We can't back down. Justice for Alton and Philando

[ckaihatsu]

We can't back down.

Justice for Alton and Philando

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.colorofchange.org/images/CoC-_AP_Banner.jpg

Chris,

I don't even know what to feel right now. Like so many of you, I woke up yesterday to yet another video of a Black man's death autoplaying in my social media feed. Then, snipers attacked a peaceful demonstration in Dallas last night, threatening protesters and killing police officers--and it feels like we're in a never-ending nightmare.

Here's what I do know: We can't give up our fight for justice. Not now. Not ever.

So far, you and over 220,000 people have signed the petition demanding the Department of Justice bring charges against Alton Sterlings and Philando Castile's killers. People are fed up. And the more people who sign on--the harder it becomes for the Department of Justice to ignore. Can you share the petition with your family and friends? (http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6437?t=2&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU)

Philando Castile's murder came less than 24 hours after the cops executed Alton Sterling.1 The officer shot him four times after pulling him, his girlfriend, and his daughter over for a broken taillight. Philando's girlfriend, Diamond "Lavish" Reynolds, livestreamed the entire incident on Facebook--you can hear the officer screaming at her while she tries to hold it together and her four-year-old daughter says “It’s ok, Mommy. I’m right here with you.”2 Then Diamond was arrested while the police took her child away.

Philando Castile complied with the officers' orders. He had a concealed carry permit. The only thing he could've done to avoid being killed was to not be Black. Share the petition. (http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6437?t=3&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU)

There's a lot we can't make sense of, but one thing is clear after these few hard days: Policing in our communities does NOT equal safety. It has been nearly two years since protesters in Ferguson inspired a national outcry for police accountability.3 But our leaders have only increased their investment in the very police departments that are killing us. They do this with body cameras, racially-biased policing software, and ‘Blue Lives Matter’ bills. Meanwhile Black communities deal with the same outcomes of police terror and over-incarceration.4 Last night's tragedy will likely become another reason for increased police militarization and decreased safety for our people out in the streets.

The Department of Justice still hasn't agreed to launch a federal investigation into Philando's murder--but we're calling on them to bring accountability to the Baton Rouge and Falcon Heights police departments and bring charges in both Alton Sterling's and Philando Castile's cases.

Share the petition? (http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6437?t=4&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU)

Until justice is real,

--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Clarise, Enchanta and the rest of the ColorOfChange team.

References:

1. "Why Alton Sterling and Philando Castile Are Dead," The Nation, 07-07-2016
https://act.colorofchange.org/go/6447?t=6&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU

2. "Woman livestreams aftermath of boyfriends fatal shooting by police in Falcon Heights," Twin Cities.com, 07-06-2016 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6448?t=8&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU

3. "Ferguson Remembers The Death That Launched A Movement," The Huffington Post, 08-09-2016 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6449?t=10&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU

4. "Justice Department Awards Over $23 Million in Funding for Body Worn Camera Pilot Program to Support Law Enforcement Agences in 32 States," The Department of Justice, 09-25-2015 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/6450?t=12&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU

"Louisiana governor signs 'Blue Lives Matter' bill making offenses against police hate crimes," NY Daily News, 05-27-2016http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6451?t=14&akid=5957.872082.rmqGoU


ColorOfChange is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from ColorOfChange again, click here to unsubscribe.

- - - Updated - - -

Protesting Murder and Terror by the Police Is Absolutely Righteous and Necessary!
STOP MURDER AND TERROR BY POLICE NOW!!
We Need Revolution!

A Point of Orientation for Right Now:

http://revcom.us/i/439/439p01-th-en.jpg

The Revolutionary Communist Party IS ORGANIZING NOW TO OVERTHROW THIS SYSTEM AT THE SOONEST POSSIBLE TIME. Preparing to lead an actual revolution to bring about a radically new and better society: the New Socialist Republic in North America.

From Time To Get Organized for an ACTUAL Revolution-Message from the Central Committee of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001xk_4Ps0bAKEsMZPqC6peVoTS6e1BEMk6b7X-9JE5Rx6mXFTweJmNeChyykFBO-ElGq9ITyA-VlFu3a4BF-7XbCA_CiO3KQBa99fKUeDXCfTz7JrgO0nTzbP334WpVFenh1X3 MP7SlYnrzgnuTestsGVhFWYj4rf7-HcPBhshpabgPDLFJj50ywHKoCWdk5w0Hbtwt_AQ3skKSkCkQpD M8ZdnrVW7Zq0faBQYG8ACissJgR8m9zUYdg==&c=_gClpVEYCMw-n700Do04m0LVO54bGfosShhbTG506FR5l_AydezqHA==&ch=t1SbD96OCvLkYuUSHUQYim04wayeP2Xp_ITNGHokSmQvpHe puQHOfQ==)


In the past few days, in the face of yet more new and awful videos documenting the real role and behavior of the police, people have once again begun to rise up righteously. Despite an incident in Dallas in which five police were killed, THIS PROTEST MUST CONTINUE AND INTENSIFY AND PEOPLE MUST CONTINUE TO SEEK THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM AND ITS SOLUTION.

The protest movement that arose once again in the last few days is positive and important. Slanders must be met with the truth and attempts to suppress this movement must be defeated. Attacks on the families of the victims must CEASE.

