Revolutionary Worker #1170, October 13, 2002, posted at http://rwor.org
POLICE BRUTALITY DID NOT DIE ON SEPTEMBER 11 th !
Since September 11, 2001, the authorities have rapidly imposed a resoundingly repressive atmosphere. Law enforcement on both the local and national level has been given broad new powers. Laws and policies that drastically restrict civil liberties have been put into place. A throw back to COINTELPRO of the 1960s, coordination between the CIA, FBI, local police departments, and the INS is intense and now public.
Because the October 22 nd Coalition memorializes and fights for justice for the thousands who have been killed or brutalized by police and other law enforcement agents in this country, we know what it's like to have a loved one leave home in the morning and never return. Our hearts go out to those who lost friends and loved ones on September 11th.
At the same time, we cannot and must not allow the authorities to get away with using September 11th to let cops who brutalize and kill people go free. We cannot allow the authorities to legitimize heinous practices like racial profiling. We will not allow our hard fought and won victories to be snatched away from us, nor will we be told to shut up. It is more important than ever that people from different ethnicities and backgrounds take to the streets in cities and towns across the U.S. on October 22, 2002, the 7th annual National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation.
This is important because since September 11, 2001:
All over the U.S. people are being killed by law enforcement officers at an escalating rate. The numbers we have been able to document so far include 21 people from L.A., 20 in Chicago, 12 people in the Seattle-Tacoma area, 11 in New York/New Jersey, six in San Francisco/Bay Area, six in North Carolina, two in Atlanta, and many more. Their stories join the already too long list of over 2,000 cases documented in the book, Stolen Lives (and Spanish edition, Vidas Robadas ). Cops who kill and brutalize are not heroes!
In city after city, cops viciously beat people, confident that they will face no punishment. The recent beating of the Inglewood, California youth, captured on videotape, is no isolated incident. As cases in Detroit and elsewhere have shown, even the existence of videotape catching police in the act of brutalizing someone is no guarantee they will be punished for their crimes!
The authorities have used the post-September 11th atmosphere to exonerate cops convicted of brutalizing people and to continue to allow cops who brutalize and kill to get off either completely free or with a wink and slap on the wrist. Detroit and other cities are now refusing to pay civil damages for killings and brutality done by members of their police forces. Three of the cops convicted for torturing Abner Louima or helping to cover it up afterward have had their convictions thrown out by an appeals court. Now Abner Louima himself is being portrayed in court as a malicious liar who wrongfully accused an innocent cop. In Chicago, authorities recently decided that the cops who killed LaTanya Haggerty and Robert Russ would not be charged. In Detroit, Eugene Brown, a cop who has killed three unarmed men and shot at least six others who survived, is offered a $340,000 buy-out by the city to leave the police force! Just before September 11, 2001, it was exposed that cops in Miami regularly plant guns on the bodies of people they kill to try to justify the murder, a news story which got buried in the post- September 11th atmosphere.
Racial profiling, which had been widely exposed and discredited through people's struggles, has now come back with a vengeance. Airport searches, checkpoints, and traffic stops for individuals based solely on their religion or national origin are promoted and defended by the authorities.
As Saikou Diallo, father of Amadou, said, "My son fell victim to racial profiling and it cost him his life. His only crime was the color of his skin. Today even more people are being singled out and persecuted because of race. We cannot allow this to continue. We must stand together in our fight against racial profiling. If we don't stand up for each other, who will? What happened on September 11th was a terrible injustice. Many innocent people lost their lives in this relentless display of violence. But to allow Muslims, Arabs, South Asian immigrants or any person to be denied legal representation or to just quietly disappear is also an injustice and must be stopped."
Since September 11th thousands of Muslims, Arabs and South Asians have been rounded up, detained and disappeared. The Department of Justice refuses to give an accounting of who has been detained, for how long and under what charges. Hundreds still languish in correctional facilities across the country without access to family, friends or legal representation, and suffer inhumane conditions and even beatings by corrections officers. So far at least one person has died while incarcerated. Thousands have been subjected to so-called "voluntary" interrogation by the government.
