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SUPPLEMENT No. 23June 27, 2020 Protests Against Racism, Police Brutality, Killings and Impunity Continue
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Forces at the
disposal of Governors include thousands of
National Guard troops, as well as state troopers.
In coordination with mayors, they dispose of huge
militarized police forces. Large cities like New
York City, Chicago and Los Angeles have virtually
their own armies, with command centres, tanks,
helicopters, grenade launchers, chemical weapons
such as tear gas, heavily armed SWAT teams,
special Emergency Response Teams for protests, and
more. Trump's threat created a situation where the
state National Guard and police would come in
direct conflict with the federally mobilized
troops -- something the rulers want to avoid and
likely why Trump's threat remained just that.
However the growing disunity and threat to the
union these conflicts represent remains.
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The majority of statues and monuments being torn
down in the U.S. at the present moment are those
glorifying the Confederate side in the U.S. Civil
War because they exalt those who promoted slavery
and the dispossession and disenfranchisement of
African Americans. More than 50 such statues and
monuments have been torn down, defaced or
pre-emptively removed by authorities since George
Floyd was killed by the police on May 26.
This includes various statues of Robert E. Lee, a
commander of the Confederate States Army during
the American Civil War. Protesters removed the
statue of Robert E. Lee at the high school that
bears his name in Montgomery, Alabama on June 1.
Alabama, along with some other southern states,
has legislation in place which makes it an offence
that carries a $25,000 penalty to remove
Confederate memorials. However, in Birmingham, the
city itself removed the Confederate Soldiers and
Sailors Monument that had become a converging
point for the protests, saying the fine was less
than the cost of the security the city had to
provide to preserve the monument. Similarly, the
Sons of Confederate Veterans removed a bust of
Robert E. Lee in Fort Myers, Florida on June 1.
Confederate statues in Raleigh, North Carolina are
removed on the Governor's orders after protesters
toppled two such monuments.
In Raleigh, North Carolina, after two confederate
monuments were toppled by protesters, on June 20,
Governor Roy Cooper ordered that all Confederate
monuments on the grounds of the state Capitol be
removed, which he said he did "to protect public
safety." He said, "I am concerned about the
dangerous efforts to pull down and carry off
large, heavy statues and the strong potential for
violent clashes at the site."
"Monuments to white supremacy don't belong in
places of allegiance, and it's past time that
these painful memorials be moved in a legal, safe
way," he said.
Albert Pike's statue in Washington, DC was toppled and burned by protestors on June 19. Pike was a brigadier-general in the Confederate Army as well as a prominent Freemason. Besides other things, in 1850 he organized the Know-Nothing Party, which campaigned on anti-immigration beliefs and emphasized the use of slaves as more "efficient than farm labour."
Statue of Albert Pike in Washington, DC is
overturned by protesters.
In Washington, DC (left) statue of U.S. President
George Washington lies toppled; and (right) the
pedestal is all that is left of a statue of Albert
Pike.
In Washington, DC, Speaker of the House of
Representatives Nancy Pelosi on June 11 ordered
the removal of four portraits of Confederate slave
owners from the gallery of the House.
Confederate monuments were in the main erected
during the period of Jim Crow laws from about the
1870s up to the period of the civil rights
movement in the 1960s, to buttress state-organized
racism, dispossession and lynchings of African
Americans.
Protesters have also singled out some of the
so-called founding fathers, many of whom relied on
the labour of enslaved peoples to enrich
themselves. One is George Washington who is
said to have "owned 317 slaves" on his estate at
the time of his death in 1799. Protesters in
Portland, Oregon toppled a statue of George
Washington on June 18. His counterpart Thomas
Jefferson is said to have "owned" more than 600
enslaved labourers throughout his life. A statue
of Thomas Jefferson was pulled down at Thomas
Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon on June
23. Officials at Hofstra University in Long
Island, New York relocated a statue of Jefferson
from outside the student centre to a museum.
Protesters in Portland, Oregon remove statues of
Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.