These protests came after the cold-blooded blue-coated murderers of Tamir Rice and Eric Garner and Sandra Bland and Freddie Gray and Rekia Boyd and Andy Garcia and countless less well-known victims have walked free. These protests come after months of promises, months of advice to "make reasonable demands," months of advice to "do something sensible and vote" and generally to work within the system: a system that is criminal at its core and never will and never can give a rat's ass about the people they grind under and exploit and oppress.

Let's say it straight out: the amount of police who have been killed by people is tiny-tiny-compared to the amount of people they have killed month in and month out, year in and year out. So don't let them change the subject. The subject that must be addressed is this: how do we END murder and terror by the police, what must be done to STOP it?

REALITY CHECKS (Continue reading... (http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001xk_4Ps0bAKEsMZPqC6peVoTS6e1BEMk6b7X-9JE5Rx6mXFTweJmNeL6rFVkxOTCpRR2Guj7QJMrvNLsmLCLaPr ZTzYUDB5M1vcx7M6MNqKiX2D_318g_nfILKdOuMxhfiP5vYjb5 y7ZFl1Y-cY9miQ_0PN1M9djU7F04ZwBiGIi6kQjqzZMIqidxN0bQj7hrcR wc_CouW0C1xKhDY25j2E3Ay-fohTau4t0-mPVjm6fxEt0X54yauEfdZBt3Df4R1naTDuytaxhehnN9cKCQMX yD28bXe8GM&c=_gClpVEYCMw-n700Do04m0LVO54bGfosShhbTG506FR5l_AydezqHA==&ch=t1SbD96OCvLkYuUSHUQYim04wayeP2Xp_ITNGHokSmQvpHe puQHOfQ==))


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go to www.revcom.us everyday.

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- - - Updated - - -

Jacksonville holds vigil for victims of police crimes

Nationwide response to police killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/Jax%20Vigil.jpg

By Fernando Figueroa

Jacksonville, FL – Over 100 community members and activists held a vigil for the victims of police crimes on the corner of N. Liberty Street and E. 9th Street on July 8. The evening vigil was planned in response to the cold-blooded murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by the police earlier that same week. Local victims of police crimes, including Vernelle Bing Jr. and D'Angelo Stallworth, were also commemorated.

Across the nation, people are outraged at the recent murders of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile at the hands of the police. In Jacksonville, community members have been organizing around the killings of D'Angelo Stallworth since May 2015 and Vernell Bing Jr. since May 2016. Several organizations from around the city including the Kemetic Empire and the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition (JPC) were present at the vigil, along with activists from the LGBTQ, student, labor, anti-war and Palestinian movements. No one was deterred from attending the vigil despite over 15 Jacksonville Sheriff Office cars parked just two blocks up the street. A full lineup of speakers slammed racism and national oppression, speaking about the need to join organizations dedicated to fighting for social and economic justice.

Standing on the very intersection where the unarmed Vernelle Bing Jr. was gunned down by an officer of the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office this past May, speakers urged the crowd to take action and organize their communities to stand against the racist killings of Black people. A leader of Black Educators for Justice, Master James X Muhammad, introduced the speakers and moderated the event.

The family and friends of both Vernell Bing Jr. and D'Angelo Stallworth were welcome participants at the vigil, which lasted for several hours. One of the speakers described an important contingent of Jacksonville organizers from the Kemetic Empire who were in Baton Rogue, Louisiana for the weekend to support the fight for justice after the murder of Alton Sterling.

The Jacksonville Progressive Coalition's own Denise Hunt was one of the speakers at the vigil. “We have to take down institutionalized racism, and I don't give a damn if that makes some of you uncomfortable. We have to do it and fight all forms of oppression and injustice,” she urged the crowd.

After the speakers, candles were lit and people offered them at the shrine dedicated to the memory of Vernell Bing Jr., for his family and the families of all victims of police crimes.

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

[ckaihatsu]

Lawsuit filed in LA Sheriffs killing of Edwin Rodriguez

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

By staff

Los Angeles, CA - Chanting “We want justice for Edwin Rodriguez,” the family and lawyers announced, at a July 5 press conference, the filing of a lawsuit against the County of Los Angeles and Deputy Sheriffs Andrew Alatorre and Sandy Galdamez for the killing of the 24-year-old father.

The press conference, held at the historic Olvera Street Placita was attended by the family members, attorneys and the Centro CSO Community Service Organization. The public heard the chants for justice and saw the large banners. There was a large turnout from Spanish and English media.

Edwin Rodriguez was pulled over by ELA Sheriffs, beaten and shot to death on Feb. 14, 2016. He was shot 17 times - 16 shots were fatal - with many shots to his back and back of head. The sheriffs claimed that Rodriguez was in a stolen car and a small hand gun was found at the scene. However, the car was not stolen; it belonged to the driver’s mother. Antonio Rodriguez, the family's attorney said, “There was no reason to pull them over and Edwin was unarmed when shot and killed.”

Estela Rodriguez, mother of Edwin, stated, “My son was a caring person who worked and loved art; he did not deserve to be killed in such a brutal way. We will fight for justice for my son, so that it does not happen to others.”

Stephanie Yanez, Edwin Rodriguez’s partner, said that he was a good father and did not deserve to die so young.

Jorge Gonzalez, co-attorney on the case, stated that the LA County Sheriffs are not held accountable for unjustified killings; they are not prosecuted.

Carlos Montes, long time Chicano activist organizer with Centro CSO stated, “These police killings have been going on for years in a pattern of abuse and brutality against the Chicano community. The LA County Sheriffs are racist, official killers.”

