Now?

In response to the shooting deaths of two New York City police officers, Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration, along with many other organizations, was asked by community leaders to release a statement of condolence -- and to distance our organization from the shooting. “Where’s the outrage now?” was heard from police officers; and community leaders have suggested it is our obligation to clarify our position.

We may be missing something, but as far as we know, no condolences have been expressed by police forces, PBA’s, or FOP’s on the deaths of Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and the many other police killing victims; nor have they distanced themselves from Darren Wilson or Daniel Pantaleo.

There are many heartbreaking and unnecessary deaths in our world every day, from many causes, from inadequate health care to pollution to poverty to drone attacks. We regret them all, we are outraged by them all; but we have never before been asked to issue a statement of condolence.

CAAMI, #BlackLivesMatter, and the movement we are part of were created to respond to a particular kind of unnecessary death -- the systematic killing and brutality directed toward youth of color by police with the approval of the criminal justice system.

There is no parallel between the deaths of these officers and the deaths we are protesting, of youth of color at the hands of police. The death of the officers was the act of a lone individual. The deaths we are protesting are institutionalized, systemic, official, continuing, and approved by criminal justice officialdom, the courts, and every level of government.

The job of policing is inherently dangerous, and made more so by the antagonistic, us-versus-them approach taken by police, especially white police in communities of color. We are told it is only “some” police officers, that the majority are professional and fair. This will only be true if and when the “some” are held accountable rather than protected by an entire system of power. We sincerely believe that a system of equal justice, transparency, community control and accountability will make the job of police officers much safer -- as well as make our communities safer and our youth less likely to be gunned down.

In addition, the call for us to respond with sympathy implies that our movement has some responsibility for these deaths, or that we have called for revenge. The opposite is true. The system of violent policing and mass incarceration is a system based on punishment and revenge -- the system we are trying to overturn. It is exactly because violence and punishment, coming from the most powerful forces in our society, beget more violence as well as untold suffering in our communities and around the world, that we oppose them. An eye for an eye is not coming from us, but is the dominant culture of our racist, hierarchical, violent, punitive society. A society’s dominant culture comes from its dominant forces -- in this case, its government, oligarchy (the 1%), corporations, police, military, media, and other entrenched institutions, not from the people on the ground and in the street.

Capital Area Against Mass Incarceration extends condolences to the families of New York City police officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu. We regret all violent and unnecessary deaths; and we continue to assert that dismantling the racist, violent, and oppressive criminal justice system is a crucial step in preventing them.

[ckaihatsu]

Salt Lake City protests police brutality on New Year's Eve

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/UAPB%20%282%29.jpg

By C. R. Manor

Salt Lake City, UT - Utah Against Police Brutality rang in the New Year with a rally here at the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building. Around 50 people braved the freezing temperatures to hear speeches against the ongoing police brutality in the U.S. In the state of Utah, police murders are outpacing those committed by drug dealers, gang members and child abusers.

In 2014, two high-profile police shootings occurred, taking the lives of Dillon Taylor and Darrien Hunt. Officer Bron Cruz killed Dillon Taylor, even though Taylor was unarmed. A body camera captured the incident; however, Salt Lake City (SLC) District Attorney Sim Gill justified the shooting. SLC Police Chief Chris Burbank said, “Under the circumstance, he used the appropriate force necessary facing that difficult situation," while in the same breath he declared, "that young man shouldn't have lost his life."

In another police murder, Darrien Hunt was stopped while carrying a model toy sword after two 911-phone calls reported him as suspicious. Darrien was an African American man walking in the majority white suburb of Saratoga Springs.

Despite contradicting testimonies, officers Schauerhamer and Judson were cleared, with Utah County District Attorney Jeff Buhman justifying the shooting. This result came despite video surveillance showing Darrien Hunt running for his life, with no toy sword in hand when the fatal shots were fired. The autopsy reports six shots to Darrien’s back. It was reported that Officer Judson wore a body camera that day, yet it was not activated during the encounter.

Activists are looking forward to 2015 as a year when all this changes. Utah Against Police Brutality made two New Year resolution: a campaign to create mandatory external reviews of all police shootings and a campaign to organize community classes for Know Your Rights training.

