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Fight to stop police terror - justice for Michael Brown!
Fight to stop police terror - justice for Michael Brown!
By Freedom Road Socialist Organization
On Aug. 9, Michael Brown was murdered by the police in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. The African-American youth was only 18 years old. He was unarmed and committed no crime, yet was brutally shot by the police after they stopped and harassed him while he walked to his grandmother's house. Michael had a bright future ahead of him, as he was set to start classes at Vatterott College just a few days later. His family was proud of their son.
Two witnesses say that Michael had his hands up in the air when the police officer fired several shots, killing him. After murdering him, the police left his body for hours on the street, showing a total lack of respect. The next day, during a candlelight vigil, clashes broke out once again in Ferguson. The people's rebellion lasted late into the night. The police had wrongly murdered a community member and the people of Ferguson wanted justice.
The murder of Michael Brown, as well as the murder of others like Eric Garner, Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin, shows that the system of national oppression is alive and well in the U.S. The police are the day-to-day enforcers of this system and they remind us of this with every Black man they murder.
Just as one of the foundations of the U.S. economy was profits from slavery, the U.S. legal system began with a constitution that said that African Americans were only three-fifths of a person. In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that African slaves and their children have no rights in the U.S., in the case of Dred Scott v. Sanford. Then in 1896, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation was constitutional in the case of Plessy v. Ferguson. And early last year, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act, opening the door for racist local and state governments to exclude Black and Brown voters from the polls.
Even though an African American man has been elected president and there is a Black Attorney General, the law, the police and the courts are not about justice. They are there to protect the property, privilege and power of the monopoly capitalists - the richest 1% who own and control the companies and government that dominate the economy and society. They enforce the national oppression that African Americans face: the all-round, social, political and economic inequality of oppressed nationalities in the U.S.
The struggle for full equality and liberation by African Americans has been a powerful force for progress in the U.S. The sit-in by four African American college students at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter on Feb. 1, 1960 started a national movement of direct action to desegregate the South and to fight for Black political power. This movement, and the organization that arose out of it, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), was an inspiration to other oppressed nationalities, especially Asian Americans, Chicanos, Native Americans and Puerto Ricans, as well as the women’s movement, and the struggle of LGBTQ people.
Our experience has shown us that justice does not mainly come from the courts or elections. Nor does it mainly come from economic struggles, like boycotts. The fight for justice advances when the masses of working class people organize and show their power in the streets through militant mass actions such as rallies, marches, pickets, occupations, strikes, etc.
The way to get justice for Michael Brown lies through these militant mass actions. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization is calling for rallies and marches to demand justice for Michael Brown and to demand that the murderous cop be jailed. The people, not the police, are the makers of history and they will make their justice in the streets.
Stop Police Terror!
Jail the Killer Cop!
Justice for Michael Brown!
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
This is the key point in my opinion. The Ownership Class has been the true policy makers in this country however public ignorance allowed them to very much exist behind the curtains. With the introduction of social media into the equation they are able to be held ever more accountable for their actions and the public is able to scrutinize them.
I believe we are approaching a crisis point where the culmination of decades of abuse, both economic and physical, will drive the people and the state into a conflict of ideals. What comes of this (in my mind inevitable) conflict will remain to be seen.
We live in interesting times indeed, I only hope to see the end of the exploitation and oppression we have all grown so accustomed to.
The police reaction in Ferguson is insanely militaristic.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-28782308
http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...brown-shooting
there are solidarity actions being planned for today/this weekend, there's at least one here later today
"whatever they might make would never be the same as that world of dark streets and bright dreams"
http://youtu.be/g-PwIDYbDqI
"whatever they might make would never be the same as that world of dark streets and bright dreams"
http://youtu.be/g-PwIDYbDqI
"whatever they might make would never be the same as that world of dark streets and bright dreams"
http://youtu.be/g-PwIDYbDqI
On the scene reporting: Marching against police killing in Ferguson, MO
By Michael L. Sampson II
Ferguson, MO - Around 150 people gathered shortly after 12 noon today, Aug. 14, in Ferguson, a suburb of Saint Louis, across the street from Ferguson Fire Station. They are preparing to march to the Ferguson Police Department, demanding "Justice for Mike Brown." Brown, an African American 18-year-old teenager, was ruthlessly gunned down by the Ferguson Police Department on Aug. 9. So far, the Ferguson Police Department has yet to release the name of the officer who killed Brown.
