Jacksonville, FL – Around 50 community members rallied outside the Duval County Courthouse on Friday, June 20, to demand Justice for Charles Faggart and police accountability. Organized by the family of Charles Faggart along with the Jacksonville Community Action Committee and Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network, community members rallied almost two months after Faggart’s death at the hands of nine Jacksonville Sheriff Office’s (JSO) correctional officers.

Those officers have been reassigned to the courthouse and other areas while the state attorney and JSO investigation continues. The cops involved in Faggart’s death names are Sergeant W.H. Cox, Officer T.C. Pennamon, Officer G.L. Mckinnis, Officer D.D. Thomas, Officer M.E. Sullivan, Officer P.L. Collins, Officer A.K. Maygoo, Officer E. Kurtovic, and Officer J.J. Bullard.

Sergeant Cox had previously been known as one of the ringleaders of brutality in the jail, with his name being brought up by community members in the past.

Medical records reports released by Charles Faggart’s family showed he was tasered and pepper sprayed, with injuries consistent with being beaten. JSO had previously released a heavily redacted reported seeking to claim Faggart had taken fentanyl. His medical reports showed JSO’s claims to be flat out lies. This was the most recent of protests the community has had demanding justice for Charles.

“I think it’s incredible that people would gather to demand justice for Charles; that shows that he is loved, that his family is loved, and that we’re not backing down anytime soon,” said Jacksonville Community Action Committee member Neal Jefferson.

Tracey Karpas, the mother of Charles Faggart, said she was frustrated that the cops involved are back on the job as the investigation goes on.

“I don’t think it’s fair that they’re even working. I don’t how can that be,” Karpas said.

Protesters led chants of, “We want justice; you say how? Community control of the police now” along with chants demanding justice for Charles Faggart.

The family and community members vow to keep demanding justice until it’s won.

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #CommunityControl

Chicago, IL – Chicagoans demanded action to stop police crimes on Thursday, June 30, at the first official meeting of the newly appointed Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), a citywide body charged with holding the Chicago Police Department accountable.

50 community members, organizers, police district councilors and family members of those lost to police violence showed up at Saint Sabina Church on the Southside to demand an end to pretextual traffic stops and so-called “tactical teams.” Nine of the ten speakers who gave public comments raised the demand to end these racist police practices which have caused the murders of Dexter Reed and Reginald Clay Jr among many others, as well as the daily harassment of Black and brown people.

While pretextual traffic stops are extremely ineffective at preventing crime, they do “lead to an increased number of unnecessary encounters between everyday unarmed civilians and special militarized tactical units,” said District Councilor David Boykin of the 6th District on Chicago’s South Side in the Auburn Gresham and Chatham neighborhoods.

“Any one of these interactions could easily escalate into a vicious killing like the one that we all witnessed in the case of Dexter Reed,” Boykin added.

Roosevelt Banks is the uncle of Dexter Reed, who was killed by five plainclothes police officers who fired 96 shots at him in March. Banks deplored the fact that the five offending officers had a total of 41 complaints for misconduct stemming from previous traffic stops before the one that led to the execution-style murder of his 26-year-old nephew.

“Why is it five tactical officers with 41 complaints on them when it should have been something after two or three,” Banks said.

None of the five officers involved in the murder have faced any consequences and all remain on paid administrative leave.

Andy Williams Jr. further urged the commissioners to abolish pretextual traffic stops, speaking from his own experience of having been pulled over and held for over an hour by four undercover officers in 2019.

“If pretextual stops are for safety, then why do we lose our lives with a pretextual stop?” Williams asked. “You’re trying to save my life for not wearing a seatbelt? That life is not here no more.”

After the public comments, Anthony Driver, an organizer with SEIU Local HCII, was elected by the other six commissioners to his second term as president of the CCPSA.

“I've been fighting for justice for years and I'm committed to fighting for justice for the rest of my time as president of this commission,” Driver said.