“They kill indiscriminately. They never are held accountable. Nobody asks questions. They sweep it under the rug and lie, then vilify the victim after that,” said Ash X to the crowd in front of the Federal Building.

Pratik Raghu spoke: “I was deeply upset by the way that the UN Human Rights Commission and Committee on Torture dismissed and belittled Mike Brown's family members.” Raghu views the killings, “as part of an international epidemic of police violence against civilians from Ferguson to Palestine to India.”

“The way the Ogden Police Department racially profiles Latino youth results in higher incarceration rates,” explained Malik Dayo an activist from nearby Ogden.

“Now we have to talk about Antonio Martin, not just Mike Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and Darrien Hunt,” explained Lex Scott, president of the United Front Party. Lamenting the ever-growing list of African Americans shot dead by police, Scott added, “We need to let those people out there know, that there will be no peace until we get our justice.”

Protesters marched on major streets in downtown Salt Lake City, taking the full lane of traffic on State Street, Main Street and West Temple. They then staged a die-in at a busy intersection, causing traffic to shut down and TRAX trains to back up.

The marched ended at the New Year’s ball drop, with protesters shutting down a major intersection. Police scrambled on scene to block off traffic, while protesters chanted “From Ferguson to SLC, end police brutality!”

A dozen SLC police officers looked on as cars forced their way through the crowd of protesters. The cops stood idle as protesters took action, with some ending up on top of moving vehicles. No severe injuries were reported.

One SLC cop pushed his way through a crowd, using his wooden baton to shove protesters out of the way. This officer refused to reveal his name and badge number to protesters.

“Utah Against Police Brutality is a great group doing great things. The United Front Party is proud to march with them and address the issue of police brutality. Addressing this issue is long overdue,” declared Lex Scott at the end of the action.

Follow activists on the ground in Utah with #utahprotest.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

New Year's Eve Protests Rocked


With protests planned in at least 22 cities, people across the country rocked in the New Year with resistance to the police murdering Black and Brown


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https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/0847/1925/original/2014-12-31-NYC_Union_Square.jpg?1420289690
New York City New Year's Eve


With protests planned in at least 22 cities, people across the country rocked in the New Year with resistance to the police murdering Black and Brown people and a resounding declaration that "Black Lives Matter!"

The protests came at a time when the authorities were trying to suppress the outpourings and demonstrations across the country demanding Justice for Michael Brown and Eric Garner with hundreds of arrests and calls for a moratorium on protests. We face the challenge of either going back to business as usual of police killing our people with impunity or going forward to build off the new and beautiful outpourings across the country to stop this outrage.

Carl Dix, co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and a representative of the Revolutionary Communist Party, had issued the call for “No New Year Under This Old System – We Can’t Breathe”. A message went out to the people of the world that the police murder Black and Brown people in the United States with impunity and we are determined to stop it. In the ten days leading up to New Year’s Eve and the day after, the airwaves and newspapers across the U.S and in the Dominican Republic, Canada, England, Kuwait, Israel, Malaysia, Iran and other countries were filled with reports that people planned to protest on New Year’s Eve in Times Square in New York.

We have initial reports from New York including a march from Union Square to Times Square and in Harlem, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, Oakland, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, San Francisco, and Seattle. Many of these actions were in response to Carl’s call. People marched, rallied and staged die-ins in the face of police threats, intimidation, being maced and arrests.

St. Louis “Over 100 determined protesters hit the cold St. Louis streets on New Year’s Eve morning, taking over downtown streets for an hour before ending at the main St. Louis Police HQ. People chanted the names of victims murdered by the police – Vonderrit Myers, Kajieme Powell, Mike Brown among others. Some protesters attempted to occupy the police headquarters. A list of demands including firing cops who killed people and dropping charges against non-violent protesters was read out loud and taped to police headquarters, and protesters served an 'eviction notice.' Police brutally expelled the occupiers, macing and beating numerous people including a photographer and a livestreamer.” (http://revcom.us/a/367/new-years-eve-protest-at-st-louis-metro-police-department-en.html)

In Boston, 100 people staged a die-in in Copley Square. Market St. in Newark, NJ was shut down by protest. In Los Angeles, the Stop Mass Incarceration Network and the Revolution Club took the call—No New Year Under This Old System; We Can't Breathe—to Grand Park in downtown Los Angeles, where tens of thousands of people came to celebrate New Year's Eve. In Oakland, hundreds of people, including many of Oscar Grant's family and friends, attended the 6th Annual Oscar Grant Vigil organized by Oscar's family.