Statues of Christopher Columbus have also been targeted, to highlight the enslavement of the Indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and all countries of the Americas by the Spanish conquistadors, including the near genocide of the Taíno. The first was brought down in Richmond, Virginia on June 9. Another was toppled in Saint Paul, Minnesota on June 10. A third was decapitated in Boston on June 11, with the remainder removed by the city. Another 16 have either already been removed by municipal authorities or are pending removal.
Statue of Christopher Columbus thrown in the water
in Richmond, Virginia.
Along similar lines, statues in New Mexico and
California dedicated to those involved in the
genocide and enslavement of Indigenous peoples in
the Americas have been removed by protesters or
local authorities, including monuments praising
Spanish conquistador Juan de Oñate and Catholic
priest Junípero Serra y Ferrer.
Canada
In Canada, recent protests and petitions are
calling for the removal of statues of the
historical figures directly involved in the
dispossession and acts of genocide against
Indigenous peoples, as well as those involved in
promoting slavery.
A petition started in early June titled "Remove
white supremacist John A. Macdonald's Monument in
Montréal" reads in part:
"We are calling to Montréal Mayor, Valérie Plante,
as well as the city council to remove the monument
of 'Canada's' first prime minister, John A.
Macdonald. There is absolutely no reason or room
for a racist, colonial, white nationalist to be
celebrated on unceded Indigenous land. The very
fact that this monument exists is an example of
the white washing of cultural history, and true
'reconciliation' does not include the
glorification of those that actively pursued
Indigenous genocide.
"Some of Macdonald's lifelong projects include:
- Establishing the first residential school and
creating the system in which over 130 more could
be made.
- Openly promoting the preservation of a so-called
'Aryan' Canada.
- 1885 Electoral Franchise Act.
- Gradual Civilization of Indians Act.
- Chinese Exclusion Act and the Chinese Head Tax.
- Worked to ban the teaching of French in schools
across numerous provinces.
- The death sentence of Metis leader, Louis Riel.
'Riel shall hang though every dog in Quebec bark
in his favour.'"
As of June 25, more than 21,000 people have
signed. The petition can be signed here.
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Already in 2018, a statue of Macdonald was taken
down in Victoria, BC. The artist who created it
recently told CTV "he is ashamed to admit that he
didn't know about residential schools until after
he crafted the statue and now believes these
monuments should also be taken down."
In Toronto, there is a call for Ryerson University
to remove the statue of its founder Egerton
Ryerson. A petition expressing this demand noted
that Ryerson "aided the Canadian government in the
creation of Residential Schools" and "opposed the
education of women." The petition can be read in
full and signed here.
Also in Toronto, there is a petition to rename
Dundas Street, which honours the British Empire's
representative Henry Dundas. The petition
explains, "As the MP for Midlothian in Westminster
and as Secretary of State he actively participated
in obstructing the abolition of slavery in the
British Empire from 1791 to the end of his
political career in 1806. Slavery was eventually
abolished in 1833 and officially in British North
America in 1834. But Dundas' actions to preserve
the profiteering of his friends in the slave trade
cost tens of thousands of lives, if not more."
That petition can be read in full and signed here.
Recent
removals of symbols glorifying those who committed
acts of genocide against Indigenous peoples
include the renaming of Amherst Street in Montreal
to Atateken Street on National Indigenous Day
(June 21) 2019, which realized a decades-long
demand of local residents and businesses. British
general Jeffrey Amherst is infamous for carrying
out biological warfare against the Indigenous
peoples by using blankets contaminated with
smallpox. Atatekan is a Mohawk word meaning
"Brothers and Sisters."
Statue of Cornwallis in Halifax is covered
pending its removal, July 15, 2017.
In Halifax, in 2017 the statue of Edward
Cornwallis was removed from the park also named
after him. Cornwallis was the British Governor of
Nova Scotia who is said to have founded Halifax.
In 1749, Cornwallis put a bounty on the scalp of
every Mi'kmaq man, woman and child in the province
-- a move tantamount to genocide. This practice
was also used against the Acadians between 1755
and 1763, during the British takeover of part of
the former French colonies. The lands seized by
the British had been settled by the Acadians when
they arrived in 1604.