Hard won civil liberties and protections have been stripped away as part of the government's "war on terrorism." The USA-PATRIOT Act brings in a new set of repressive laws and restrictions on people and grants even greater power to law enforcement agents of all kinds. We know exactly in what direction this road will lead us--total repression and criminalization of all questions and dissent. The basic principle of attorney-client privilege was threatened with the arrest of Attorney Lynne Stewart. Already, bookstores and libraries have been forced to snitch on their customers and turn over book lists. Services at mosques and events sponsored by progressive organizations are now subject to FBI, CIA, and other law enforcement surveillance, recording, and photographing. In the case of Jose Padilla (Abdullah al Mujahir), the government is saying that even U.S. citizens will be subject to detention without trial or even charges.
The very right to protest is under serious assault, as the authorities give the FBI, the police and the courts broad new powers to investigate and target people who question government actions and organize against them. Peaceful protests have been met with police brutality and rubber bullets. Emergency room physicians recently called for an end to the use of rubber bullets because they are life threatening. Activists have found themselves hauled into court because of their protests of police brutality. Examples of this include the Barber family and their supporters in North Carolina and Efia Nwangaza in South Carolina.
For those who have traditionally suffered the brunt of police brutality, harassment and murder--youth from certain neighborhoods, immigrants desperately crossing the border to be able to live, people from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities--these new repressive laws give law enforcement agents the green light to come down on them even more viciously.
Everyone who is opposed to such injustice should join us in the streets and in resistance in other ways on October 22, 2002, the 7th annual National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation.
We must do this for Patrick Dorismond, Anthony Rosario, Tyisha Miller, Lamar Grable, Gil Barber, Idriss Stelley, for all of the 2,000 cases detailed in the Stolen Lives book, and for the many others whom we don't even know yet whose lives have been stolen by those who are sworn to protect and serve. Those killed by law enforcement can no longer speak for themselves--so we must speak, and act, for them.
We must also do this for ourselves. We are the survivors of those whose lives have been stolen by law enforcement, and we are also at risk.
We must do this for Mumia Abu-Jamal, political prisoner still sitting on death row in Pennsylvania, and for Leonard Peltier, another political prisoner, who consistently speak out against police brutality and repression from behind bars.
We must do this for the youth of the communities who have always been under the gun, even before September 11th. In Black and Latino communities cops stop and frisk, beat up, jail or even murder youth for nothing more than being young and dressed in the style popular among urban youth. This brutality also spills over into the suburbs where police harass youth who don't seem to fit in. BEING YOUNG AND NOT GOING ALONG WITH THE STATUS QUO IS NOT A CRIME!
We must stand up on October 22nd because, as Frederick Douglass said, the limits of what an oppressor will do to the people is set by the limits of what those people will accept. We must speak out on October 22nd. By uniting and stepping out to fight back, we can beat back some of the vicious attacks coming down on us. We are building a movement that is advancing the fight against injustice despite rising odds.
JOIN US, STOP POLICE BRUTALITY, REPRESSION, AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION!
OCTOBER 22 nd WEAR BLACK!