The Rodriguez family and Centro CSO have called for the firing and prosecution of Sheriff’s Deputies Alatorre and Galdamez.

According to the lawsuit, on Feb. 14, 2016, at about 3:00 a.m., Deputies Alatorre and Galdamez unlawfully stopped a vehicle in which Defendent Rodriguez and two friends were riding. At the intersection of Ferris and Whittier Boulevard, in East Los Angeles, the sheriff’s deputies ran up to the vehicle with guns drawn and shouting commands at them. After physically removing the driver of the vehicle, a female, the deputies forcefully pulled Eduardo (Edwin) out of the front passenger side and away from the vehicle and into the middle of the street where suddenly and without warning, provocation or legal justification, Deputies Alatorre and Galdamez shot at Eduardo seventeen (17) times with their handguns mostly to the back of his torso and head, causing him fatal injuries and to expire immediately.

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

[ckaihatsu]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jul/10/micah-johnson-dallas-gunman-explosives-attack


Hundreds arrested amid new protests as details of Dallas gunman's plans emerge

Demonstrators across US renew outcry against police shootings

Search suggests Micah Johnson prepared for larger attack, police chief says

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Police officers join parishioners of First Baptist church in Dallas as they gather to pray for the attack’s victims. Photograph: Laura Buckman/AFP/Getty Images

Jon Swaine in Dallas and Edward Helmore in New York

Sunday 10 July 2016 11.27 EDT Last modified on Sunday 10 July 2016 13.36 EDT

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Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested in cities across the US this weekend, as protests against police shootings intensified and new details emerged about the motivations and plans of a man who killed five officers in Dallas.

Police detained 125 people on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where protests continued to grow over the fatal shooting by officers last week of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old African American, as he was pinned down during a struggle.

Military-style vehicles, teargas and smoke grenades returned to American streets for the first time this summer, and Barack Obama appealed for calm and condemned those who would attack law enforcement for undermining the cause of social justice.


Father of Dallas shooting victim: 'All this fighting, all this racism must stop'
Read more


Among those arrested was DeRay Mckesson, a high-profile national leader in the Black Lives Matter movement. Police said Mckesson was arrested for blocking a street even as video he was livestreaming at the time of his detention indicated that he was off the roadway.

Protesters complained they were being denied their rights to peaceful assembly. “In cities across America, police are responding to peaceful protests with provocation, violence, and unconstitutional arrests,” said Samuel Sinyangwe, a prominent activist with the group Campaign Zero and a close ally of Mckesson’s.

Another 100 people were arrested during clashes with police in and around St Paul, Minnesota, where the death of Philando Castile after his shooting by a police officer last week was broadcast live on Facebook, causing widespread public anger.

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DeRay McKesson was arrested. Photograph: Max Becherer/AP

As protesters blocked an interstate highway, police flooded streets in Bearcat military vehicles and used smoke bombs to break up demonstrations. The police chief, Todd Axtell, said about 20 of his officers had been struck with bottles, rocks and other items pelted at them by crowds, which he said was “a disgrace”.

Dozens more protesters were detained by police during protests in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Baltimore and Phoenix, where police used teargas and pepper spray to disperse crowds. More protests were planned for late on Sunday, including in St Louis, Missouri, where in August 2014 an unarmed black 18-year-old was killed in the suburb of Ferguson in a flashpoint that continues to reverberate two years later.

Tensions have risen even as the city of Dallas mourns the assassination-style killings of five police officers last week by Micah Johnson, an army veteran and member of the New Black Panther party.

On Sunday, the Dallas police chief, David Brown, said investigators had found bomb-making equipment and written evidence indicating that Johnson was plotting attacks “large enough to have devastating effects throughout our city and our north Texas area”.

“We’re convinced that this suspect had other plans, and thought what he was doing was righteous,” he added.

Brown said Johnson had apparently been planning to “target law enforcement, and make us pay for what he sees as law enforcement’s efforts to punish people of colour” since before last week’s fatal shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota, which merely triggered his actions.
The police chief disclosed that Johnson had daubed the letters “RB” in his own blood on a wall of the parking garage where he was cornered and eventually killed by a police robot. The significance of the initials were unclear.

Investigators have also learned that Johnson had practiced military-style drills in his backyard and trained at a private self-defence school that teaches special tactics, including “shooting on the move”, a technique in which an attacker fires and quickly changes position, to keep his location uncertain and create the impression of multiple assailants.

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David Brown, the Dallas police chief. Photograph: David Woo/AP

The deaths of Sterling and Castile had had apparently moved Johnson to act before his more ambitious plan could be realised, Brown said. The gunman had kept a journal of combat tactics, Brown said, but his writings included “quite a bit of rambling in the journal that’s hard to decipher”.

The police chief also revealed details of the two-hour standoff between the gunman and police, which ended when officers sent a robot carrying a pound of C4 explosive to detonate near Johnson. The gunman, hidden in a brick corner where snipers could not see him and officers could not safely approach, demanded to speak only with a black police negotiator, Brown said.

“He lied to us, laughing, playing games, singing, asking how many did he get and saying he wanted to kill some more,” he said. The police chief eventually made the decision to improvise with the robot. “I began to feel he was going to charge us and take out many more before we would kill him,” Brown said, adding: “I approved [the decision] and I’d do it again under the same circumstances.”