The proposal for the removal of Cornwallis' statue
and to rename the park Halifax Peace and Freedom
Park was first made on November 21, 2009 when
some 200 people gathered at a rally there to
oppose the inaugural meeting of the Halifax
International Security Forum, the warmongering
agency based in Washington, DC and funded by
Canada's Department of National Defence and
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. With Mi'kmaq
approval, the activists covered the statue of
Cornwallis and took the collective decision
to rename the park as their very first act.
England and Scotland
A statue of Edward Colston in Bristol,
England, is torn down June 7, 2020 by protesters
and thrown in the harbour.
In England, people have removed or are demanding
the removal of statues of slave traders and
notorious racists, symbols of the ruling elites'
glorification of empire, racism and slavery.
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In Bristol on June 7, a statue of Edward Colston
was
torn down by protesters and thrown in the harbour.
Colston was a
notorious human trafficker in the late 17th
century who was associated
with Bristol, one of the main British ports
connected with
trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans. From
1680 onwards, Colston
was chiefly connected with the London-based Royal
African Company
(RAC), which had a monopoly on Britain's slave
trade in that period,
transporting Africans to Britain's colonies in
North America and the
Caribbean. In 1689 he became deputy governor of
the RAC. He was also
involved in sugar production, another industry
based on the labour of
enslaved Africans. On the basis of his great
wealth as well as a Tory
MP he was associated with the Society of Merchant
Venturers in Bristol,
a monopoly that controlled local government and
trade. The Society,
with Colston's support, petitioned to end the
royal monopoly on the
trafficking of Africans, allowing the merchants of
Bristol to engage in
the trafficking of enslaved Africans, which the
Society also
controlled. He became a major benefactor to
various schools and
charities in Bristol to advance his own business
interests, as opposed
to those of the Crown.
Several Bristol schools have been named after
Edward Colston as was until recently Colston Hall,
a major concert venue. A statue was erected in his
honour in 1895 with a plaque reading "Erected by
citizens of Bristol as a memorial of one of the
most virtuous and wise sons of their city."
Protests about the statue have been ongoing for
more than 20 years. In 2018 a second plaque was
proposed which added:
"As a high official of the Royal African Company
from 1680 to 1692, Edward Colston played an active
role in the enslavement of over 84,000 Africans
(including 12,000 children) of whom over 19,000
died en route to the Caribbean and America.
Colston also invested in the Spanish slave trade
and in slave-produced sugar. As Tory MP for
Bristol (1710-1713), he defended the city's
'right' to trade in enslaved Africans. Bristolians
who did not subscribe to his religious and
political beliefs were not permitted to benefit
from his charities."
There was opposition to this wording and after
several other attempts no resolution was reached,
until finally the statue has been brought down
altogether.
Statue of Robert Milligan at West India Quay in
the Docklands in London is pre-emptively removed
by authorities, June 9, 2020.
In London, a statue of Robert Milligan at West
India Quay in the Docklands was removed in a
pre-emptive move by authorities on June 9. Erected
in Milligan's honour following his death in 1809,
there have long been demands for its removal. In
early June, a petition from a local councillor to
remove the statue received thousands of
signatures. The Museum of London Docklands issued
a statement prior to the statue's removal that
said in part:
"Now more than ever at a time when Black Lives
Matter is calling for an end to public monuments
honouring slave owners, we advocate for the statue
of Robert Milligan to be removed on the grounds of
its historical links to colonial violence and
exploitation.
"We are currently working with a consortium to
remove this statue and are aware of other legacies
and landmarks within the area. The statue
presently stands shrouded with placards and is now
an object of protest, we believe these protests
should remain as long as the statue remains."
Milligan inherited sugar plantations in Jamaica
and was the owner of over 500 enslaved Africans.
He later led the consortia that built West India
Dock in London to facilitate the import of
slave-produced products from the Caribbean.
Also in London, a statement from Guy's and St.
