Supplement
No.
21June 13, 2020
Organized
Resistance Takes Its Place in the United States
Statements
of U.S. Organizations
and Photo Review
March in Louisville, Kentucky, June 12, 2020, where police recently
shot and killed Breonna Taylor while she was sleeping at home.
Statements
• Call for Community Control of
Minneapolis Police
• University of Minnesota Clerical Workers
• About Face: Veterans Against the War
• Courage to
Resist
• United National Antiwar Coalition
• CodePink
• National Nurses United
• San Francisco Bay Area Organizations
• Call for UN to Open Human Rights Case
and Sanction U.S. (Excerpts)
Photo Review
• Actions Across the U.S., Canada and
Around the World, June 7-13
Statements
The organization Twin Cities Coalition
Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) on June 11 issued the following press release
calling to defund and dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD).
We know the mayor's and city council's response is
rooted not in true justice and reconciliation for the police crimes
committed against the people. It is an attempt to save their own heads
from the chopping block. It is an attempt to ensure that the flames
ignited by the power of the people over the injustice of the murder of
George Floyd doesn't consume the mayor and city council at the ballot
box.
Demands for Community Control of
the Police, George,
Jamar & All Stolen Lives!
In spite of recent developments: TCC4J, and the
community will continue the fight under the demands of:
- Stop covert tactics of the city to hide from
community!
- Community control of MPD!
- Reopen the cases!
- Fire killer cops!
- Indite, Convict, Send the Killer Cops to Jail!
- Stop State & Police Repression via open terror on our
communities!
Stop Covert Tactics of the City to Hide from
Community!
The city council rushed to pass a fluffy
resolution with no plan except to hide it from the community. During
the city council meeting today Gordon asked the Bender, Cano, Jenkins,
Frey alliance to be transparent with the community regarding their
charter amendments. They refused. The current mayor and city council
got elected on police reform after the murder of Jamar Clark. However,
it wasn't until the city, country, and world burned that they thought
police accountability was relevant. TCC4J was calling for community
control of the police for the past four years. Working on draft
legislation for 2+ years. The council and mayor didn't realize they had
power over the police until the people and TCC4J brought it to their
attention in 2018 after Thurman Blevins was killed. Their piecemeal
reforms also don't take into account the long-term demands of the Black
community for community control and police accountability for the past
55+ years. The mayor and city council have no clothes and the people of
Minneapolis and they bear witness as they laugh at them!
Community Control of the Police
NOW!
The community knows the racist
policing system which protects the rich & politicians cannot be
reformed by those who protect it. The epidemic of politicians twiddling
thumbs while police kill with impunity can only be solved by the
community taking back their power via community control of the police![1]
Reopen the Cases! Fire Killer Cops! Indite,
Convict, Send the Killer Cops to Jail!
The list is long of our community members lost to
police terror in the era before cops were even remotely held
accountable for anything. This city and this nation have changed. The
recent inaction by politicians and policymakers giving the quiet nod to
racists and white supremacists, by those policymakers' inaction when a
member of our community is murdered by a cop.
Stop State and Police Repression via Open Terror
on Our Communities!
For five years the movement has warned the city,
state and country of the dangers of inaction. The system did nothing to
protect the community during an economic crisis, pandemic and open
terror via white supremacist lynchings of Black people across the
country. We demand justice! Bender, Cano and Jenkins have formed a
coalition to repress the people's voices and actions via neo-liberal
demands of identity politics.
Note
1. To see
the fifth draft of Minneapolis CPAC legislation for community policing
submitted on June 11, to the Minneapolis Mayor and City Council, click
here.
- American Federation of
State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3800 -
AFSCME 3800 participates in June 7, 2020 protest in Minneapolis.
This is another heartbreaking day in America.
AFSCME 3800 stands in solidarity with the family, friends, and loved
ones of George Floyd, with the Black community, and with everyone
demanding police accountability and justice.