The CCPSA was created in 2021 by the Empowering Communities for Public Safety (ECPS) Ordinance, a measure fought for and won by the movement to stop police crimes in Chicago. The CCPSA was originally seated with an interim commission appointed by the mayor and city councilors, but on Thursday met for the first time with commissioners nominated by the directly-elected district councilors and selected by movement-elected Mayor Brandon Johnson, as the ordinance requires.

Some people in attendance called for the CCPSA itself to be directly elected. This question will be put before the people of Chicago in November if the city council passes the referendum for Community Power Over Policing, a referendum that would also give the CCPSA a voice in the police budget, staffing, and negotiations with the anti-accountability Fraternal Order of Police.

“The people of Chicago have the democratic right to decide who polices their communities and how,” Frank Chapman, field organizer of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), said after the meeting. CAARPR was a leading organization in the coalition which got ECPS passed in 2021 and is leading the fight for the CPOP referendum.

“This referendum is a crucial step towards the people having the power to stop police crimes and racist policies,” Chapman added.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #CommunityControl #CAARPR #Feature

New York, NY – On a hot afternoon of Thursday, June 6, several hundred people gathered in front of the Intrepid Museum to disrupt the annual New York City Police Foundation Gala.

The foundation is a notorious nonprofit in the city that allows donors to anonymously donate money to the NYPD. As it’s been around since the 1970s, it’s been used as a way to funnel money into the NYPD without accountability for the donors. It’s egregious that the NYPD, with a budget of $11 billion, gets even more funds while libraries are getting shut down.

The foundation is also responsible for funding three major programs. Crime Stoppers is a program that gives money to civilians to report on each other. Option Foundations is a program where they pair up children with an NYPD officer and use virtual reality technology to teach them emotional intelligence. Finally, International Liaison: is the program that funds all overseas NYPD offices, including the one in Tel Aviv.

The gala is a yearly celebration for the NYPD and the wealthy trustees. The cheapest ticket to get in is $2500 and the most expensive one is $250,000. All proceeds go to the NYPD.

The protest was called by the New York Community Action Project (NYCAP) and had over 29 organizations endorsing it, including NYU SJP, Within Our Lifetime, Palestinian Youth Movement, Bayan North East, and Justice for Eudes Pierre.

Despite record levels of heat and the blazing sun, the crowd was fired up as wealthy donors entered the gala in their finery. The organizers were situated so that attendees had to walk by them and face down the angry protesters. Chants of “Blood on your hands” and “Shame” followed the wealthy as they scurried past.

Sharif Hall of NYCAP said during his introduction to the demonstration, “These rich people are donating money to the same foundation that will give money to the NYPD to go into our community to kill Black and brown brothers and sisters.” The crowd responded with loud “shame” as NYPD officers looked on.

The main demands of the protest were to disclose the donors’ names, stop funding police terror, and to demilitarize the subway. NYCAP has been organizing around the increase of police and the National Guard on the subway station since March.

Speakers at the rally were from NYU SJP, Justice for Eudes Pierre, and Bayan North East. Each speaker connected the issue of the NYPD to their own demands for justice and liberation.

Shivani Ishwar of NYCAP said this during their speech, “We know they are lying. More cops, more soldiers – they don’t keep us safe. They put us in danger. Since October, we’ve seen how they’ve treated people just for speaking out against a genocide. We’ve seen how they’ve stopped people because they’re Black or brown, or because they’re wearing a keffiyeh. We’ve seen how they rush to the defense of the institutions, at the direct expense of the people. We know that the only way to keep us safe is to get these cops out of here. We know that we need to get the National Guard out of our city!”

The protest ended with chanting with unrelenting energy. New Yorkers do not like the NYPD and will continue organizing to stop its onslaught of terror.