In New York, we distributed 300 - 500 posters that said, “No New Year Under This Old System – We Can’t Breathe” to people that began lining up in the morning to get into Times Square. The call had gone out to take the protests into Times Square. People told us that they saw the posters on the television coverage of New Yea's Eve at midnight.

With temperatures in the mid-20’s, people rallied in Union Square in New York City. Despite the City of New York refusing to issue a permit for people to gather and the NYPD's refusal to grant a permit to march in the streets from Union Square to Times Square, people came. The news media had widely reported that the authorties had refused to grant permits. For ten days, elected officials like Mayor Bill DeBlasio and police did a full court press, demanding a moratorium on protests after the deaths of two NYPD officers in Brooklyn, trying to silence and suffocate the demands for justice.

Some tried to ridiculously blame the protests against the refusal to indict the cops that killed Michael Brown in Ferguson Missouri and Eric Garner on Staten Island in New York for the killing of the two officers. Peter Lynch, the head of the main police union, the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, threatened, "[W]e have, for the first time in a number of years, become a ‘wartime’ police department. We will act accordingly.” People that bravely came to Union Square to rally and march were going up against all of this.

Revolution Newspaper reported: “The crowd is very diverse, very multi-national; mainly younger people like in their 20s but there are also older people. People are very determined to fight these police murders. A woman holding a sign 'I can’t breathe' spoke about the horror of what happened to Eric Garner. An older man in a wheelchair came out in the cold, cold weather to protest [and] wearing his Vietnam Veterans Against the War shirt. Two young Black women, sisters both students [said] they came because, 'There is still racism, Black people are still being profiled and it’s a shame that this is still going on after all the struggle that we have waged.' A young white guy from out of town who didn’t know NYC, got subway directions to the protest.”

Speakers included Carl Dix, Juanita Young whose son Malcolm Ferguson was murdered by the NYPD in 2000, Nicholas Heyward Sr. whose 13 year old son was murdered by the NYPD in 1994, Travis Morales of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network-NYC, a Black transgender woman who spoke about the sexual violence and brutality against women by the police, a brother from Ferguson that has been out in the streets protesting the murder of Michael Brown, a young Black lesbian from North Carolina, Jamel from the Revolution Club, Sunsara Taylor of StopPatriarchy.org and writer for Revolution Newspaper, and a young Black woman from Dancers for Justice.

Everyone spoke movingly of stopping the police murders of our people. Several people spoke to bringing together all those angered and outraged by mass incarceration, the denial of a woman’s right to abortion, climate change, the use of torture by the U.S., the U.S. wars for empire, and police murdering Black and Brown people into a movement of resistance in 2015. Carl Dix and Sunsara Taylor invited people to come to Washington, DC on the anniversary of Roe vs Wade, the US Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in 1973, to protest anti-abortion forces who come in the thousands to demand the repeal of Roe vs Wade. Several people spoke to how the last six weeks of uprisings across the U.S. are the beginning of a new day.

People bravely rallied in Union Square in the face of at least 50 cops. The police played a recording through a loud speaker continuously throughout the rally warning people they would be arrested if they walked in the streets or interfered with people walking on the sidewalk. They passed out flyers that said the same thing.

Despite the NYPD’s refusal to grant a permit to march in the street to Times Square, about 170 people were counted marching out of Union Square on the sidewalk. With fire and excitement, people headed for Times Square, the Crossroads of the World, determined to take our message that the police murder of people in the U.S. must stop to the million people in Times Square and the people of the world. The police marched in the street alongside the protesters that marched on the sidewalk.