WHEREAS on May 25, 2020 a
white Minneapolis police officer killed 46 year old George Floyd by
kneeling on his neck for eight minutes while he pleaded to be allowed
to breathe, and
WHEREAS three other police
officers assisted in restraining George Floyd while he was being
killed, or spewed anti-black and war-on-drugs rhetoric, or stood by and
did nothing, and
WHEREAS the Black community
repeatedly faces the deaths of loved ones at the hands of the police,
and
WHEREAS the core principle of
the labor movement -- "An Injury to One is An Injury to All" --
requires all working people of conscience to take a stand for justice;
THEREFOR BE IT RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 offers our deepest sympathy to, and stands in solidarity
with, the family of George Floyd and the entire community.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 calls for the immediate arrest and vigorous prosecution of
Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. We further call for the
immediate arrest and vigorous prosecution of officers Thomas Lane, Tou
Thao, and J. Alexander Keung for aiding and abetting the murder of
George Floyd.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 calls for an immediate de-escalation by police and an end
to police violence against protesters.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 supports President Gabel's decision to sever the University
of Minnesota's contracts with the MPD and we call upon other
institutions to likewise disassociate.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 calls for immediate and ongoing community oversight of the
Minneapolis Police Department.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 calls for a thoroughgoing review of law enforcement
policies and practices by federal, state, and local authorities,
followed by concrete and systemic reforms to ensure that all people in
our society are granted equal treatment by law enforcement and criminal
justice systems, regardless of the color of their skin.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 calls for an end to systemic racist police terror and the
murder of black and brown people in our communities.
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that
AFSCME 3800 will mobilize our members to safely participate in or
otherwise support actions called for by those seeking Justice for
George Floyd.
White Supremacy and
Systemic Oppression Must End!
Black Lives Matter!
UPDATE: Almost 900 Veterans have signed
this open letter and we are receiving messages from dozens of troops
looking to refuse orders or know their options if they get them. If you
would like help spread the message, you can find printable fliers and
posters, graphics and other resources at our website
aboutfaceveterans.org. Share on social media, distribute them or post
them up where they can be seen!
Attention Members of the National Guard,
We write you as fellow veterans and service
members with full knowledge of what's at stake as many of you are being
asked to mobilize against civilians in your own country. As your
neighbors fill the streets demanding the justice this country promised
them, your command is undoubtedly telling you that you're being
activated in service to your community. And yet, it is your community
members who fill the streets, while your Commander in Chief tweets
about using you to murder people over something as insignificant as
property damage.
A moral choice lies before you. As veterans who
have faced similar tests of conscience, only to realize too late that
we chose wrong, we cannot stress enough the impact this decision will
have on the rest of your life. We all took an oath to defend the
country from enemies foreign and domestic. Are Black protesters the
enemy of this country? Today you have to decide whether you are loyal
to the values you swore to uphold or to the commanders who would order
you to turn on your neighbors for demanding justice. You cannot be
loyal to both.
We know that it is your intention to be of service
and prevent more harm, but we urge you to remember the deadly legacy of
the National Guard enacting violence against protesters -- Watts in
1965, Kent State in 1970, Los Angeles in 1992, and many other examples
in recent history.
The military is designed to be lethal, not to
de-escalate.
We urge you to have the courage to do the right
thing. Refuse activation orders.
No amount of property is worth a single human
life. Are you really prepared to carry out the violence President Trump
threatened against Minnesotans and others? We ask that you stand up for
Black lives by standing down. We know the consequences you may face for
disobeying orders. Many of us have faced them ourselves. And many of us
live with the consequences of following orders we shouldn't have, and
can tell you that the cost of moral injury is far greater.
There is a long legacy of troops choosing what's
right over what's ordered. You are not alone in your convictions. To
discuss your rights and the options available to you, contact the GI
Rights Hotline at 1-877-447-4487. You can also connect with veterans
ready to support you as peers and stand with you in your decision by
emailing support@aboutfaceveterans.com.
Very respectfully,
About Face: Veterans Against the War
and the undersigned
When you are in the Army National Guard, it takes
courage to disobey a direct order from the Commander-in-Chief. But
after being ordered by President Trump to deploy to cities around the
country in preparation to attack and disperse protesters, violating the
constitutionally guaranteed right to peaceful assembly, that is exactly
what some National Guard members have decided to do. And now, facing
potential disciplinary action and court martial, they need our support.
After failing to condemn the police murder of
George Floyd, which has sparked protests in 430 cities and counting, on
June 1 President Trump decided to use military and police to blast
peaceful protesters in front of the White House with rubber bullets,
noxious gas, and flash bangs. This is not an isolated incident. Trump
has a history of praising authoritarians who have killed and brutalized
protesters. [...]
Trump's threat to send the National Guard to
cities around the U.S. to crackdown on protests poses a direct threat
to our democracy and freedom of speech. Resisting these orders deserves
our respect. But those who are willing to disobey these orders need
your support now to fight back against the threat of court martial and
imprisonment.