#NewYorkNY #InJusticeSystem #PoliceBrutality #NYCAP #CommunityControl #PoliceCrimes #NationalGuard

New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, April 9, around 100 community members filed into the gymnasium of the Treme Recreational Center for a People’s Town Hall on Policing. The town hall meeting, hosted by New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police (NOCOP), interviewed New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick. The superintendent is the local equivalent of a chief of police. Community members spent the town hall voicing their anger with police crimes, abuses of power, civil rights violations, and lack of transparency.

NOCOP and other organizations demanded that Kirkpatrick endorse a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), which she refused. The audience was notably dissatisfied with Kirkpatrick’s responses, and she left the town hall in a huff.

Superintendent Kirkpatrick has no background in policing in the city or state, and she took this position in New Orleans after losing previous position as a police chief in Oakland, California. Mayor Latoya Cantrell appointed her without inviting input from the city council or community. During her confirmation process, the city council ignored demands to call a public meeting with the mayor, and unexpectedly pushed back her confirmation hearing to avoid having a large audience. She was sworn into office on November 1, and this town hall marked her first conversation with the public.

Oversight “dysfunctional”

The event began with an interview of the superintendent by Jasmine Groves. Jasmine is the daughter of Kim Groves, who was assassinated by former NOPD officer Len Davis after Kim had reported police brutality. Jasmine Groves is a NOCOP member and has been a dedicated advocate against police violence for many years. During the interview, Groves posed questions to the superintendent regarding the consent decree, civilian oversight, Louisiana State Police collaboration, families of police violence victims, and the violation of First Amendment rights.

“I don’t know anything about that,” Kirkpatrick repeated in response to questions.

Kirkpatrick took a stance on the consent decree that particularly concerned the audience. The decree exists as a result of a Department of Justice investigation into the unconstitutionality of the city’s policing. The superintendent emphasized her plan to exit the consent decree, and many in the audience could be heard voicing that NOPD is still not in compliance.

Kirkpatrick also remarked that civilian oversight boards are “dysfunctional,” citing that a civilian review board had removed her in the past. She went on to brag about costing Oakland $1.5 million in order to remove her and suggested the existing Police Community Advisory Boards (PCAB) as the best setting for the public to give input to police instead of CPAC. The lackluster answers upset both Groves and the crowd.

“No trust without accountability”

Eventually, Jasmine Groves confronted the superintendent, stating, “As a victim of a mother killed by NOPD, it kind of aggravates me to see the picture painted cutely. The community is the only people that suffer. It's been 30 years since my mama was killed.”

Groves continued, “I would have loved for my mama to be here, or I wouldn't be here today. I had no choice in that. The consent decree is the only thing that gives the community safety, and, from a guideline – you can’t tell me that’s compliance. When we still have Ronald Greene, Davari Robertson, and all these people who still are families and victims of police corruption. So, the game, the wish, and the lies, that will not bridge the gap of trust. Cause my trust was torn when this twelve-year-old answered the phone and heard my mama’s shot.”

Groves speaking from experience about the impacts of police violence and the absence of police accountability riled the crowd to applause. “No trust without accountability!'' shouted one audience member.

During public comment time, the community voiced other frustrations. The crowd asked their questions, at times being very confrontational.

“Take the power back!”

WC Johnson with Community United for Change stated, “We still have officers on the job who’ve violated people’s rights that have never had to answer for or apologize for what they’ve done. PCABs are not working, so that can’t be our plan for community engagement alone. PCAB is a police community advisory board. In each police district there's a PCAB, but the things they’re supposed to do, the way they're supposed to work, the way they’re supposed to operate as described in the consent decree is not the way it's operating.”

Johnson continued, “The PCAB didn't come out of the community, it didn't come from the citizens.”

“The people of New Orleans are facing undemocratic and unconstitutional policing and increasing attacks on our democratic rights. So, if it's unconstitutional, and it’s undemocratic, then what kind of system do the people have?” Nat Turner of the People’s Political Party asked the superintendent.