For more information, call 1-888-NO-BRUTALITY or 212-477-8062
Email: Office@October22.org http://October22.org
-----------
Endorsements to the Call for a National Day of Protest on October 22, 2002 to Stop Police Brutality,
Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation (as of 9/22/02):
Family Members of People Killed by Police:
Diane Bossom, Houston, Texas
Ophelia Ealy, mother of Michael Ealy(killed by Seattle police, 1998)
Jessie Barber, High Point, North Carolina
Willa Mae Demmings, Minneapolis
Andreyeva Fields, New York
Arnetta Grable Sr., Detroit
Cornelius Hall, father of Gerald Hall (killed by the Hayward Bart police)
Nicholas Heyward Sr., New York
Hooper family, Gregory Hooper (killed by off duty SF cop)
Mesha Irizarry, mother of Idriss Stelley (killed by SF police)
Gregory J. Jordan, Father of John Jordan (shot to death by 5 Long Beach, CA officers in 1999)
Mother Keaton, Minneapolis
Siri Margerin, close family friend of Idriss Stelley (killed by SF police)
Norma and Norberto Martinez, parents of Gonzalo Martinez (killed by Downey police in 2002)
Ivan Morgan, father of Joshua Morgan, (killed by King County police, WA, in 2001)
Jervis Muwwakkil, father of Jamil Wheatfall, (killed by Oakland police)
Eric Roberts, brother of Aaron Roberts(killed by Seattle police. 2001)
Margarita Rosario, mother of Anthony Rosario (killed by NYPD)
Frank Rosenberg, father of Richard Rosenberg (killed by Fremont police)
Brian T. Smith, brother of Danny Ray Smith (killed by L.A. Country Sheriffs 1998)
J. Andree Penix Smith, mother of Justin Smith (killed in Oklahoma)
Jonsi Smith, sister of Justin Smith (killed in Oklahoma)
Art Tims, father of Richard Tims (killed by SF police)
Juanita Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson (killed by NYPD)
Organizations and Individuals:
ACLU of Southern California
Nathanial Ali, National Association of Brothers and Sisters In and Out, Los Angeles, CA
Aztlan Liberation Organization/Brown Berets, Los Angeles
Sherman Austin, RAISETHEFIST.com, Los Angeles, CA
Mollie Bell, Community Activist, Compton, CA
Crystal Carlisle Blackcreek, Underground Railroad Records, Hollywood, CA
Elombe Brath, Patrice Lumumba Coalition, Harlem, NY
Desiree Brown, Community activist, San Bernardino, CA
Gabrielle Callenda, Mahina Movement, NY
Martha Cameron, Justice for Detainees, Brooklyn
Idalia Campos, mother of Jose Juan Campos, falsely accused and imprisoned, Los Angeles, CA
Ra Chaka, Prisoner Relief Foundation, Chicago
Thandisizwe Chimurenga, Donovan Jackson Justice Committee, Inglewood, CA
Coalition on Homelessness, San Francisco, CA
Copwatch, Berkeley, CA
Lisa Coleman, Los Angeles, CA
Sharon Cotrell, Co-chair, Social Concerns Commission, Unitarian Universalist Church, Long Beach, CA
Jessica Crenshaw, First A.M.E. Social Concerns Commission
Tim Crowley, Free Speech, Seattle, WA
Council on American- Islamic Relations, New York chapter
Leonia Cylark, community activist, Los Angeles, CA
December 12 th Movement, New York
James DeMaegt, Lawyer, Los Angeles, CA
Leroy Diggs, Los Angeles, CA
Carl Dix, Revolutionary Communist Party
Aaron Dixon, Seattle
Latrice Dixon, The Knowledge Broker, Long Beach, CA
Donovan Jackson-Chavis Justice Committee, Los Angeles, CA
Carlos Dufflar, The Bread is Rising Collective, Brooklyn, NY
Bertha Escamilla, mother of Nick Escamilla, who is unjustly incarcerated, Chicago, IL
Iyalmus and Herman Ferguson, N.A. L. F.