One young man who is resisting Trump's orders
originally joined the National Guard with hopes to join medical
missions assisting in natural disasters. Now he says, "I can't do it.
Even looking at my uniform is making me feel sick that I'm associated
with this, especially after [the National Guard unit] shot that man who
owned that barbecue shop [in Louisville, Kentucky]." He added, "I live
with the history of Kent State. I'm not being a part of that,"
referring to a 1970 incident in which the National Guard shot and
killed students who were peacefully protesting the Vietnam War.
The weapons that police and the National Guard are
today being instructed to use against protesters, like rubber bullets,
are classified as "less-lethal" vs. non-lethal, and have already caused
serious injury, permanent vision loss, and death. Tear gas, used in
recent days across America, is banned internationally as a chemical
weapon.
Another National Guard member who is resisting
these orders says, "I feel that I cannot be complicit in any way when
I've seen so many examples of soldiers and police acting in bad faith
... No aspect of my training has touched on this subject ... We have
not had any training or conversation relating to de-escalation tactics."
We are living in a historic time. From police
brutality, to the COVID-19 crisis, to growing economic inequality, to
voter suppression, there are many reasons for citizens to mobilize to
defend our democracy. Trump's threats to suppress protest are those of
an aspiring authoritarian. It is essential we support those who set a
strong example by resisting these orders.
Courage to Resist is assisting members of the
National Guard who resisted Trump's orders to violently attack people
on the streets of Washington, DC lawfully protesting racial injustice.
Your contributions will go toward legal services, logistical support
and public advocacy to defend these brave men and women against
potential court martial and imprisonment. As Trump threatens to deploy
more military service people against demonstrators nationwide, the
number of those needing assistance is likely to grow. Thank you for
supporting the troops with the courage to resist!
To assist with the legal defense see
couragetoresist.org.
Defend Black Lives! NO
Police State!
NO Military Dictatorship! Release All Arrestees!
NO More Attacks on Anti-Racist Protesters!
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
stands in solidarity with communities across the country who are rising
up in protest against racist police violence. As Donald Trump calls for
the deployment of the U.S. military in response to these national
protests, UNAC condemns the use of any police and military forces being
deployed to violently suppress these protests. We call on all anti-war
activists to help organize or join in these actions demanding justice
and an end to the state-terror being inflicted upon black and brown
communities within this country.
The ongoing protests began in Minnesota on Monday
May 25, 2020 in response to the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year old
Black man, by four police officers in the city of Minneapolis. The
horrific killing was caught on multiple videos which revealed two cops
pinning an already handcuffed Floyd facedown to the ground, one cop
standing over him, and a fourth one pressing his knee into the victim's
neck for nearly nine minutes even as he cried, "I can't breathe," and
soon became unresponsive. Floyd died moments later.
On May 29, only after FIVE DAYS straight of
militant protests in Minneapolis and in major cities across the
country, the cop caught kneeling on Floyd's neck was finally arrested
and charged with third degree murder. His three accomplices have yet to
be charged. [With determined demands raised across the
country, Chauvin has now been charged with second degree murder and the
three others with aiding and abetting second degree murder -- Ed Note.]
Of course, this tragic killing did not happen in a
vacuum. It represents a trend that has gone on for too long in this
country. There are over 1,000 victims of lethal force every year in the
U.S. And unarmed black men and women and children have been terrorized
and killed by police for over a century with hardly any of the cops
involved ever facing charges for their crimes. Within the last years
alone, only those cases caught on camera or other recording devices
have caught the eyes and ears of those in power; and even then, justice
is rarely served.
Most recently, cases such as that of Breonna
Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery have gained national attention weeks after
they were killed by police and former police officers and only after
videos and 9-1-1 recordings were leaked to the media. The police who
murdered Taylor in her own apartment have not been charged, and
Arbery's killers who shot him while he was out jogging were not
indicted until video of the incident caused public outcry and protests
weeks later.
This current nation-wide uprising has been
characterized by a week of major protests and acts of civil
disobedience in nearly every state throughout the country. Hundreds of
actions have taken place in cities big and small, from coast to coast,
to denounce not only the murder of George Floyd, but the long history
of oppression and state-violence against Black Americans that never
ended and that has never even been truly acknowledged by the United
States.
Just as the antiwar movement has challenged the
ongoing U.S. racist and imperialist wars abroad, the massive protests
across the country today are challenging the institutionalized racist
violence at home. The millions in the streets today are a harbinger of
the broad and united mobilizations to come that have the potential of
posing a fundamental challenge to the oppressive, racist, violent
system itself.