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
The Police Can’t Order You To Stop Filming Them In Public, Or Force You To Delete Pic
[LaborTech] The Police Can't Order You To Stop Filming Them In Public, Or Force You To Delete Pics From Phone
The Police Can’t Order You To Stop Filming Them In Public, Or Force You To Delete Pics From Phone
http://consumerist.com/2014/08/14/th...#more-10176501
By Chris Morran August 14, 2014
An Al Jazeera TV crew being tear-gassed by authorities in Ferguson (via BoingBoing)
A good deal of the footage coming out Ferguson, Missouri, this week has been provided by non-journalists, using their phones to record and photograph events. At the same time, reports claim that police are attempting to block both ordinary citizens and journalists from documenting the situation. What these officers either don’t know or aren’t saying is that you have the legal right to photograph the police, even when they tell you not to.
GigaOm’s Jeff John Roberts has a concise piece on the topic that anyone interested should read.
In 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ruled [PDF] in the case of Glik v. Cunniffe that private citizens have the right to record public officials, including police, in a public place.
The court held that the First Amendment’s proscription on laws “abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press… encompasses a range of conduct related to the gathering and dissemination of information.”
The ruling cites an earlier Supreme Court pronouncement that people have the right to gather news “from any source by means within the law.”
“The filming of government officials engaged in their duties in a public place, including police officers performing their responsibilities, fits comfortably within these principles,” wrote the Appeals Court. “Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting ‘the free discussion of governmental affairs.'”
The Supremes had previously stated that “[f]reedom of expression has particular significance with respect to government because ‘[i]t is here that the state has a special incentive to repress opposition and often wields a more effective power of suppression.’”
And the First Circuit said this applies even more so to law enforcement officials, as they “are granted substantial discretion that may be misused to deprive individuals of their liberties.”
“Ensuring the public’s right to gather information about their officials not only aids in the uncovering of abuses but also may have a salutary effect on the functioning of government more generally,” wrote the court.
The Glik ruling also acknowledged limitations to citizens’ rights to record public officials.
“It may be subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions,” the First Circuit explained. And though it did not specifically prescribe what those limitations might be, the court noted that “peaceful recording of an arrest in a public space that does not interfere with the police officers’ performance of their duties is not reasonably subject to limitation.”
The court explained that, much like police are expected to withstand verbal challenges from citizens without threatening arrest, this “same restraint demanded of law enforcement officers in the face of ‘provocative and challenging’ speech must be expected when they are merely the subject of videotaping that memorializes, without impairing, their work in public spaces.”
Regarding the question of whether or not police can tell you to delete photos from your phone, the recent Supreme Court rulings in Riley v. California and U.S. v. Wurie make it rather clear that they can not force you to do so.
In those cases, SCOTUS held that a warrant is needed to search a citizen’s phone, even if that citizen has been arrested. And since there is no way to tell if a photo has been taken — or what the content of a photo might be, or if it’s been deleted — without searching that phone, this tells us that an officer barking at you to “delete those photos!” can ask all that he or she wants, but it’s up to you whether or not you want to erase the images.
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Portland solidarity protests *at the North precinct
"whatever they might make would never be the same as that world of dark streets and bright dreams"
http://youtu.be/g-PwIDYbDqI
After midnight in Ferguson, more than 1000 in the streets against killer cops
After midnight in Ferguson, more than 1000 in the streets against killer cops
By Michael Sampson
Ferguson, MO – It is shortly after midnight, Aug. 15, and easily at least a thousand members of the Ferguson community have taken the streets tonight in what it seems like a atmosphere of celebration. Residents said that they are overjoyed that the police, at least tonight, have withdrawn their militarized force from their streets.
West Florissant Avenue, the street that police have used as their point of siege towards the Ferguson community, was filled with bumper-to bumper-traffic as cars honked at each in other in a festive atmosphere. This reporter talked to residents who said that the lack of military style police presence was great, with younger residents stating that the streets no longer belongs to the police but now is in the hands of the community.
The large crowd chanted, "Hands up, don't shoot!" with members of the New Black Panther Party directing busy traffic. Tonight was a night of relief for Ferguson residents. However, they know that getting justice for Michael Brown is gonna require them staying out in the streets and demanding it.
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
Students from Howard University in Washington, DC, took a photo of hundreds of upperclassmen with their hands stretched in the air. The photo has been re-tweeted over 5,000 times.
The crisis in ferguson is escalating -- mass action needed!
THE CRISIS IN FERGUSON IS ESCALATING -- MASS ACTION NEEDED!