“Based on the question as I am reading it, it says, ‘If the treatment of Black people in the city is unconstitutional and undemocratic, what kind of system do we have?’ —a failed one. A failed system,” responded Kirkpatrick, acknowledging the failures of police to protect citizens, but offering only existing avenues for public input to police as city residents demand community oversight. The superintendent responded to an ask from the crowd on whether or not she would attend another town hall. She declined.

“Take the power back! CPAC! CPAC!”, the crowd chanted as Kirkpatrick exited. To reflect on the town hall and take steps to continue building the movement for community control of the police, New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police will have an open meeting on the April 18 at 2626.Saint Phillip Street.

The endorsing organizations for the town hall were New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP), Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Eyes on Surveillance, Renters Rights Assembly, Communities United for Change, New Orleans United Front Against Crime, and NOCOP.

#NewOrleansLA #InJusticeSystem #PoliceBrutality #CPAC #CommunityControl #NOSHIP #NOCOP #FRSO #DSA #NOUFA #Feature

Milwaukee, WI – Ahead of Judge Brittany Grayson’s decision regarding Standard Operating Procedure 575, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a press conference and picket outside of the Milwaukee Police Association on Friday, March 15.

SOP 575 is a policy requiring the Milwaukee Police Department to release the footage of any critical incident to the victim’s next of kin within 48 hours and to the community within 15 days. The Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) sued the city of Milwaukee and filed an injunction against SOP 575, which prevented it from being implemented after being passed last April. However, Milwaukeeans have not let up in their defense of this hard-fought victory.

The first action of the day was a press conference inside Milwaukee City Hall, where the Milwaukee Alliance and the families of Dontre Hamilton, Brieon Green and Cilivea Thyrion spoke.

“We’re calling on Judge Grayson to do the right thing,” said Brian Verdin, the education chair of the Milwaukee Alliance.

Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton and longtime community activist, said her son’s death, “We’ve been fighting to see the body camera footage since 2015. There’s still no transparency.”

Drawing connections to the longstanding issues with the Milwaukee County Jail (MCJ), Kerrie Hirte spoke on the death of her daughter Cilivea Thyrion, 20, in the MCJ, “They continue to withhold the video, and I continue to fight. I’m here to fight with other moms who have had children pass before my daughter. And I will continue to stand with these women and fight for what is right for your community and other communities.”

Laquita Dunlap, mother of Brieon Green, 18, who died in the MCJ stated, “No one wants to take accountability or be transparent about the situation.”

“We need those questions answered about what is happening by the police, what is happening in law enforcement in general that is doing this to our people. We need those answers, and we need them now,” said Alan Chavoya, the outreach chair of the Milwaukee Alliance.

After this press conference, MAARPR was joined by other community organizations and local activists for a picket at the MPA later that day.

Regardless of Judge Grayson’s ruling, Milwaukee will continue to fight for transparency at all levels – with MAARPR’s eyes set on bringing the struggle to the state of Wisconsin in the near future. All power to the people!

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #MAARPR #PoliceBrutality #CommunityControl

New Orleans, LA – On Monday, January 15 on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) hosted an MLK Fight Back March starting at A.L. Davis Park at noon. About 100 members of the community came out in attendance, even marching in the rain as showers briefly passed over the demonstration.

They chanted “New Orleans, we’re on a roll, we’re fighting for community control!” as they took the streets down Claiborne Avenue and MLK Boulevard.

Entering 2024, New Orleans faces a crisis of corruption and unaccountable leadership. Mayor LaToya Cantrell is under federal investigation, the New Orleans Police Department is in violation of the federal consent decree, and several more public institutions, such as schools and the Sewerage and Water Board, also remain under consent decrees due to underfunding and mismanagement.

NOCOP and endorsers marched to bring together as many as can be united for the advancement of the struggle against white supremacy, corrupt police and undemocratic leadership in New Orleans. All united under the slogans “Unite for Black power! Community control of police, schools, and all public institutions now!”

As New Orleans is a majority-Black city, this demand is directly tied to the empowerment of the Black community to have a democratic say over our public institutions and how they are run.