- Medea Benjamin and Nicolas
Davies -
The case for Black Lives Matter should be applied
globally and the push to defund police should be extended to the U.S.
military.
On June 1, President Trump threatened to deploy
active-duty U.S. military forces against peaceful Black Lives Matter
protesters in cities across America. Trump and state governors
eventually deployed at least 17,000 National Guard troops across the
country. In the nation's capital, Trump deployed nine Blackhawk assault
helicopters, thousands of National Guard troops from six states, and at
least 1,600 Military Police and active-duty combat troops from the 82nd
Airborne Division, with written orders to pack bayonets.
After a week of conflicting orders during which
Trump demanded 10,000 troops in the capital, the active-duty troops
were finally ordered back to their bases in North Carolina and New York
on June 5, as the peaceful nature of the protests made the use of
military force very obviously redundant, dangerous and irresponsible.
But Americans were left shell-shocked by the heavily armed troops, the
tear gas, the rubber bullets and the tanks that turned U.S. streets
into war zones. They were also shocked to realize how easy it was for
President Trump, single-handedly, to muster such a chilling array of
force.
But we shouldn't be surprised. We have allowed
our corrupt ruling class to build the most destructive war machine in
history and to place it in the hands of an erratic and unpredictable
president. As protests against police brutality flooded our nation's
streets, Trump felt emboldened to turn this war machine against us --
and may well be willing to do it again if there is a contested election
in November.
Americans are getting a small taste of the fire
and fury that the U.S. military and its allies inflict on people
overseas on a regular basis from Iraq and Afghanistan to Yemen and
Palestine, and the intimidation felt by the people of Iran, Venezuela,
north Korea and other countries that have long lived under U.S. threats
to bomb, attack or invade them.
For African-Americans, the latest round of fury
unleashed by the police and military is only an escalation of the
low-grade war that America's rulers have waged against them for
centuries. From the horrors of slavery to post-Civil War convict
leasing to the apartheid Jim Crow system to today's mass
criminalization, mass incarceration and militarized policing, America
has always treated African-Americans as a permanent underclass to be
exploited and "kept in their place" with as much force and brutality as
that takes.
Today, Black Americans are at least four times as
likely to be shot by police as white Americans and six times as likely
to be thrown in prison. Black drivers are three times more likely to be
searched and twice as likely to be arrested during traffic stops, even
though police have better luck finding contraband in white people's
cars. All of this adds up to a racist policing and prison system, with
African-American men as its prime targets, even as U.S. police forces
are increasingly militarized and armed by the Pentagon.
Racist persecution does not end when
African-Americans walk out of the prison gate. In 2010, a third of
African-American men had a felony conviction on their record, closing
doors to jobs, housing, student aid, safety net programs like SNAP
[Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] and cash assistance, and in
some states the right to vote. From the first "stop and frisk" or
traffic stop, African-American men face a system designed to entrap
them in permanent second-class citizenship and poverty.
Just as the people of Iran, north Korea, and
Venezuela suffer from poverty, hunger, preventable disease, and death
as the intended results of brutal U.S. economic sanctions, systemic
racism has similar effects in the U.S., keeping African-Americans in
exceptional poverty, with double the infant mortality rate of whites
and schools that are as segregated and unequal as when segregation was
legal. These underlying disparities in health and living standards
appear to be the main reason why African-Americans are dying from
COVID-19 at more than double the rate of White Americans.
Liberating a Neocolonial World
While the U.S. war on the black population at home
is now exposed for all of America -- and the world -- to see, the
victims of U.S. wars abroad continue to be hidden. Trump has escalated
the horrific wars he inherited from Obama, dropping more bombs and
missiles in 3 years than either Bush II or Obama did in their first
terms.
But Americans don't see the terrifying fireballs
of the bombs. They don't see the dead and maimed bodies and rubble the
bombs leave in their wake. American public discourse about war has
revolved almost entirely around the experiences and sacrifices of U.S.
troops, who are, after all, our family members and neighbors. Like the
double standard between white and black lives in the U.S., there is a
similar double standard between the lives of U.S. troops and the
millions of casualties and ruined lives on the other side of the
conflicts the U.S. armed forces and U.S. weapons unleash on other
countries.
When retired generals speak out against Trump's
desire to deploy active-duty troops on America's streets, we should
understand that they are defending precisely this double standard.