Thomas' Charity, Guy's and St. Thomas' National
Health Service Foundation Trust and King's College
London announced on June 11 that the figures
depicting Robert Clayton and Thomas Guy will be
taken out of public view. "Like many organizations
in Britain, we know that we have a duty to address
the legacy of colonialism, racism and slavery in
our work. We absolutely recognize the public hurt
and anger that is generated by the symbolism of
public statues of historical figures associated
with the slave trade in some way," the statement
said.
Clayton, a former Lord Mayor of London, had ties
to the Royal African Company while Guy invested in
the South Sea Company, which was also involved in
the slave trade of 4,800 adult men every year.
Another statue the public is demanding be removed
is that of Cecil Rhodes at Oxford University.
Rhodes was an ardent advocate of British
imperialism and the supremacy of the "Anglo-Saxon"
race. A petition on Change.org has nearly 190,000
signatures calling on the university to remove the
statue. The petition states in part:
"We believe that the colonialism, racism and
patriarchy this statue is seeped in has no place
in our university -- which for many of us is also
our home. The removal of this statue would be a
welcome first step in the University's attempt to
redress the ways in which it has been an active
beneficiary of empire. While it remains standing,
the statue of Rhodes remains a celebration not
just of the crimes of the man himself, but of the
imperialist legacy on which Oxford University has
thrived, and continues to thrive. While the statue
remains standing, Oxford University continues to
condone the persistent racism that shadows this
institution."
The university has voted to remove it but has not
said when. Students have sought to have the statue
removed since at least 2015, taking up the Rhodes
Must Fall campaign that began at the University of
Cape Town in South Africa, which succeeded in
having a statue of Rhodes removed.
A statue of a more recent figure, that of former
Prime Minister Winston Churchill in Parliament
Square in London, has been defaced during recent
protests, with the slogan "Churchill was a racist"
spray-painted across its base. There are numerous
accounts of his racist outlook directed against
East Asians, South Asians and Black people, and
his belief in white supremacy, as part of his
ardent British imperialist outlook. The statue has
now been boarded up to prevent further vandalism.
In Edinburgh, Scotland, as in Toronto, protesters
are calling to end the glorification of Henry
Dundas. Reporting on the ongoing protests for the
removal of his statue, 570 News notes, "The late
18th-century Scottish politician was responsible
for delaying Britain's abolition of the slave
trade by 15 years until 1807. During that time,
more than half a million enslaved Africans were
trafficked across the Atlantic." In an attempt to
avoid the inevitable, the City of Edinburgh has
responded with a plan to leave the statue in
place, atop a high column, with signage to explain
that he was "instrumental in deferring the
abolition of the Atlantic slave trade."
Belgium
Damaged statue of King Leopold II in Antwerp
removed by authorities June 9, 2020.
There are many statues across Belgium to honour
King Leopold II "of the Belgians," who plundered
the Congo Free State and carried out atrocities
and crimes against the people including mass
murder, mass mutilation, forced labour on pain of
death, rape, assassinations and more, besides
expropriating Congo's wealth, especially for the
production of rubber, in the period of 1885-1908.
The statues aim to sanitize and glorify Belgium's
and King Leopold II's crimes in the Congo. They
have been desecrated on an ongoing basis in recent
years, especially since the killing of George
Floyd. In Antwerp, authorities removed a statue of
King Leopold II on June 9 after it sustained
serious damage during protests.
(Photos: TML, Shara, M. Edwards, B. Karp, China Daily, G. Davis, S. Villiani, J. Lefty, J. Morris, T. Roache, N. Khawaji, B.J. Sky, J. Biggs, C. Onyango-Obbo)
Signs of Change in Ireland
Citizen's committees are removing or renaming British imperialist figures and institutions in Ireland as part of the movement for empowerment and against British colonialism.