Obama cut short a visit to Europe early this week and will travel to Dallas before convening a summit at the White House between police chiefs and community leaders. Speaking Spain on Sunday, he defended the “messy and controversial” tradition of American protest but reiterated his condemnation of violence against law enforcement.

“Whenever those of us who are concerned about failure of the criminal justice system attack police, you are doing a disservice to the cause,” Obama said.

Also on Sunday, Dallas’s mayor, Mike Rawlings, said marchers carrying weapons and dressed in body armor had distracted law enforcement from the actual gunman on Thursday, telling CBS’s Face the Nation that other individuals carrying guns on the scene “took our eye off the ball for a moment”.

“You can carry a rifle legally and when you have gunfire going on, you usually go with the person that’s got a gun,” he said. “And so our police grabbed some of those individuals, took them to police headquarters and worked it out and figured out that they were not the shooters. But that is one of the real issues with the gun rights issues that we face – that in the middle of a firefight, it’s hard to pick out the good guys and the bad guys.”

He added that investigators were talking to Johnson’s neighbors and family to learn whether “there’s anybody that aided and abetted him, conspired with him. We don’t have any new news on that regard. That is probably going to take some days.”

© 2016 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.

[ckaihatsu]

Carl Dix on Fox Kelly File Tonight 9pm


Chris --

Monday 9:00 - 10:00 pm Fox News The Kelly File

Carl Dix, co-founder of the Stop Mass Incarceration Network, will represent the Revolutionary Communist Party on a live panel discussing the last week's events in Baton Rouge, Minnesota & Dallas.

https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/1350/9664/original/CD-BR_7-9-16__IMG_2524-800.jpg?1468271445
Carl Dix speaking Friday July 8 at rally in Baton Rouge, near where Alton Sterling was killed

Interview with Carl Dix

Building the Movement for an Actual Revolution in Baton Rouge

July 11, 2016 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us

Editor’s note: People in Baton Rouge and around the country are continuing to stand up and fight for justice. They are not letting the focus be changed, not backing down, not buckling under to calls to go home. Carl Dix is in Baton Rouge as part of a crew, including members of the Revolution Club, from around the country to bring the message that we are organizing for an actual revolution. As a crucial part of preparing for that, we are joining with and encouraging people to continue to fight. Revolution talked to Carl Dix on Sunday night, July 10. full interview (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsable.madmimi.com%2Fclick%3Fid%3D 18987.183739.5057.1.45a757d9d2c7e3f1e448ff9f4df474 cf&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=natl_july_11&n=3)

***
Tuesday July 12: Trial of #ShutDownRikers defendants

Clark Kissinger & Miles Solay

If you're in the NYC area, come out tomorrow to Queens Criminal Court
125-01 Queens Blvd. Join & Share Facebook Event (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsable.madmimi.com%2Fclick%3Fid%3D 18987.183739.5058.1.74fd5b875dd7cd9fe8e77f00320166 4b&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=natl_july_11&n=4)
If you're elsewhere --
sign the petition to the DA (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsable.madmimi.com%2Fclick%3Fid%3D 18987.183739.5059.1.a518128f3daadf503b2b375c0422e1 89&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=natl_july_11&n=5) demanding he DROP the Charges

Don t Let Miles Solay & Clark Kissinger Go to Jail for Protesting
the Torture Prison called Rikers Island
https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/1350/9842/original/Don_t_Let_Miles_Solay___Clark_KissingerGo_to_Jail_ for__Protesting_the_Torture_Prison_called_Rikers_I sland_.jpg?1468273039
Miles Solay & Clark Kissinger

https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/1350/9888/original/Keep_Miles___Clark_OUT_OF_JAIL_.jpg?1468273245

Keep Miles & Clark OUT OF JAIL
https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/1350/9910/original/Rikers-DSC_8992-800.jpg?1468273368
October 23, 2015 #ShutDownRikers action as part of #RiseUpOctober

Stop Mass Incarceration Network supporters have been out in masses over the last week, protesting across the U.S. to #Stoppoliceterror. See reports at:
stopmassincarceration.net
revcom.us

***
https://cascade.madmimi.com/promotion_images/1350/9969/original/donte_jordan.png?1468273805
Donte Jordan

Stolen Lives Families Speak Out on the Police Murder of Alton Sterling

Statement from Pamela Fields (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsable.madmimi.com%2Fclick%3Fid%3D 18987.183739.5066.1.c473d43476e677dff3f25c6410cf7b 83&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=natl_july_11&n=12), mother of Donte Jordan, killed by Long Beach Police on November 10, 2013

That man, Alton Sterling, was down - no threat at all. We ALL need to get involved and do something. We need numbers and our demand is THIS MUST STOP! Enough is enough. I'm angry and mad. Another mother sharing my pain. There is no way this shit should still be happening. Video after video after video...and they "investigate" themselves, put cops on paid vacation and throw money at families to shut us up. NO! Something has to happen and quick. There is more of us than them... let's put our boots on the ground and let's make it happen!

more families speak out (http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsable.madmimi.com%2Fclick%3Fid%3D 18987.183739.5067.1.94d82dd962261b628a8c657cfd1301 b6&e=4160b7d4c80bd7ff2829463c3b9e0a03&utm_source=riseupoctober&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=natl_july_11&n=13)

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Stop Mass Incarceration Network
http://www.stoppoliceterror.org/
Stop Mass Incarceration Network · Box 941 Knickerbocker Station, New York , NY 10002, United States
This email was sent to [email protected] To stop receiving emails, click here.
You can also keep up with Stop Mass Incarceration Network on Twitter or Facebook.