[Please forward widely.]
THE CRISIS IN FERGUSON IS ESCALATING -- MASS ACTION NEEDED TO WIN JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL BROWN AND TO DEFEND CIVIL LIBERTIES AND CIVIL RIGHTS
Oscar Grant murdered January 1, 2009 in Oakland, CA; Trayvon Martin murdered February 26, 2012 in Sanford, FL; Eric Garner murdered July 17, 2014 in Staten Island, NY; Michael Brown murdered August 9, 2014 in Ferguson, MO; Ezell Ford murdered August 9, 2014 in Los Angeles, CA.
These are only a few of the numerous police and vigilante executions of Blacks that are becoming more and more commonplace across the country. While this has been going on for many decades, it has reached a boiling point, triggering tremendous outrage as large numbers of people take to the streets to demand justice and hold accountable those responsible for their criminal actions.
The question, as always, is what can be done to counter the horrific killings, which are too often countenanced by those in authority. This is particularly true in areas where depression conditions, massive unemployment, segregation, racial profiling, rundown schools and discriminatory composition of police forces provide the background for the repeated killings.
The situation in Ferguson is a classic case. An unarmed 18-year-old African American man, Michael Brown, was gunned down by a Ferguson police officer, Darrell Wilson, who shot him multiple times on August 11.
There is high tension in Ferguson today, primarily because of the failure of authorities to arrest Wilson and put him in jail where he belongs. Instead, he has been placed on administrative leave with full pay. The chief of police has praised him to the skies as being an excellent officer.
The other major contributing reason for the tension has been the way police used the press conference naming Wilson as the shooter. At the same time, they released still photos of a video allegedly showing Brown robbing cigars at a convenience store just minutes before the slaying. This had nothing to do with the execution of Brown and was an obvious move to deflect attention away from the officer's action and place the onus on Brown. Lawyers for the Brown family called it "character assassination."
Incidentally, the police chief initially stated categorically that there was no connection between the alleged robbery and the killing. Hours later his story changed and every time he appeared with a microphone in his hands he came out with a different version of what happened.
The facts could not be clearer: at the time that he was shot, Brown was yards away from Wilson and posed no threat to him whatever. According to three eyewitnesses, Brown, looking at the officer, had his arms raised, showing that he was unarmed and as a gesture of compliance. But his life was not spared. It was an unjustifiable murder having nothing to do with the alleged robbery at the store.
Even assuming for the moment that Brown did rob the store, the penalty for such a crime is not a death sentence.
Police Respond to Protests with Violence and Repression
In the aftermath of the murder, Ferguson residents, while engaging in peaceful mass protest, were subjected to tear gas attacks by police, flash bombs and stun grenades, snipers on top of armored trucks, rubber bullets, AR-15 assault rifles, police dogs, and cops and state police dressed in paramilitary uniforms.
Where did the Ferguson police get all of its weaponry? Most of it -- leftovers from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars -- was donated by the feds as a gift of a half-million dollars. Other cities throughout the country received similar donations, meaning our taxpayers' dollars are being used to help create the militarization of the police, as happened in Ferguson.
In short, Ferguson was under siege by a police/military force out of control. Free speech rights were trampled under foot, and peaceful protesters in the streets felt the need to hold their hands up high in the face of rifles pointed at their heads.
A state senator was hit with teargas, as were large numbers of others whose eyes were burning and watering. An alderman was arrested as were journalists for The Washington Post and The Huffington Post. One reporter, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, was told by a cop, "We will not allow you to write about what is happening here." So much for freedom of the press!
There are only three Black peace officers in Ferguson out of a force of 53. There is only one African American city council member out of six (and he was arrested during these events and held overnight in a jail cell).
Years ago, Ferguson was almost exclusively a "white" city so, of course, all the governing positions were held by white people. But as time went by, more and more Blacks moved into Ferguson so that today Blacks constitute 67% of the city's population. But the power structure remains as it was, with virtually no Black representation in the city's governmental bodies.
Given this, and the plight of Ferguson as a depressed community, it is little wonder that the city erupted as a result of the Brown slaying. The city had become a tinderbox and the protests had grown in intensity, fueled by the police refusing to identify themselves by displaying badges and the cops' long delay in divulging the name of the police officer who did the killing, which the community demanded be made known so that he can be held responsible and accountable.
Was there some rioting as a result of what had occurred? Inevitably, yes. It was born of deep frustration and exasperation flowing from the conditions capped by the murder. But as the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Rioting is the language used by the unheard." And since the protests were overwhelmingly peaceful, the police rioting that took place can no way be justified.