Streets surrounding
Belfast City Hall including May Street and
Donegall Square were renamed after three Irish
patriots, the
hunger strikers -- Joe McDonnell, Bobby Sands and
Kieran Doherty
-- who laid down their lives inside the H-blocks
of Long Kesh
internment camp in 1981 for the rights of
political prisoners and
the cause of Irish freedom. Another street honours
James
Connolly, the Communist leader at the centre of
the 1916 Rising
for independence. Queen's University was renamed
"Mairéad Farrell
University Belfast" with signage erected across
its prominent
front gates after the former student and IRA
volunteer, killed in
Gibraltar on active service in 1988. The names
also serve as an
important reminder of the ruthless brutality of
the British
government in Ireland under the leadership of
then-prime minister
Margaret Thatcher.
For years there has been sharp criticism of the way the colonial period is remembered in the Republic of Ireland. Some statues have been removed officially and others "unofficially." One such case was the statue of Horatio Nelson, built in the centre of what was then Sackville Street (later renamed O'Connell Street) in Dublin, Ireland. Erected in 1809 when Ireland was forced to be part of the United Kingdom, it survived for more than 40 years until March 1966. It was frequently pointed out that a statue to the British admiral had no place in Dublin after Irish independence was achieved and the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1921 which divided the island. After years of inconclusive discussion the issue was dealt with when the statue was finally toppled with gelignite, as was that of a large statue of George II and his horse brought to ground at Stephen's Green in 1937. Nelson's remnants were later destroyed by the Irish Army but its head is preserved in a museum.
Recently campaigns have been underway in Ireland, like that in Cork, to remove the name Queen Victoria, known as the "Famine Queen," from street signs. That her main statue at Leinster House in Dublin survived until 1948 (26 years after the creation of the Free State) is something of a miracle. She was monarch when Ireland was beset by a famine organized by filthy rich landowners and millions starved or emigrated. After gathering dust in Ireland for some years, Victoria got a trip to Sydney, Australia to be "planted" outside the Queen Victoria Building despite some bids from Canadian buyers. Writing in the Irish Times the following month, Myles na gCopaleen (Brian O'Nolan/Flann O'Brien) was not overly bothered with its removal -- her statutes were more harmful than her statues, as he put it. "Besides, look at it this way," he wrote. "Time has given the mere Irish their revenge. The fact is that Victoria has turned green. Of hue she approaches our decent Irish letterbox. And it is the price of her."
In Belfast, the spokesperson for the current committee changing street and place signs in Belfast, Pól Torbóid, said their list of place names from across the city featured "prominent individuals responsible for historic abuses in Ireland."
"Belfast's streets, littered with the poverty of its people, its homeless and jobless; are also littered with the names of those whose attitude to Ireland was one of subjugation, and who, by force of arms, forced a political and economic system upon our people, which became the foundation for partition, and for the current economic struggles faced by the Irish people, Torbóid said.
"These street names, monuments to those who delivered misery across our nation in one form or another, also serve as monuments to the political and economic system that they helped to build in Ireland.
"These street names, the symbols of oppression, hate and servitude, must be stripped away. "They must be replaced with the names of those who sought to build a better Ireland, the names of those who fought against oppression, against hate and against servitude."
"They must be replaced with the names of heroes: of normal people. Not lords. Not kings or queens; but rather those who weren't the heirs to vast riches.
"Those whose only inheritance was that which they tried to carve out of a political system that railed against them.
"It is our inheritance as Republicans to end the oppression immortalized in these street names and statues.
"It is our duty to end colonialism, to end the normalization of imperialism and, consequently, the political and economic system that maintains it."
May 15, 1937, a statue of King George II lies
destroyed
in Stephen's Green. Inset photo shows statue
as it previously
stood.
Statue of Nelson (left) in Dublin was blown off
its pillar in 1966;
statue of Queen Victoria (right) is removed from
Leinster House in
1948.
(With files from Irish Republican News, Irish Times and the Celtic League. Photos: Lasair Dhearg)
Bank of England's Attempt to Whitewash
Its History and Present Role
On June 19, in the wake of the global upsurge following the killing of African American George Floyd, and protests in Britain about the glorification of slavery and empire, the Bank of England issued a statement "about its historical links to the slave trade."