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[ckaihatsu]

[LaborTech] Statement on the Recent Attacks on Black Lives Matter's Website


Statement on the Recent Attacks on Black Lives Matter's Website
Date: Mon, 11 Jul 2016 16:42:46 -0400
From: May First / People Link <[email protected]>
Reply-To: May First / People Link <[email protected]>
To:

July 11, 2016
For immediate release

Statement on the Recent Attacks on Black Lives Matter's Website

from Black Lives Matter, eQualit.ie and May First/People Link, Design Action Collective

The official Black Lives Matter website - http://blacklivesmatter.com -
has experienced a massive denial of service attack starting this past
weekend and continuing at this time. The site remains functional due
largely to the protections provided by Deflect (https://deflect.ca/), a
program made available by eQualit.ie (https://equalit.ie/).

Black Lives Matter, a May First/People Link member that is supported by
the Design Action Collective, is a central organization in the response
movement against police abuse, brutality and misconduct. It was expected
that, after a week of vigorous protest against last week's horrific and
unprovoked killings by police of Philando Castile in St Paul, Minnesota,
and Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, there would be a surge in
legitimate traffic to the BLM website.

But that surge was accompanied, Saturday, by a Distributed Denial of
Service attack (also expected) from opponents of the Black Lives Matter
movement.

Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks like this one use a network
of computers to simultaneously attempt massive amounts of connections to
a website - too many for the site to handle. As a result, the site
becomes unavailable. In this case, the Black Lives Matter website was
hit with a spectacular number of connections in one day (over 15
million, with an attack network of over 12,000 bots).

Most commercial providers immediately shut down websites under this type
of attack choosing to give in to attackers to protect the rest of their
customers. That has never been May First/People Link's policy.

The attack has been countered and successfully contained using Deflect
and the BLM website has been functional and accessible for much of the
weekend. May First has collaborated with eQualit.ie during most of the
major DDOS attacks on MF/PL members and there are protocols the
organizations use to fend off DDOS attacks.

Keeping a website available when attackers are seeking to take it
off-line is essential for many reasons. The most obvious is the
importance of protecting the fundamental right to human communication.
But the specific targeting that characterizes recent DDOS attacks (on
networks supporting reproductive rights, Palestinian rights and the
rights of people of color) highlights this type of on-line attack as
part of the arsenal being used to quash response and social change
movements.

DDOS attacks will increase as our protests and organizing increases and
so must our movements' ability to resist them and stay on-line. The
collaborative work that spawned the response to this attack is both an
example of this protective effort and yet another step in improving it
and making it stronger.

Our organizations work in different areas with different programs but we
are united in our commitment to vigorously preserving our movements'
right to communicate and defeating all attempts to curtail that right.
Without the ability to communicate freely, we can't organize and, if we
can't organize, our world can never be truly free.

Black Lives Matter, eQualit.ie, Design Action Collective and May First/People Link

Contacts:

Black Lives Matter -- Shanelle Matthews -- [email protected]
May First/People Link -- Alfredo Lopez -- [email protected]
eQualit.ie -- Dimitri Vitaliev -- [email protected]

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[ckaihatsu]

How the FBI greenlighted the crackdown on Black Lives Matter


Partnership for Civil Justice Fund

The following article was by published today on Alternet (http://www.justiceonline.org/r?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Fcivil-liberties%2Ffbi-greenlights-crackdown-black-lives-matter-protesters-after-dallas-police-shooting&e=84aab3269399c192a83de08f64886f1e&utm_source=justiceonline&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fbi_greenlights&n=2)

How the FBI greenlighted the crackdown on Black Lives Matter

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By Mara Verheyden-Hilliard
Executive Director of the PCJF

The events of the past week have placed the country at a decisive moment. Words matter but deeds matter more. Leadership matters. President Obama spoke about the need for real change and new “practices” following the gruesome murders by police officers of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. He followed that by stating last weekend, "One of the great things about America is that individual citizens and groups of citizens can petition their government, can protest, can speak truth to power. And that is sometimes messy and controversial but because of that ability to protest and engage in free speech, America over time has gotten better. We've all benefited from that.”

But the real truth is that federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies, under the Obama administration, are continuing to fuel and encourage a repressive crackdown on peaceful demonstrators exercising their First Amendment rights and moving for social change in America.

Last weekend, Baton Rouge’s African-American community was repeatedly assaulted by the police when they attempted to peacefully protest the killing of Mr. Sterling. The Baton Rouge police were given the green light by President Obama’s FBI to approach this peaceful protest as they would an enemy force. This has been the dangerous pattern of the FBI and other federal law enforcement efforts in the past few years: to suppress social movements in coordination with local police departments.

While the arrests were carried out by local police, federal law enforcement agencies facilitated and laid the groundwork for the anti-free speech crackdown.

The suppression and dispersal of a peaceful protest by Baton Rouge’s African-American community is emblematic of the methods used to extinguish free speech rights of those communities seeking to redress issues of racial and economic inequality.

Here’s what happened and why:

More than 100 peaceful protesters were arrested by police on Saturday. Police repeatedly swept into the crowd like a paramilitary force dressed as robots, giving no audible instructions and snatching people for arrest. More were arrested on Sunday by police who moved in wearing riot gear and plastic face masks, and banged their batons against riot shields in threatening unison.