Noonie Man, from New Orleans United Front, spoke on the need for building the demand of Black power in the city. “We want to push the Black agenda in New Orleans,” he said. “We must hold all politicians accountable. I don’t care if it's the mayor, I don’t care if it's the police chief, I don’t care if it’s the council – I don't care who it is! We need to shut the city of New Orleans down and make them respect us.”

Gregory Jean, a member of the New Orleans City Workers Organizing Committee, spoke on how the image of MLK has been watered down in mainstream media since his assassination. Jean said King “was anti-imperialist, against U.S. militarism, the exploitation and occupation of poor people, and promoted radical exploitation of wealth locally and globally. If Dr. King were here today, he’d be in the streets to Stop Cop City and chanting ‘From the river to the sea!’”

The march was also part of an effort to apply pressure on the new New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick to attend a public town hall meeting, where she would discuss her upcoming plans for the police department and answer questions from concerned residents and activists. Her appointment was pushed through by Mayor Cantrell in 2023, with zero input from any of the public.

#NewOrleansLA #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #CommunityControl #PoliceBrutality #NOCOP #MLK #Feature

The real reason the Public Safety Committee met to discuss civilian oversight was made clear with the announcement of Lightfoot’s new bill: the committee is getting ready to do the Mayor’s bidding. Since taking office, Lightfoot has not instructed her handpicked Chairman for Public Safety, Chris Taliaferro – a former police sergeant – to hold a single hearing on the longest-standing demand for truly transformative reform to Chicago’s police accountability system, the Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) ordinance.

CPAC would give communities the power to control the police department through directly elected representatives. Since 2012, it has been the principal solution to police impunity for tens of thousands of Chicagoans who have demanded it, especially the city’s Black, Chicano/Mexicano and Puerto Rican communities facing police terror – a fact confirmed when a counterfeit proposal began to circulate within the channels of the city’s powerful NGOs in order to undercut CPAC’s demand for community power.

GAPA’s rival proposal to the CPAC was built around the delusion that the mayor would accommodate sticking “community” somewhere within the accountability system she did not already occupy. In response to that premise, the mayor simply swelled in power to crowd out all the available spaces. Today, GAPA is no more. Back in March, Lightfoot gutted the group’s proposal, refusing even to allow its toothless ‘Community Commission’ to have any say over police policy. Since then, she has walked away from the negotiating table altogether, announcing two weeks ago that she is going it alone. That leaves CPAC, but when asked recently what she thought of the demand for residents to exercise their democratic right to control the police, the Mayor stated unequivocally that she has always been against that right, “long before it became fashionable.”

For the October 20 hearing, nearly 2000 written comments in support of CPAC were sent to Taliaferro’s committee. In a repeat of the hearings held in 2018, when the public overwhelmingly rose to the mic to demand CPAC, all of the residents who testified on Tuesday voiced their support for community control of the police. None spoke on behalf of GAPA. Unable to attack the substance of CPAC’s demand to give communities the power to decide the terms of their own liberation and flourishing, the mayor’s city council lackeys tried to bog the hearing down in technicalities.

When it comes to addressing the fundamental issue of who should have the power to control and wield a lethal public institution, the contrast between the two opposing sides just got starker: the mayor on her own against Chicago’s communities, the mayor’s power versus the people’s democratic right to free themselves of police tyranny and abuse. In explaining how she can go it alone on community oversight after rejecting any power-sharing arrangement with communities, the mayor will no doubt utter something to the effect of, “The community, c’est moi.”

In the face of a national uprising against police crimes, the ‘police reform’ mayor has not only refused to address civilian oversight, she’s trying to completely do away with it. How did it come to this?

The uprising in Chicago that began on May 30 with some 15,000 protesters and a 4000-car caravan grew to some 100,000 people taking to the streets of Chicago over the summer to demand community control of the police. That demand has echoed throughout the city’s streets, reverberating its way to marches across the nation, and even into the first presidential debate.