Despite draining the U.S. Treasury to wreak horrific violence against
people in other countries, while failing to "win" wars even on its own
confusing terms, the U.S. military has maintained a surprisingly good
reputation with the U.S. public. This has largely exempted the armed
forces from growing public disgust with the systemic corruption of
other American institutions.
Generals Mattis and Allen, who came out against
Trump's deployment of U.S. troops against peaceful protesters,
understand very well that the fastest way to squander the military's
"Teflon" public reputation would be to deploy it more widely and openly
against Americans within the United States.
Just as we are exposing the rot in U.S. police
forces and calling for defunding the police, so we must expose the rot
in U.S. foreign policy and call for defunding the Pentagon. U.S. wars
on people in other countries are driven by the same racism and ruling
class economic interests as the war against African-Americans in our
cities. For too long, we have let cynical politicians and business
leaders divide and rule us, funding police and the Pentagon over real
human needs, pitting us against each other at home and leading us off
to wars against our neighbors abroad.
The double standard that sanctifies the lives of
U.S. troops over those of the people whose countries they bomb and
invade is as cynical and deadly as the one that values white lives over
black ones in America. As we chant "Black Lives Matter," we should
include the lives of black and brown people dying every day from U.S.
sanctions in Venezuela, the lives of black and brown people being blown
up by U.S. bombs in Yemen and Afghanistan, the lives of people of color
in Palestine who are tear-gassed, beaten and shot with Israeli weapons
funded by U.S.-taxpayers. We must be ready to show solidarity with
people defending themselves against U.S.-sponsored violence whether in
Minneapolis, New York and Los Angeles, or Afghanistan, Gaza and Iran.
This past week, our friends around the world have
given us a magnificent example of what this kind of international
solidarity looks like. From London, Copenhagen and Berlin to New
Zealand, Canada and Nigeria, people have poured into the streets to
show solidarity with African-Americans. They understand that the U.S.
lies at the heart of a racist political and economic international
order that still dominates the world 60 years after the formal end of
Western colonialism. They understand that our struggle is their
struggle, and we should understand that their future is also our future.
So as others stand with us, we must also stand
with them. Together we must seize this moment to move from incremental
reform to real systemic change, not just within the U.S. but throughout
the racist, neocolonial world that is policed by the U.S. military.
Medea Benjamin is cofounder of CODEPINK
for Peace, and author of several books, including Inside
Iran: The Real History and Politics of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Nicolas J. S. Davies is an independent
journalist, a researcher with CODEPINK and the author of Blood
On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq.
Statement on Use of
Warlike Weapons on Protestors
In the wake of the recent police killings of
George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and the killing of Ahmaud Arbery by
armed white residents, protests for racial justice have swept across
the country. With them have come tear gas, flash-bangs, rubber bullets,
and other weapons used on protestors by this country's increasingly
militarized police departments. The protestors are our patients, and
they are being harmed by ongoing police violence and brutality.
National Nurses United condemns all forms of police brutality,
including the use of war weapons on protestors by officers who are duty
bound to protect people, and we call on every level of government and
every police force to respect the First Amendment right to protest.
"During the recent protests, we have witnessed the devastating injuries
caused by so-called ‘less-lethal' weapons of force. Nurses
have seen these police tactics before, including during deployments of
NNU's Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) to Occupy Wall Street,
Standing Rock, and to the U.S.-Mexico border. As nurses, we make a vow
to protect public health and safety, and that means putting an end to
the use of militarized force and weapons of war on people protesting
injustice," said NNU President Jean Ross, RN who is also a member of
the Minnesota Nurses Association/NNU.
"We stand with the Movement for Black Lives Matter in the struggle for
racial justice," added NNU Executive Director Bonnie Castillo, RN.
"Police brutality in black communities must cease immediately. Nurses
are committed to challenging the systemic racism that is endemic in our
country."
Nurses are standing up and saying, "Enough!" to police use of the
following:
Tear Gas
Nurses are horrified to see tear gas being used as
a weapon on our patients, while they are exercising their right to
assembly. The various chemical agents known as "tear gas" can cause
symptoms including coughing, sneezing, vomiting, blurred vision,
shortness of breath, tearing, difficulty swallowing, temporary
blindness, pain, and in documented cases: death. That's why for over 20
years, it has been banned for use in warfare under the Chemical Weapons
Convention, signed by nearly every nation in the world, including the
United States. Yet, it's used liberally at protests by U.S. police
departments.