By 12:00 a.m. on Sunday, July 10, the city was under a virtual lockdown. Businesses closed down early in response to the police actions in the streets. Local law enforcement had clearly received the go-ahead to suppress those in the community who were demanding justice.

The police treated Baton Rouge’s Black community like an “enemy” rather than Americans exercising the cherished rights. President Obama spoke about the right to assemble and redress grievances, but the message that the protestors were the enemy was broadcast by his FBI.

The FBI’s New Orleans Field Office circulated an alert to local law enforcement on July 7 titled “Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers and Riots Planned for 8-10 July 2016.” (http://www.justiceonline.org/fbi_and_federal_government_laid_basis_for_baton_ro uge_police_crackdown_on_black_lives_matter?e=84aab 3269399c192a83de08f64886f1e&utm_source=justiceonline&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fbi_greenlights&n=5) This document consisted of a few unsourced and inflammatory images that appear to be screen grabs from random social media postings. No such “riots” took place anywhere over the weekend and, despite widely circulating that the peaceful demonstrators were bent on violence, not a single law enforcement entity cited any credible evidence of such a threat or plot. But the bulletin gave local law enforcement — implicitly or explicitly — the green light for repression.
The message of repression is clear: If you rise up and protest against police abuse in Baton Rouge, be prepared to go to jail, be assaulted, have to come up with hundreds of dollars in bail money, find a competent attorney, and then to go through the system and endure the consequences of having a “record” marked by arrest and possible conviction. Many individuals who don’t have the resources end up having to plead out and accept some fine, probation or even jail time.

The PCJF’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) investigations carried out over the last five years in particular have shown that the FBI, DHS, Fusion Centers and other federal law enforcement agencies regularly label peaceful protest as terrorist activity, and also concoct “violent” potential scenarios so as to justify the widespread surveillance of and crackdown on the social justice movement and dissenters. Such an abuse of counter-terrorism authority, it should be noted, is accompanied by a wide abuse in counter-terrorism funding, in the form of billions of dollars in agency budgets and private federal contracts.

Relating directly to Louisiana,a PCJF investigation into federal monitoring of the Occupy Wall Street movement discovered that the ATF and U.S. Marshals Service were both actively involved (http://www.justiceonline.org/exposed_atf_s_monitoring_of_occupy_and_known_anarc hists_and_protestors?e=84aab3269399c192a83de08f648 86f1e&utm_source=justiceonline&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fbi_greenlights&n=7) in stimulating an “extremism” scare among local law enforcement. After soliciting 70 State Fusion Centers for information about violence stemming from the Occupy movement, the New Orleans ATF Field Intelligence Group received “overwhelming negative responses.” The agency nonetheless manufactured “several scenarios where escalation to violence could occur.”

A similar PCJF investigation found such conduct from the FBI in its decade-long monitoring of School of the Americas Watch (http://www.justiceonline.org/soaw?e=84aab3269399c192a83de08f64886f1e&utm_source=justiceonline&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fbi_greenlights&n=8), a human rights organization founded by pacifists aiming to end the U.S. role in the militarization of Latin America. Despite internal FBI reports admitting “the peaceful intentions” of the SOA Watch leaders, the agency justified their work on the basis that “a militant group would infiltrate the protestors and use of the cover of the crowd to create problems.” Yet they admitted that “at this time, there are no specific or known threats to this event.”

The PCJF exposed the role of the FBI in a national operation that involved field offices across the country targeting the peaceful Occupy movement (http://www.justiceonline.org/ows-foia?e=84aab3269399c192a83de08f64886f1e&utm_source=justiceonline&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fbi_greenlights&n=9), which was ultimately extinguished in cities and towns across the United States with more than 7,000 arrests.

Now that playbook is being followed with the Black Lives Matter movement. While the Justice Department and President Obama himself have repeatedly spoken of building unity between local police and the Black community, and claim to be in favor of the right to dissent and protest, in practice the FBI — which is under their control — is ratcheting up tensions and laying the groundwork for repression.

The pattern is clear: Federal and local law enforcement target the First Amendment-protected activities of social justice movements because they pose a political threat, not a violent one. Regardless of the fact that the activities of these movements are constitutionally protected, U.S. domestic and federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies operate with a methodology that helps justify repression and a false media presentation. It also contributes to the right-wing and racist smear against the BLM movement amplified by talk radio and politicians.

The people of this country should not allow the Dallas shootings, which local and federal law enforcement all agree were carried out by a ‘deranged’ lone gunman, to be manipulated into an attack on the Black Lives Matter movement.

The PCJF demands that the FBI and other intelligence entities stop treating peaceful protesters as potential violent threats. It is well past time for the Obama administration and Congress to reign in the unchecked abuse of power and authority that lead to the circulation of last weekend’s false bulletin about Black Lives Matter protests. The federal agencies that are carrying out fear-mongering and circulating exaggerated and concocted reports about Black Lives Matter free speech actions are effectively giving a green light for local law enforcement to sweep protests off the streets.

It is not too late for President Obama, in his final months in office, to have his deeds match his words. In his speech last week, he reiterated that “America over time has gotten better” because people have taken to the streets to protest and “speak truth to power.” No one should believe for a second that that this vital tradition of protest is going to stop. On the contrary, it is growing. The question is whether the FBI and other federal government law enforcement agencies are going to use their vast authority and power to set up pretexts justifying one confrontation after another with grassroots movements seeking change. That path will succeed only in intensifying polarization and ever-graver conflicts. Such tactics will not succeed in extinguishing social movements, whose existence is caused by unmet needs, racial and economic disparities, and the absence of justice for so many.