The movement in wards across Chicago – including in the traditional police strongholds of the northwest – have led marches and sent thousands of emails to their aldermen to demand CPAC, including over 10,000 emails in Andre Vazquez’s ward, over 11,000 in Felix Cardona’s ward, and over 14,000 in Carlos Rosa’s. In the midst of the national reckoning occasioned by this uprising, the CPAC coalition has grown to over 100 organizations, including former members of GAPA such as Action Now, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Chicago Women Take Action, among others.

Rather than addressing police violence and syncing herself with the national moment, Lightfoot has unleashed her officers to protect property – including her own – and to brutalize protesters who have taken to the street precisely to protest police brutality. Praising her forces for clubbing, arresting and gassing thousands, she has upbraided them only for sleeping in the office of Congressman Bobby Rush when they should have been out defending property over lives. Her only response to the national movement for justice tremoring underfoot was to convene a working group on the Chicago Police Department’s use of force guidelines. The group concluded its work in October and recently published an op-ed calling the entire process a sham, after 150 of its 155 recommendations were rejected by the department. In the face of such ‘community input,’ CPAC calls for power, real democratic power to control the police accountability system in Chicago, not to have ‘input’ into it.

In celebrating Lightfoot’s role as enforcer during the pandemic and protector of property against unrest, the ruling class that put the mayor in power has sent her a clear message: “Order rather than justice.” Never willing to admit that their regime depends on police violence, exploitation and repression of Black and brown communities, the mayor’s base pushes the lie that policing is a benevolent tyranny that guarantees safety for all. With Lightfoot at the helm, they see an opportunity to revert the city’s political order to its pre-Laquan McDonald settings. After all, it was Lightfoot that Rahm Emanuel put out front to tell a city smoldering from the execution of Laquan McDonald that communities need a voice in policing. After that, Rahm had his Public Safety Committee stall any meaningful change until his exit. Rahm is gone – Lightfoot is the new Rahm, and having her say that the need for community-driven change has passed is the cover the ruling class needs.

There’s just one problem. The movement for the rights enshrined by CPAC has only grown stronger since forcing Rahm Emanuel not to run again and putting Laquan’s murderer on trial. Across the country, millions on the march are waking up to the fact that the police are and always have been a tool of white supremacy, serving the white supremacist ruling class that descends from this country’s founding lineage of slave owners. In connecting police repression to the protection of that wretched class, they see now why real police reform has never happened. In seeing others demanding the means to undo police repression through their own democratic rights, they see something that, though never before thought possible, hits them with the force of every true self-discovery. And once seen, that right is so close and so obvious that it cannot be unseen, only made into a material reality. For once seen, oppressed peoples can never turn their back on the right and the power and the means to destroy the bonds of their subjugation.

#ChicagoIL #AfricanAmerican #CPAC #CommunityControl #MayorLoriLightfoot

Minneapolis, MN – On June 7, Minneapolis officials tried to pull one over on the people again, in the guise of promising real change after the murder of George Floyd. Nine city council members declared a “commitment to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department.” The announcement was made at community meeting held by Black Visions and Reclaim the Block, two grassroots organizations that have been calling on the council to divest from MPD since 2018.

Even if the proposal comes to pass, it will do little to deliver true justice and to avenge the victims who have been brutalized and murdered by the police over the decades.

Nearly two weeks of unrest have rocked Minneapolis, along with cities across the U.S. and the world, the entire political establishment and every significant institution in the metro area has come out with statements of support for justice for George Floyd, and for police accountability in general.

The first point in the council members’ statement reads, “Decades of police reform efforts have proved that the Minneapolis Police Department cannot be reformed and will never be accountable for its actions.” Loretta VanPelt of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) says that’s the wrong place to start, “Dozens of families have had loved ones lives stolen by murders MPD officers. Those deaths can’t just be left to the history books, with no accountability. Justice begins with doing something about those killer cops.”