So What Is To Be Done?
Confronted by the overwhelming public denunciation of its tactics and abuses, the police supposedly were withdrawn as the primary force dealing with the protesters. Instead this has been turned over to the state's highway patrol. Assurances have been given that reforms will be instituted to ensure that free speech and the right to assemble and march peacefully will be safeguarded. And the name of the officer who murdered Michael Brown was finally released.
These are all concessions to the massive and militant demonstrations which rocked the establishment not only in Ferguson but also in St. Louis, the state of Missouri, and indeed the ruling circles in the country as a whole. It could not be otherwise, given the rallies of solidarity with the Ferguson residents which took place in New York, Washington D.C., St. Louis, Miami, Boston, Oakland, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Colorado Springs, Decatur, Burlington, Austin, Detroit, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Orlando, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Manhattan, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Phoenix, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle, Eugene, Brooklyn, Portland, Nashville, Pittsburgh, Montgomery, Des Moines, and dozens of other cities in the U.S.
This is a time to keep the pressure on and to press forward relentlessly to ensure justice for Michael Brown, defense of civil liberties and civil rights, and the demilitarization of the police.
We cannot take for granted the indictment and conviction of the officer who killed Brown, as we learned in the case of Trayvon Martin. Nor can we assume that all the promised reforms will be implemented in the absence of continued demonstrations in the streets.
Let's not forget that in the immediate aftermath of the murder, Jon Belmar, St. Louis County police chief, stated, "The genesis of this was a physical confrontation … during which Brown physically assaulted the police officer." And so the campaign to vilify Brown was launched, as the police rally to Wilson's defense, using the age-old tactic of making the victim the criminal and the criminal the victim. Interviews with a number of Ferguson residents make clear that they see through and reject this insidious maneuver.
The fight of the Ferguson community for justice in this situation, starting with the arrest and imprisonment of Wilson, is one that the labor movement and its allies need to make our own. Therefore, we in the Labor Fightback Network urge a labor movement/civil rights movement initiated "March on Ferguson," so that more of our sisters and brothers at least in the major cities in the region -- St. Louis and Chicago -- can join the struggle in support of demands that these movements can advance.
Solidarity now -- not depending on investigations that can drag on for weeks or even months -- is the key to winning justice for Michael Brown and for all who support the struggle for human rights in Ferguson and everywhere else in the U.S. where racism can only succeed if too many of us are passive in the fight for freedom and equal rights.
Issued by the Labor Fightback Network. For more information, please call 973-944-8975 or email [email protected] or write Labor Fightback Network, P.O. Box 187, Flanders, NJ 07836 or visit our website at laborfightback.org. Facebook link : https://www.facebook.com/laborfightback
Donations to help fund the Labor Fightback Network based on its program of solidarity and labor-community unity are necessary for our work to continue and will be much appreciated. Please make checks payable to Labor Fightback Network and mail to the above P.O. Box or you can make a contribution online. Thanks!
ADC Statement on Shooting of Michael Brown
ADC Statement on Shooting of Michael Brown
Washington, DC | www.adc.org | August 15, 2014 - The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) stands with Ferguson’s peaceful protesters as they make a strong statement on the right side of history. ADC is appalled by the senseless and racially-charged murders of African-Americans by police forces, most notably that of Michael Brown, and the heightened police brutality against African-Americans in Missouri as a result of their exercise of free speech and protest.
On Saturday August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was unarmed when he was shot dead by Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson a day before he was to begin college. Although Michael Brown’s hands were raised in surrender, the police officer shot Michael Brown not once, not twice, but several times. Then, as residents took to the streets in protest of his murder, militarized police units from throughout St. Louis County occupied Ferguson, using rubber bullets, noxious gas, and LRAD sonic weapons on American civilians. The St. Louis County police units have also targeted journalists on the scene, attacking and arresting both protesters and journalists.
On Thursday, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon finally ordered the St. Louis County Police Department out of Ferguson and called in the Missouri Highway Patrol to handle the crowd control in Ferguson. According to the New York Times, the armored vehicles and militarized police units are now gone . ADC commends Governor Nixon for recognizing the inappropriate actions of the St. Louis County Police Department and taking action to defuse the situation.