More than 200 were arrested in Baton Rouge over the weekend. The National Lawyers Guild in Louisiana is playing a major role in defending those arrested. The National Lawyers Guild in Louisiana is playing a major role in defending those arrested.

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Please make a donation today to continue the important work of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund. (http://www.justiceonline.org/donate?e=84aab3269399c192a83de08f64886f1e&utm_source=justiceonline&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fbi_greenlights&n=12)

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[ckaihatsu]

The WNBA just handed out major fines to players who spoke out against police brutality.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.colorofchange.org/images/Lynx_email.jpg

Demand the WNBA immediately rescind all fines and penalties!

TAKE ACTION (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/stand-wnba-players-against-police-violence/?t=2&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV)


Dear Chris,

At a time when we need more voices speaking up, powerful entities are trying to shut them down.

In the wake of the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile by police and the shooting of five police officers in Dallas, WNBA teams wore warm-up T-shirts honoring the movement for Black lives and the slain officers. A multiracial group of women, some of them mothers all of them strength personified, took the court wearing shirts that said phrases like “Change Begins With Us,” "Justice and Accountability," and "Black Lives Matter". Standing strong, even as they received unfair attacks from police officers.1

But this week, the WNBA decided to crack down on some of the players for their statement against violence and police brutality.2 Will you join me in demanding that the league rescind their fines immediately? (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/stand-wnba-players-against-police-violence/?t=3&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV)

The WNBA fined 37 players from the Indiana Fever, New York Liberty and Phoenix Mercury who wore warm-up shirts in protest of police brutality. Because of low pay, the women of the WNBA often take second jobs or play overseas, in order to live out their dream of being a professional basketball player.3 For many of them, the $500 dollar fines are far from insignificant – and yet many continue to speak out despite that.

But this is about more than fines, this is about the WNBA reinforcing that police violence in our communities doesn’t matter, that our issues aren’t important and that speaking on them makes you subject to punishment. With more than 70% of the league being made up of Black athletes, the WNBA is heavily profiting from the hard work of Black players and should not be trying to silence them as they call for an end to the violence they face daily.4

Join me in standing with these players against violence and police brutality! (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/stand-wnba-players-against-police-violence/?t=4&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV)

It didn’t matter to the WNBA that the shirts were made by Adidas, the league’s official uniform supplier and that the players made sure that they conformed with uniform requirements.5 The players even informed the WNBA last week of their plans and were not told they would be subject to fines.

Even more puzzling is that the WNBA and NBA both have a history of supporting the freedom of athletes to express themselves when it comes to political and social issues. In 2010 the Phoenix Suns wore Los Suns shirts in support of Latinx communities in Arizona threatened by the merciless anti-immigrant bill, SB 1070. And most recently, the WNBA gave every player T-shirts in support of the Orlando tragedy in June. The daily killing of unarmed civilians at hands of law enforcement is a tragedy that also deserves public acknowledgement.

If the league is truly “proud of WNBA players' engagement and passionate advocacy for non-violent solutions to difficult social issues” then they will rescind these fines and support these athletes' calls for justice, just like they did in the wake of the Orlando shooting.

From Muhammad Ali to Serena Williams, we’ve all felt the power and pride that comes from seeing our heroes on the field, in the ring or on the court fight against injustice and for our communities. We know those iconic moments; a fist raised in the air on the Olympic podium, and the reveal of an “I can’t breathe” shirt. They are reminders that those on our TVs feel the same pain and devastation that we do when they wake up to another senseless death and that they too believe in a better world. It helps make our movements and message for change unignorable.

When those that have a public platform, use that platform to speak truth to power, we need to have their backs.

Sign the Petition: demand the league immediately rescind their fines! (http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/stand-wnba-players-against-police-violence/?t=5&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV)

Until Justice is Real,

--Brandi, Rashad, Arisha, Evan, Anika, Bernard and the rest of the ColorOfChange team.

References:

1. “Minneapolis cops working Lynx game walk out over player comments, warm-up jerseys,” StarTribune, 07-12-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6532?t=7&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV

2. “WNBA Fines Teams And Players Wearing Black Warmup T-shirts;’,” ESPN, 07-21-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6533?t=9&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV

3. “BASKETBALL’S GENDER WAGE GAP IS EVEN WORSE THAN YOU THINK;’,” Vice Sports, 08-12-2015
https://act.colorofchange.org/go/6534?t=11&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV

4. “2015 Women’s National Basketball Association Racial and Gender Report Card;’,” Sports Business News, 10-21-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6535?t=13&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV

5. “WNBA Fines Players For Wearing Shirts To Honor Recent Shooting Victims;’,” Huffington Post, 07-21-2016
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/6537?t=15&akid=6013.872082.n3NQKV


ColorOfChange is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.

If you're absolutely sure you don't want to hear from ColorOfChange again, click here to unsubscribe.

[ckaihatsu]

http://www.startribune.com/ramsey-county-attorney-choi-to-announce-update-in-castile-shooting/401484635/


Police officer charged in fatal shooting of Philando Castile

County attorney: Yanez was not justified in his use of deadly force.

By Chao Xiong Star Tribune NOVEMBER 16, 2016 — 11:35AM

http://stmedia.stimg.co/castilepresser.JPG?w=525
DAVID JOLES, STAR TRIBUNE
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announces the outcome of the investigation of the Philando Castile shooting.