According to the Bank of England: "There can be no doubt that the eighteenth and nineteenth century slave trade was an unacceptable part of English history. As an institution, the Bank of England was never itself directly involved in the slave trade, but is aware of some inexcusable connections involving former Governors and Directors and apologizes for them. The Bank has commenced a thorough review of its collection of images of former Governors and Directors to ensure none with any such involvement in the slave trade remain on display anywhere in the Bank. The Bank is committed to improving diversity and is actively engaging with staff, particularly with our BAME [Black, Asian and minority ethnic] colleagues, to help us identify and shape concrete steps that can be taken now to progress the Bank's efforts to be as inclusive as possible."
It would be difficult to compose a statement that more blatantly falsifies history, or one that is more at variance with the demands now being made by the people of Britain.
The Bank of England was incorporated in 1694 alongside the National Debt, originally a loan of £1.2m, both of which were necessary for the government of the day to pursue two major wars -- the War of the League of Augsburg (1689-1697) and the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1713). In return for the loan, at a rate of 8 per cent interest, the money lenders were allowed a monopoly on the issue of banknotes and effectively became the state bank. The creation of the Bank of England and the National Debt led to a tremendous growth of banking, credit, the City of London, the Stock Exchange, and all the main financial institutions of the capital-centred economic system that still exist today. In addition, they contributed to the modern system of taxation, in order to transfer wealth from the working people to the moneylenders and speculators who greatly profited from the wars.
The War of the Spanish Succession ended with the Treaty of Utrecht by which, amongst other things, the British government gained the asiento -- the right to supply Spanish colonies on the American continent with enslaved Africans. Britain already possessed colonies in North America and the Caribbean in which thousands of enslaved Africans were exploited, but acquiring the asiento led to Britain becoming the world's leading trafficker of enslaved African men, women and children throughout the 18th century.
No doubt the present Bank of England wants to distance itself from the most notorious criminals amongst its former governors, such as Humphrey Morice, who has been referred to as "the prince of London slave traders" during the 1720s. However, the Bank of England's entire history is inseparable from Britain's involvement in human trafficking and slavery, wars and empire, just as it is inseparable from the exploitation of the working people in Britain and the entire capital-centred system. The capital-centred system and all its financial institutions can therefore be held responsible for profiting from the trafficking of enslaved Africans, colonial conquests and empire.
In 1833, when the government of the day was compelled to abolish slavery throughout the British Empire, the major slaveowners were compensated with the award of £20m. As is well-known, neither those who were enslaved, nor the societies where they were enslaved or from where they were kidnapped, have ever been compensated, nor granted any reparatory justice. In 1833, £20m was equivalent to 40 per cent of total annual government expenditure, and was added to the National Debt in the form of a government bond or gilt, which pays interest to the holder, normally the major financial institutions or their investors. The gilts in question were not redeemed until 2015, meaning that it was a burden on the taxpayer until that time, as well as a means of speculation and profit.
Slavery and empire were indispensable in and integral to the emergence of the capital-centred system in Britain and throughout the world. Racism was and is the world view of the slave traders, financial oligarchs and all those who defend the capital-centred system. It is not just the statues of the criminals of the past that must be torn down in order to end racism and empower the people but the entire capital-centred system. The old authority must fall.
Protests Against Racism, Police Brutality,
Killings and Impunity Continue
Rally in Frankfort Kentucky, June 25, 2020.
June 26 marks one month since the brutal killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. Militant actions by Blacks, working people, youth and people from all walks of life in the U.S. and around the world continue demanding that militarized policing, brutality, killings and impunity be ended. The people are also demanding profound changes to bring this state of affairs to an end.
On June 12 in
Atlanta, Rayshard Brooks, a 27-year-old African
American man, was fatally shot by Atlanta Police
Department officer Garrett Rolfe. Brooks had
fallen asleep in his car and was blocking a
restaurant's drive-through lane. The police allege
a breathalyzer exam indicated Brooks'
blood-alcohol content was above the legal limit
for driving and that this in turn permitted them
to handcuff him. Whatever happened in the scuffle
that ensued which involved Brooks seizing and
firing one of the police officers' tasers, what is
certain is that, in the end, Rolfe shot Brooks
twice from behind and Brooks died after surgery.