The use of tear gas is especially concerning to nurses during a
pandemic, given that it causes protestors to cough and sneeze, while
already in close conditions, more easily spreading the virus causing
COVID-19. For protestors standing up to systemic racism, in many
communities where black residents are three to four times more likely
to contract COVID-19, police use of a weapon impacting the respiratory
system is especially cruel and dangerous. But that did not stop police
officers from Minneapolis to Oakland, and even in our nation's capital,
from indiscriminately launching tear gas on protesters, including
children as young as a toddler.
Although the specific impact of tear gas on children is not as well
documented as the impact on adults, a 1989 study in the Journal of
American Medicine found that an infant exposed to tear gas fired into a
house by police "developed severe pneumonitis requiring therapy with
steroids, oxygen, antibiotics, and 29 days of hospitalization." A 2011
study by the University of Chile also found that tear gas can harm
children in the first few years of life and can harm a developing fetus.
As nurses who vow to advocate for the health and safety of all people,
we strongly condemn the use of tear gas on people who are standing up
for racial justice, including crowds containing mothers and children.
Just as it's banned for warfare, it should be banned for police use --
period.
Flash Bang Grenades
Nurses were appalled to see the use of flash-bang
grenades on protestors of George Floyd's death. With heat exceeding
1,000 degrees fahrenheit and a blast of 175 decibels, flash-bangs or
"stun grenades" can cause burns, hearing loss, temporary blindness,
injuries from shrapnel, and death. Between 2000 to 2015, according to a
ProPublica investigation, at least 50 Americans were seriously injured,
maimed or killed by flash-bangs.
With their ability to stun, blind, and deafen protestors, flash-bangs
can also cause harm to our patients by putting them at risk for
secondary injuries, such as being hit by a car, or being knocked down
by crowds. Nurses strongly condemn the use of this war weapon by
militarized police.
Rubber Bullets and "Less Lethal" Ammunition
There is no "safe" projectile to shoot at
protesters. Just ask Brandon Saenz, whose eye was shot out at a May 30
protest in Dallas, or Linda Tirado, a freelance photographer whose eye
was shot out at a May 28 protest in Minneapolis. Nurses were reminded
that this is a trend, not an anomaly, by our time in Standing Rock in
2016, when water protector Vanessa Dundon's eye was shot out by police.
Rubber bullets, which often have a metal core, are also responsible for
deaths, often from head, neck, and torso trauma–and internal
bleeding, organ damage, and bruising. Nurses call for the end of rubber
bullets and other ammunition police departments claim is "less lethal"
because protecting people at a protest should not be lethal in any
amount.
Nurses are duty bound to protect people, and we know what it takes to
keep our patients safe. Weapons of war have no place in a caring
society, especially not at peaceful protests.
Other Forms of Police Violence
Throughout the country, police have consistently
engaged in additional forms of violence including kicking, pushing and
beating of protestors. Tactics such as kettling protestors have trapped
people with no way to escape brutal violence inflicted by police.
Nurses condemn the use of police escalation during protests.
The expanded use of weapons of war is also a troubling step of domestic
militarization that represents a threat to democracy and a colossal
waste of public resources that would be far better spent on public
health and other social programs that are especially essential in the
midst of a pandemic and economic crisis.
National Nurses United is the largest union and
professional organization of registered nurses in the country, with
more than 150,000 members nationwide.
On June 2nd, 2020, on the eve of a major protest
against the curfew in Oakland, this statement was written to help
organizations unite around a common understanding at a moment when the
government and much of the media are looking to divide us from within.
There are real conversations to be had about strategy and tactics, and
the hope is this statement will help to begin that process in a way
that moves away from blaming and criminalizing to acting with
discipline, integrity and understanding. As we look to a future of
powerful movement building in the interest of justice, let us also hold
ourselves accountable to each other in new ways. Thank you for taking
the time to read this statement, and please consider endorsing.
The murder of George Floyd has sparked a
nationwide movement, and our cry for justice is echoing
internationally. Powerful protests are erupting worldwide. And the
global police state is pushing back.
The main method the government uses to suppress
major protests is overwhelming force and aggression, including flash
bangs, chemicals, projectiles, and tanks.
The other method is to divide us from within.
During every period of upsurge and resistance --
from Rodney King, to Oscar Grant, to Occupy, to Standing Rock -- the
government has exploited differences between us to divide and suppress
the growth of our movement.
After the first night of every upsurge, the police
and government officials use the exact same playbook and blast it
through the media:
- Label people who have been arrested as
"outsiders" and "opportunists."
- Divide people into "good" vs. "bad" protesters.