Police brutality and targeting of minority groups is a pervasive problem in the United States. It is a race issue, and a civil rights issue. Not only does ADC stand with Ferguson’s peaceful protesters and civil rights activists because of the mutual targeting of the Arab-American community, but most importantly because no American citizen deserves to be targeted, harassed, or killed by police forces and have their rights violated by the same people whose job is to protect them.
ADC is pleased that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) is investigating Michael Brown’s shooting but calls on the FBI to also conduct a thorough investigation of the Ferguson Police Department for racial profiling. ADC demands disciplinary action to be taken against Officer Wilson and the Ferguson Police Department.
It is time for all communities to come together and demand steps to be taken in our police forces so that no person of color in America with his or her hands up in the air will ever suffer such an atrocity again.
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empowered by Salsa
Cops use tear gas, attack Ferguson protest demanding justice for Michael Brown
Cops use tear gas, attack Ferguson protest demanding justice for Michael Brown
By Michael Sampson
Ferguson, MO – The joyful atmosphere in the streets of Ferguson came to an end in the early morning hours of Aug. 16 when law enforcement launched tear gas and flash-bang grenades at peaceful protesters. At around midnight, law enforcement in riot gear started to threaten protesters with force if they didn't disperse. The crowd didn't back down from police threats and stayed in the streets with their hands up, chanting. The crowd of a few hundred included young and older people with a few children holding signs.
Around 50 riot police started to get back into their armored vehicles to the crowd's excitement. However, law enforcement threw tear gas and flash-bangs into the crowd, sending protesters running. This reporter experienced the tear gas from law enforcement. As people ran away from the tear gas, they yelled, "get the children," making sure everyone was safe.
The previous night was different as the crowd simply chanted and demanded justice with zero police presence. However, tonight law enforcement in riot gear sought to destabilize and repress the protesters. Many who attended the rally said that this seems like a calculated plan by law enforcement to criminalize the protests. In addition, Ferguson police have tried to criminalize Michael Brown, releasing footage of Brown allegedly stealing cigars from a gas station, footage many residents say is based on deceit from the police department.
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]
I am so fucking sick of hearing about 'the peaceful protesters', 'the correct protesters'. You remember now and throughout history when the police have fled from neighborhoods or not responded because they couldn't risk their potential casualties doing so? Its a hint, the police aren't afraid of protests, that's not why they are seemingly criminalizing 'protest events', they're afraid of protests turning into riot and insurrection and its the exact same thing that non-profits and community leaders are afraid of because it takes social and monetary power away from them and puts it back into the hands of every individual. I am not suggesting that people do anything in particular but I think it should be pointed out that standing in the street and resisting police orders and then getting gassed and possibly arrested and hurt further is a daring first step but what is it going to be a step towards, what is that exactly? Where do folks want to go with it?
"whatever they might make would never be the same as that world of dark streets and bright dreams"
http://youtu.be/g-PwIDYbDqI
This happens way to often in America, and you know what the sad thing is Robin Williams suicide is all the news talks about. While this murder gets a scroll across the bottom. The apathy of Americans is fycking amazing, and sickening.
this was a major story on cnn for much of the day today
'heavens above, how awful it is to live outside the law - one is always expecting what one rightly deserves.'
petronius, the satyricon
There was this interesting little bit on cnn where a reporter was pushed back by a cop and he made some pretty sympathetic comments along the lines of 'if the cops are willing to do this to me, imagine what they're doing to protesters who don't have a national tv camera pointed at them' sorta thing. To be honest I'm surprised there's not been more discussion on the forum. Protesters tried to storm the Governor's St Louis offices demanding the removal of the national guard....
Modern democracy is nothing but the freedom to preach whatever is to the advantage of the bourgeoisie - Lenin
They're cracking down on media, many people there(and myself) are worried they'll start shooting or something once the cameras are gone. One of the reporters from Vice News was saying last night they were going door to door raiding places.
We claim to live and die equal, the way we were born: we want this real equality or death; that’s what we need.
And we’ll have this real equality, at whatever price. Unhappy will be those who stand between it and us! Unhappy will be those who resist a wish so firmly expressed.
The French Revolution was nothing but a precursor of another revolution, one that will be bigger, more solemn, and which will be the last.
-Gracchus Babeuf
Has anyone followed up with that vice reporter and asked for specifics on that (the raids)? Has anyone simply proposed that some type of assembly happen whenever people want it to, if they want it to, if they want to participate in it, just to open up communication between folks who are there in the street and from neighboring communities? I want to talk to people who are there.
"whatever they might make would never be the same as that world of dark streets and bright dreams"
http://youtu.be/g-PwIDYbDqI