Both officers were initially removed from duty after the shooting. On June 14, Rolfe was fired and the second officer involved -- named Brosnan -- was placed on administrative duty. On June 17, the Fulton County District Attorney announced 11 charges against Rolfe: felony murder, five counts of aggravated assault, four police oath violations, and damage to property. He said Rolfe should have been aware that the taser Brooks had taken posed no danger, as after being fired twice it could not fire again; that the officers did not provide timely medical aid to Brooks after he was shot, and that before providing aid, Rolfe kicked him and Brosnan stood on his shoulders. He also indicated that it was a violation of department policy for Rolfe to begin handcuffing Brooks before telling him he was being arrested. Police Chief Erika Shields resigned on June 13 in relation to the shooting, while Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has called for a review of the use of force policy. On June 16, many police officers called in sick, to protest their fellow officers being held to account for the killing of Rayshard Brooks.
The Mayor said she would direct city funds away from the police department and toward community programs. However, the city budget was approved on June 22 with no such changes, as city councillors cited promised raises and job security for police officers.
In Wilmington, North Carolina, three police officers were fired on June 24 after a routine review of police footage showed them making racist remarks against African Americans, with one calling for a "civil war" against Black people.
In Louisville, Kentucky, on June 1 David McAtee, who ran a barbeque cart, held a social gathering which was attacked by police. Initial reports indicate that Louisville police aggressively fired pepper balls at the crowd at head level, prompting McAtee to fire his gun in the air as a warning shot. He was then killed by National Guard at the scene. McAtee's mother later told reporters that her son was known by the police and the community, and that he had fed all the policemen and would join them for discussions while they ate.
Another recent incident of police abuse took place at a Black Lives Matter protest in Miami on June 10, where Alaa Massri was unlawfully arrested, and then had her rights further violated while in detention. A petition in support of Massri points out, "After witnessing an individual being hit with a police vehicle, Alaa Massri saw another vehicle approaching a small group of protesters. Being the team's medic, she rushed to go aid whomever might have been injured but was stopped by 6-8 cops in riot gear. After repeatedly asking the police officers (Officer Corral, #41643) not to touch her, in a polite yet concerned manner, Ms. Massri attempted to walk away. Instead, she was surrounded and arrested. Alaa was then zip-tied and later charged with battery, resisting an officer with violence, and disorderly conduct. Witnesses observed that she was not acting in a disorderly fashion and was simply coming to the aid of an injured individual." Massri later had her hijab forcefully removed, following which her mugshot was taken and then disseminated to media. Massri was forced to remain without her head scarf for the remainder of her seven hours in detention. Similar incidents which violate the right to protest, Miranda rights (she was not read her rights when arrested) and most significantly her right to conscience through forcible removal of her hijab have been prosecuted in various U.S. cities and authorities have had to pay victims of their racist treatment substantial fines.
In the case of Breonna Taylor, killed in her home on March 13 by Louisville police serving a no-knock warrant, the mass protests decrying policy brutality and impunity have led two months later to the three officers involved in the shooting being placed on administrative leave. On June 23, one officer was fired for violating policies on the use of deadly force. Protesters continue to demand that the three officers be criminally charged and arrested for her killing.
The two vigilantes who killed Ahmaud Arbery on February 23 in Glynn County, Georgia, were finally indicted by a grand jury on charges, including malice and felony murder on June 24.
(Photos: K.M. Mink, L. Sanchez)
Photo Review
Washington, DC
Revere, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Boston, Massachusetts
Hartford, Connecticut
Poughkeepsie, New Jersey
New York City
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Baltimore, Maryland
St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota
Chicago, Illinois
Des Moines, Iowa
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Columbus, Ohio
Greencastle, Indiana
Nashville, Tennessee
Rural Tennessee
Richmond, Virginia
Miami, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia
Louisiana
Choteau, Montana
Little Rock, Arkansas
Fargo, North Dakota
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Texas
Denver, Colorado
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