The next two points in the council members’ statement are outlined in a message posted to social media by council member Andrew Johnson: “No one is proposing that we simply end the MPD without a new public safety department that has widespread community support.” Johnson talks about community buy-in and re-imagining “a better model.”

Community meeting organizers had touted the nine council members as a “veto-proof majority for future policymaking,” but Johnson’s statement makes it clear that none of this can happen without a unanimous city council plus the mayor, or ballot approval by voters.

“The truth is, these council members can’t deliver what they’re promising, and honestly, they’re not promising real accountability and community control,” said VanPelt. “We don’t need the police department remodeled into a public safety department. Swapping out with sheriff’s deputies or private security companies won’t solve anything. We need community control over whoever polices our communities and how.”

VanPelt said, “This is more lip service than these council members have given us in the years since they were elected. They’ve never acted on the side of families and communities, least of all Black, indigenous and brown folks. Why should we believe them now? We’ve come to their meetings time and again, with mothers and sisters and cousins in tears, for their loved ones stolen by MPD. We’ve had them threaten to arrest us when we wouldn’t stand down. And these past two weeks, they’ve arrested plenty of us who were in the streets demanding justice.”

In its final point, the council members’ statement says they will “be taking intermediate steps towards ending the MPD through the budget process…” The budget for 2020 is already set, but it is within their powers to make changes in 2021. Unfortunately, cuts to the police budget cuts alone won’t save lives.

“These politicians know that nobody out in the streets for justice likes the police,” says VanPelt. “It’s easy to promise us abolition if you know it’s not in your power to deliver. But in the real world, you can’t just dismantle the police. This whole system of exploitation and white supremacy needs to be dismantled!”

Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar is fighting for community control of police and will formally re-present their proposal to the city council this week.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #CommunityControl

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Alliance requested a meeting with Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot regarding the proposal for an all-elected, all-Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) on March 11 on behalf of the 68 community organizations and leaders who support the proposed legislation. They have renewed that request, and demand to know why, as of May 24, she has not acknowledged their request for a meeting.

Over 60,000 people have signed postcards addressed to their aldermen urging passage of this ordinance. In addition, 31 law professors from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University law schools have signed a letter urging the mayor and the city council to pass CPAC.

Meanwhile, throughout the first year of Mayor Lightfoot’s administration, killings by police have continued, with seven people killed by Chicago police: Michael Elam, Sharell Brown, Myles Frazier, Curtis Stagger, Mariano Ocon, Tyree Davis and one name unknown.

Since her election, the mayor has not said anything about fulfilling her pre-election promise to enact community control of the police. Nor has she held a single community hearing on the issue.

“Time is dragging, and police killings and torture continue,” declared Frank Chapman, Co-Chairperson of the Chicago Alliance. “The families of these victims want to know when change will come. Millions are being paid out to victims and survivors of police crimes, but no amount of money can restore the lives of those who’ve been taken or imprisoned through torture and wrongful convictions.”

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PoliticalPrisoners #PoliticalRepression #ChicagoAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #CommunityControl #civilianPoliceAccountabilityCouncilCPAC

St. Paul, MN — On Sept. 3, a coalition of immigrant rights, anti-war and anti-police terror community organizations held the #InjusticeOnAStick protest at Hamline Park here. The protest had over 100 people in attendance. After the rally protesters then marched down Snelling Avenue towards the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. This marked the third year that the Minnesota anti-police terror and Black Lives Matter movement has shut down the Minnesota State Fair.

Endorsing organizations and speakers at the event included Monique Cullars-Doty, aunt of

Marcus Golden; AJ Jackson of AR14, Loretta Van Pelt of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, John Thompson of The New North, Sebastian Rivera of La Asamblea de Derechose Civiles, Dorian of Communities United Against Police Brutality, Kim Handy Jones, mother of Cordale Handy; Rhea Smykalski of the Anti-War Committee, Angel Buechner of Welfare Rights Committee, Jenny Srey of Release the Minnesota 8, Tenicia Gordon, sister of Jerome Gordon-Jackson; Tracy Colbert, and Matilda Smith, mother of Jaffort Smith.