- Send in provocateurs and thugs to cause harm and
send in infiltrators to learn our weaknesses and differences so they
can exploit them later.
- Encourage white supremacists and others to
attack and disorient us.
They discredit our movements and keep us looking
for enemies from within instead of building solidarity and our movement.
The most extreme example of this today is
classifying "Antifa" as a terrorist organization. Make no mistake, the
target is "Antifa" and "white anarchists" now, but they are going to
apply the label of "Black Identity Extremists" to others next. And
black and brown anarchists could be labeled as both.
These are the same red baiting tactics of the
1950s and the violence baiting used against the Black Panther Party,
the American Indian Movement, and Puerto Rican independence movement,
which left comrades still serving out life sentences today.
We cannot resolve every difference of opinion
regarding protest strategy overnight -- and we must always consider how
various approaches impact those already most targeted by police -- but
we can agree to engage in good faith questioning and principled
struggle when differences arise.
We can agree to resolve disagreements in private
and offline, and to not share footage that could be harmful to the
movement. Our strength and solidarity should be public and our
differences should be kept amongst ourselves.
The brutal murder of George Floyd has unleashed
fury and pain in ways we haven't seen before. We still have waves of
coronavirus infection to survive and over 100,000 funerals to attend.
We are heading into an economic crisis worse than the Great Depression,
and the United States is jockeying for world domination in an election
year. And the military is literally occupying our communities.
But the repression we face is only happening
because the people have stood up and stood together. In a few short
days we have made one thing crystal clear: there is no going back to
so-called "normal." Let us keep our sights on the world we want to
create, while we continue to build and grow and heal. Let us all meet
the challenges ahead with discipline, integrity and understanding.
In the words of Assata Shakur:
It is our duty to fight for our freedom.
It is our duty to win.
We must love and protect one another.
We have nothing to lose but our chains.
Endorsers as of June 11, 2020 click
here.
The lawyers for the family of George Floyd sent a
letter to the UN on June 3, submitted to the United Nations on behalf
of their clients to seek sanctions against the United States for
violating the human rights of African Americans. It reads in part:
"The family of George Floyd, his legal
representatives, and concerned members of civil society are appealing
to the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, Special
Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or
arbitrary executions, Special Rapporteur on minority issues, Special
Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination,
xenophobia and related intolerance, and all relevant mandate holders to
request urgent action regarding the torture and extrajudicial killing
of George Floyd, an African American and person of African descent,
that occurred on May 25, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States
of America."
After recounting the details of the killing of
George Floyd, the firing of the police officers and the criminal
charges brought against them, the letter points out that:
"The United States of America has a long pattern
and practice of lethal police violence disproportionately applied to
persons of African descent. Many of these cases have resulted in the
failure of state and local governments to hold accountable police
officers who commit human rights violations. For example, in 2014,
unarmed African American 18-year-old Michael Brown, accused of stealing
from a convenience store, was killed in Ferguson, Missouri and shot six
times with his hands up. No police officer was criminally charged. In
2014, unarmed African American Eric Garner was killed in New York City;
police accused him of unlawfully selling cigarettes and held him in a
chokehold despite the fact that he told the officer 'I can't breathe'
eleven times before he died. None of the officers involved were
convicted of any wrongdoing. On March 13, 2020, Breonna Taylor, a
twenty-six year-old African American woman was shot and killed in her
apartment in Louisville, Kentucky by police officers executing a
'no-knock' warrant; she was unarmed and not accused of committing any
crime. No officer has been charged in her death.
"The extrajudicial killing of African Americans by
police officers in the United States constitutes such a pervasive and
widespread pattern that White Americans have been emboldened to act as
vigilantes. In 2012, seventeen-year-old African American Trayvon
Martin, who was unarmed and not committing any crime and was shot and
killed by a 'neighborhood watchman.' On February 23, 2020, unarmed
twenty-five-year-old African American Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed
by White men while jogging in a Georgia neighborhood. He was committing
no crime and evidence revealed that his killers acted on some apparent
authority from local law enforcement.
"On June 1, 2020 President Donald Trump addressed
the nation and asserted that he would protect citizens' second
amendment rights, or right to bear arms. Shortly following this
statement, Sheriff Grady Judd in Polk County, Florida issued the
following statement: 'The people in Polk County like guns...if you try
to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I'm highly
recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns.' We
believe that such statements from authorities further incite vigilante
behavior and incite extrajudicial killings of African Americans by
police and citizens.