St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez faces three criminal charges for the killing of Philando Castile, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced Wednesday.

Choi said it was his conclusion that "use of deadly force by Officer Yanez was not justified." Yanez was charged Wednesday with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of dangerous discharge of a firearm.

Castile, 32, was fatally shot July 6 by Jeronimo Yanez during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights. A video recorded by his girlfriend, showing him bleeding in the car while the officer held them at gunpoint, has been viewed millions of times around the world, and touched off widespread outrage and protests over several years of police killings of black men.

Before Yanez, no officer had been charged in more than 150 police-involved deaths in Minnesota since 2000. Yanez was summoned to make his first appearance in Ramsey County court at 1:30 Friday.

Choi said the charges were filed following 19 weeks of investigation and a review of the dash cam footage and audio footage taken during the shooting.

During a news conference Wednesday, Choi said that Yanez and his partner, Joseph Kauser, pulled Castile over the night of July 6 because he matched the description of a robbery suspect, and noted his "wide-set nose."

http://stmedia.stimg.co/1philandocastile.jpg?w=263

PROVIDED
Philando Castile was fatally shot by police July 6 during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights.

Castile immediately complied with the stop, Choi said. Dashcam video and audio captured the next "critical minute," Choi said.

Yanez said he was aware that Castile was buckled in his seatbelt. He described Castile as initially having his left arm over the steering wheel with both hands in view. Yanez and Castile exchanged greetings, and Yanez told him about a broken brake light. Yanez asked Castile to produce his driver's license and proof of insurance. After Castile provided him with the insurance, "Castile then calmly and in a non-threatening manner said, 'Sir, I do have to tell you that I have a firearm on me,' " Choi said.

Yanez replied OK, then placed his hand on his gun, according to Choi.

Yanez said "Don't reach for (the gun)," Choi said.

Castile responded, "I'm not pulling it out."

Yanez screamed "Don't pull it out," then with his left hand reached inside the vehicle. Yanez withdrew his hand, then fired seven shots in rapid succession.

The final shot was fired at 9:06 p.m.

Castile's final words, Choi said, were "I wasn't reaching for it."

"His dying words were in protest that he wasn't reaching for his gun," Choi said. "There simply was no objective threat posed to Officer Yanez."

Choi said the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension interviewed Yanez the day after the shooting., Yanez said that after Castile told him he had a gun, Castile blocked the view of his right hand with his shoulder while he was reaching down.

"At that point, Officer Yanez said he was scared for his life," Choi said.

Choi's office has been reviewing evidence in the shooting since Sept. 28, when the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension handed him its findings. Choi said Wednesday he chose to make the decision on charging himself, rather than turning the case over to a grand jury.

In explaining how Yanez's actions did not meet the legal standard for justified use of deadly force, Choi said "it is not enough... to express subjective fear of death or great bodily harm."

The charges come a year and a day after Minneapolis police fatally shot Jamar Clark, a case that Choi has used as guidance in his handling of the Castile shooting. Choi has noted that Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman reviewed evidence in the Clark case for seven weeks before deciding that the officers should not be criminally charged in Clark's death. Freeman did not take the Clark case to a grand jury, going against long-held practices in Minnesota.

Castile's death further fueled activists' call for reform in policing and for criminal charges against cops who kill. Activists said their numbers and movement have grown and strengthened in the year since Clark was killed, and hope that plays a role in changing the outcome of Castile's shooting.

Several protesters rallied outside the Ramsey County Courthouse on Nov. 10 in support of Castile's cousin, Louis B. Hunter, who was scheduled to appear in court that day for protesting on Interstate 94.

"The sense of community certainly hasn't gone away," said Eli Lartey, a 19-year-old activist who has been arrested multiple times at demonstrations, and who spoke at Hunter's rally.

Protesters called for a dismissal of all felony charges against Hunter, who is accused of throwing rocks and construction debris at police officers during the July 9 protest that drew about 500 people on I-94. Dozens of other activists charged with lesser charges vowed not to settle their cases while Hunter remains charged.

Hunter said that although he feels authorities have done nothing to improve their policing and use-of-force in the last year, solidarity has grown among activists.

"I'm blessed to have people on the side with me," Hunter said after he pleaded not guilty at his hearing. "They're there for me."

But Lartey and Hunter said there hasn't been much trust built between activists and law enforcement.

"There's almost this narrative of war between demonstrators and police," said Lartey, whose name was specifically called out over a police megaphone during a different demonstration outside the Ramsey County courthouse earlier in the year. "Everything that happened with the Jamar Clark case seems to be happening with the Philando Castile case.

"I would say I have trust in the constituents' ability to change [the criminal justice system] more than I did a year ago, but because of the way I've been treated and targeted as an activist, I have less trust in the police themselves."

Pastor Danny Givens Jr., a clergy liaison with Black Lives Matter, and who rallied for Hunter and attended a memorial for Clark Wednesday, said a decision in the Castile case is a turning point in the fight for justice.

"I wouldn't say [law enforcement and authorities] are listening more," Givens said. "I would say they're reacting more now. We hope the reactivity will create a platform where they listen … and we're forcing that … after weeks and months of nonviolent demonstrations.

"The Castile decision is the bow of the boat of justice that we're fighting for …"

Twitter: @ChaoStrib

[email protected] 612-673-4391

[ShraddhaKapoor]

hii