Evan Francis, Jazz musician, Los Angeles,CA
Freedom Socialist Party
Dorothy Freeman, Courtwatch, Donovan Jackson Justice Committee, LA, CA
Monique Fresque, student, Los Angeles,CA
Grayce Gadson, Community Activist, Los Angeles, CA
Robert Gold, Brooklyn, New York
Global Exchange
Haitian Coalition for Justice, New York
Humanists of Washington
Illinois Coalition Against the Death Penalty
Rev. Paul Jakes, Jr., Christian Council on Urban Affairs
Lydia Jordan, community activist, Los Angeles, CA
Omari Asha Kamau, Los Angeles, CA
Oakland INPDUM
James Lafferty, National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles, CA
Last Gasp, San Francisco, CA
Father Lawrence Lucas, New York
Maura Marquez, Mahina Movement
Michael Molver, F.A.C.E.--Freeway Activists Coalition for Equality, Riverside CA
Lupe Munos, Glendale, CA
Rev. Dr. Cecil L. Murray, First A.M.E. Church, Los Angeles, CA
National Association of Brothers and Sisters In and Out, Los Angeles, CA
Ngoma, poet and performance artist, New York
New Panther Vanguard Movement, Los Angeles, CA
Moana Niumeitow, Mahina Movement, New York
Michael Novick, Anti-Racist Action, Culver City, CA
Efia Nwangaza, attorney, Greenville, SC
Jim Page, singer, songwriter, Seattle, WA
Sahiljia Patel, poet, San Francisco, CA
Aaron Patterson Defense Committee, Chicago, IL
Patricia Pereida, Los Angeles, CA
People's Coalition for Justice, Seattle, WA
PUEBLO (People United for a Better Oakland, CA)
Radical Women
Racial Justice Coalition, San Francisco, CA
Refuse and Resist!
Rev. Richard Meri Ka Ra Byrd, KRST Unity Center, Los Angeles, CA
Paul Richmond, attorney, Seattle, WA
Ramona Ripston, ACLU of Southern California
Louis Reyes Rivera, poet and author, New York
Randolph Robin, The Robin Family, Sacramento, CA
Rev. M. Andrew Robinson-Gaither, First United Methodist Community Church, Los Angeles, CA
D. Sajnani, Toronto Hip Hop Cultural Arts Center
Rene Saucedo, SF Day Labor Program
Save the Redwood/Boycott the Gap Campaign
W. Robert Schultz, III, African American gay activist, lawyer and journalist, friend of Brandon Haywood (who was killed by Lake Station, Ind. Police)
Seattle Peace Heathens
SF Bayview Newspaper
Jackie Sheeler, poetz.com, New York
James M. Simmons, Attorney, Human Rights Advocacy, National Conference of Black Lawyers, CA
South Asians Against Police Brutality and Racism, New York
South Central Coaliton, Los Angeles, CA
Ishmael Tarikh, Policewatch
Jan Taylor, survivor of police brutality, Tacoma, WA
The Autonomous Zone, Chicago
Cocaya Thomas, brutalized by Lynwood, CA sheriffs, 2002
Darby Tillis, formerly unjustly incarcerated on Illinois' death row, Chicago, IL
Janice Walker, SCLC, Los Angeles
Michael Warren, Attorney, New York
Roger Wareham, Esq., Thomas Wareham and Richards, New York
We the People Speak, Manhattan Neighborhood Network Channel 34/107
Ted Wilson, poet, New York
Stan Woods, ILWU #6
Assembly points for some of the planned O22 events:
Chicago 12 p.m., Federal Plaza
Denver 4:30 p.m., intersection of Speer and Colvax
Detroit 4 p.m., Gratiot & Gunston
Greensboro, NC Oct. 21, AT&T State Univ. Student Union
Houston 4 p.m., Market Square Park
Los Angeles 2 p.m., Olympic and Broadway
Minneapolis 4:30 p.m., Peavy Park, Chicago & Franklin
New York 4 p.m., Union Square
Oakland 4 p.m., 14 th & Broadway
Phoenix 7 a.m., 11 th Ave. & Buckeye Rd.
San Diego 3:30 p.m., 12 th and C Trolley Sta.
Seattle 4:30 p.m., Seattle Central Community College
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
rwor.org
Write: Box 3486, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654
Phone: 773-227-4066 Fax: 773-227-4497
(The RW Online does not currently communicate via email.)