"The United States of America's failure to
appropriately respond to and address police violence and extrajudicial
killings of persons of African descent constitutes an abridgement of
their human rights.
"We urgently request that you support our call for
the United States and its state and local governments to:
1) Seek full justice for Mr. George Floyd with all
officers involved being charged with 1st degree murder; we further call
for systemic changes including but not limited to:
2) end qualified immunity;
3) end provision of military equipment to, and
military-type training of police;
4) reinstate federal oversight/consent decrees
where warranted;
5) establish civilian review boards to aid in the
pursuit of justice for victims;
6) mandate the use of body cameras for all police
officers and the immediate release of video footage and audio
recordings following incidents involving police killings;
7) mandate training on de-escalation techniques;
8) support an Independent prosecutor for police
misconduct cases;
9) increase restrictions on no-knock warrants and
use of non-uniformed police in citizen interactions;
10) establish an independent commission to review, investigate,
prosecute and conduct independent autopsies in all police extrajudicial
killings;
11) immediately implement and follow
recommendations made by special procedures of the United Nations that
ensure the United States upholds its human rights obligations,
including in the context of policing and the elimination of racism."
To view the full letter, click
here.
Photo Review
United States
Minneapolis, Minnesota
June 7, 2020
The statue of Christopher Columbus is removed
from the Minnesota Capitol Building, June 10, 2020, under police guard.
June 11, 2020
Washington, DC
George Floyd's brother testifies in front of
Congressional hearing, June 10, 2020.
The temporary fencing erected to keep protesters away from the White
House has been covered with posters and signs. On June 11, 2020 some
sections of the fence start to be dismantled by Park Service crews.
Hamden, Connecticut
Boston, Massachusetts
Dover, Delaware
New York City
Health care workers at the New York Presbyterian
Hospital honour George Floyd,
June 11, 2020.
Brooklyn, New York
Romulus, Michigan
Ohio
Louisville, Kentucky
Vigil and balloon release held to mark Breonna Taylor's
birthday -- she would have turned 27 on June 5, 2020. Breonna was
killed by Louisville police in her home in March.
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charleston, South Carolina
Rome, Georgia
Columbia, Missouri
Little Rock, Arkansas
Prairie Village, Kansas
Houston, Texas
George Floyd's funeral takes place in Houston, June 9, 2020.
Phoenix, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Los Angeles, California
Mass rally outside City Hall, June 7, 2020.
Members of the International Longshore and
Warehouse Union working on the west coast stop work and lay down their
toolson the morning of June 9, 2020, for an 8 minutes and 46
seconds of silence in memory of George Floyd and all victims
of police brutality. Meanwhile, their counterparts at ports from the
Gulf coast to east coast from Texas to Maine stop work for a "peaceful
protest hour."
Defund police rally, June 10, 2020.
Bay Area, California
Meeting calls for police to be removed from Bay Area school classrooms.
Tracy, California
California Nurses Association stand with Black Lives Matter, June 10,
2020.
Victor, Idaho
Eugene, Oregon
Seattle, Washington
Youth occupy Seattle City Hall for an hour, June 9, 2020, calling for
the Mayor to resign for the city's actions in tear gassing
those protesting George Floyd's killing.
Hawaii
Anchorage, Alaska
Juneau; Nome, Alaska
Utqiagvik, Alaska
Canada
Montreal, QC
Halifax, NS
Charlottetown, PEI
Toronto, ON
Mississauga, ON
Niagara Falls, ON
Windsor, ON
Thunder Bay, ON
Vancouver, BC
Around the World
Bristol, England
Statue of Edward Colston, a 17th-century slave
trader, is toppled from its plinth and rolled into the river, June 7,
2020.
London, England
July 10, 2020
A statue of stave trader Robert Milligan is
removed from outside the Museum of London Docklands on June 9, 2020.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan earlier announced a review of all of the city's
statues and street names, saying any with links to slavery "should be
taken down."
Brussels, Belgium
Protestors at anti-racism rallies in Belgium have been demanding the
removal of statues of King Leopold, responsible for colonizing
the Congo. During the June 7, 2020 protest in Brussels, some
climbed on his statue with a giant flag of the Democratic Republic of
Congo, chanting "murderer" and "reparations." A statue of King Leopold
in Antwerp has since been removed.
Dusseldorf, Germany
Paris, France
Madrid, Spain
Barcelona, Spain
Budapest, Hungary
Dominican Republic
Palestine
(To access articles
individually click on the black headline.)
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