As we marched north on 6th Avenue, the police mob grew to 100 with many in riot gear. People defiantly chanted, “Indict, convict, send the killer cops to jail - the whole damn system is guilty as hell”, “I can't breathe”, “What do we want, justice. If we don't get it shut it down”, “How do you spell terrorist? NYPD”, “NYPD, KKK, how many kids have you killed today?”, and “No new year with the same old shit, we need a revolution, get with it.” The police were messing with people the entire time, at times shoving people and threatening arrests. People began chanting, “Why are you in riot gear? I don’t see no riot here.”

We were blocked and prevented from getting to Times Square by the police a couple of times. But people did not give up and would not be intimidated. They refused to back down and stop marching to Times Square. We finally reached the edge of the Times Square crowd that stretched to W. 38 St and Broadway shortly before midnight. “Then there was a die-in of about 25 people for about 20 minutes. (see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Kpt1JU1IM) Most revelers left (after midnight), but many stayed, checking out the protest and taking pictures of it, talking to protesters; about 20-30 joined the protesters.” (Revolution Newspaper)

All across the country, New Year’s Eve was not business as usual. People had to face threats, mace sprayed in their faces, beatings, and arrests to Rock in the New Year With Resistance to Police Murdering Black and Brown People. People around the world and the country heard the message that business as usual in the U.S. is the police killing Black and Brown people with impunity and we are determined to stop it. The defiance and courage of the people to be in the streets is exactly what was needed to start off the New Year and cap off six weeks of a heroic national uprising. We refuse to go back. The stage was set for 2015 to be a year of a big advance in struggle and resistance to the police murdering our people.

Additional reports and many photos and videos of New York and other cities are available at:

Stop Mass Incarceration Network

Youtube, Cat Watters, NYC

Stop Mass Incarceration Network reports

Reports from Revolution newspaper

Youtube, Cat Watters, NYC

Gothamist

Mashable

Facebook

Youtube, Cat Watters, NYC

The Guardian

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Leaving Union Square 10 pm, NYC

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Marching in New York New Year's Eve

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Police seize private Facebook account info in Black Lives Matter case

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/mall2.jpg

By staff

Minneapolis, MN - Attorneys with Black Lives Matter Minneapolis obtained a copy of a warrant Feb. 2 from the Bloomington Police Department that grants police permission to seize private information from the Facebook account of well-known community activist Nick Espinosa.

In response, Nick Espinosa issued this statement:
“I’m deeply disturbed to share that Bloomington Police have obtained a warrant to seize private information from my Facebook account as part of the ongoing political persecution and surveillance of alleged Black Lives Matter organizers who supported a peaceful gathering at the Mall of America on Dec. 20.

“The Bloomington Police Department hopes to find evidence of a conspiracy to aid and abet trespassing, among other ridiculous charges. But the only conspiracy we see here is the collusion of public officials and private corporations to abuse the people they were elected to serve.

“This blatant violation of my privacy and civil rights is part of an ill-conceived crusade by the City of Bloomington to intimidate and silence young activists of color at the behest of the largest shopping mall in the U.S., with our own public dollars.

“As was true of the civil rights activists who paved our way, these gross miscarriages of justice will only strengthen our resolve to dismantle the systems of oppression tearing apart our communities and will inspire thousands more to action. We have nothing to lose but our chains.

“End this political witch hunt. Drop the charges now.”

The city of Bloomington filed charges last month against 10 people they accuse of organizing a peaceful Black Lives Matter demonstration at the Mall of America in December 2014. City Attorney Sandra Johnson has said she will pursue restitution for “lost revenue” and $33,000 of police overtime to make an example of “ringleaders” to deter future demonstrations.

Defendants were charged with up to eight misdemeanors with a maximum penalty of two years in prison and an $8000 fine.

Espinosa, along with two defendants - Michael McDowell and Mica Grimm - were visited at their homes twice by Bloomington Police in the lead-up to the event and were threatened with arrest if the gathering was not canceled.

Bloomington Police also sent undercover officers to infiltrate a training held in preparation for a peaceful event at the Mall of America to conduct surveillance and identify “leaders.”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]