At the protest, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) announced they will be demanding an all-civilian elected Minneapolis Police Accountability Council (MPAC). The Minneapolis Police Department was most recently responsible for the murder of Justine Damond, Jamar Clark, Fong Lee, Terrance Franklin and others.

The piecemeal reforms offered by both current and potential mayor and city council members do not address the systematic problems of the MPD, which have continued to go unchecked. MPAC’s goal would be to end the deadly cycle of police violence that's disproportionately perpetrated against Black, Latino, and working-class people in Minneapolis. MPAC would be comprised totally of civilians and current and former police officers would be prohibited from serving on it.

TCC4J, community members and activists will present talking points to mayoral and city council candidates during the coming months.

Loretta VanPelt TCC4J organizer said, “During TCC4J’s work demanding ‘No grand jury’ from Mike Freeman in the murder of Jamar Clark, we learned that our communities are the ones who hold the system accountable for its wrongs, not politicians. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the establishment of the MPD. It is time for a new era in Minneapolis and Minnesota, we are tired of losing loved ones to police terror! We will take the knowledge from our community work and apply it to MPAC to demand true accountability from the MPD via community control.”

#StPaulMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #Minnesota #Antiracism #CommunityControl #InjusticeOnAStick

Chicago, IL – About 1000 protesters converged on Chicago City Hall, June 22. The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) was there to demand an elected, civilian police accountability council (CPAC). The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) raised their demand for progressive revenue to fund the public schools, but also supported the demand for community control of the police. The CPAC rally also included Black Lives Matter, the Pilsen Alliance, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), and AnakBayan, the Filipino patriotic youth organization.

Frank Chapman, field organizer for the Alliance stepped to the microphone at the press conference outside city council chambers. “The reason why we’re here today is that the mayor was supposed to be introducing his legislation to reshape our system of police accountability to become something the people can trust. Now he’s not introducing anything today.”

“But we’re against what he is trying to introduce. We don’t want any more mayor-appointed nothing. In fact, he should be a codefendant along with Jason Van Dyke, the murderer of Laquan McDonald.”

The crowd burst out with the most famous chant in Chicago’s movement: “16 shots and a cover-up!” referring to the 16 bullets that riddled the body of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in October 2014. The administration of Mayor Rahm Emanuel has been exposed for covering up the video of the murder to get past the mayor’s re-election in spring 2015. Since the video was forced into public by a lawsuit in November 2015, it is well known that Emanuel will never be re-elected.

Chapman continued, “We want to replace the so-called Independent Police Review Authority, the Police Board, Internal Affairs of the Police Department, and put power squarely in the hands of the people.”

“The cops don’t get punished for nothing they do in this city. We want some prosecutions to take place. They can start with those cops that lied in the Laquan McDonald case. They can start with Flint Farmer. They can start with Reverend Catherine Brown.” Farmer was murdered by Chicago police in 2011. Rev. Brown and her two young daughters were brutalized by cops in 2013.

“When I say CPAC, you say fight back!”

Rev. Brown led the crowd in chanting for CPAC, and then spoke. “Mayor Rahm Emanuel, we’re asking you to give us CPAC. We don’t want fake police accountability. What am I to tell my daughter? She can’t sleep. Those officers are still on the street. We want Officer Murphy and Lopez off of the street now!”

Michael Brunson, recording secretary of the Chicago Teachers Union, expressed their support as well. “Just like we want parent, teacher and community control over our public schools with an elected, representative school board, all public institutions should be overseen by community members, by civilians in a democracy. We want a civilian police accountability council.” Brunson went on to predict about CPAC, “This will become a model for other cities across the nation.”

When the press conference was finished, people tried to enter the city council meeting but were denied. Rev. Brown’s husband responded to the lockout by saying, “They kept us out today, but they can’t keep our movement, our demands and our dreams out.”

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