Milwaukee, WI – The movement to win justice for Darius Simmons, Derek Williams, Corey Stingley, and Bo Morrison has received a boost from the national attention and outrage over the “not guilty” verdict for Zimmerman. Last week over 300 people shut down major streets in downtown Milwaukee. In similar cases over the last two years, community members led by the Occupy Coalition (Occupy the Hood Milwaukee and Occupy Milwaukee) repeatedly rallied for Derek Williams, Darius Simmons, and other local victims of racist police and vigilante murder.

The verdict in the case of Trayvon Martin’s murder hit home for many in Milwaukee who witness similar verdicts in the cases of friends, family, and neighbors. Fueled by outrage, many are putting their energy into revitalizing the local movement to demand justice for the victims of police and vigilante murder in the Milwaukee area. The movement is currently focused on four local cases, all Black men and boys ages 13 to 22 killed by white adults.

Justice for Darius Simmons

This week, John Spooner, the murderer of thirteen-year-old Darius Simmons, is on trial in Milwaukee. Wisconsinites witnessed the Milwaukee Police Department go to great lengths to protect Spooner after he murdered the child, just as Sanford police officials went to great lengths to assist Zimmerman. Instead of immediately arresting the murderer, Milwaukee Police arrested Simmons' brother at the scene of the crime, detained the dead child’s mother for three hours, and searched their family home. At the same time, MPD allowed Spooner to go into his home (part of the murder scene) and “retrieve belongings.” Notorious Southside alderman Bob Donovan even suggested to Spooner that he take matters into his own hands, hours before Spooner shot Simmons to death. “There are other ways to deal with situations,” said Donovan, “that police couldn’t solve.”

In the first half of Spooner’s trial, he was convicted of first-degree homicide. The trial now moves to the second phase, in which Spooner’s lawyers will try to prove an insanity defense. But one thing is for sure, the massive national movement for Trayvon Martin and local movements for similar cases have magnified Simmons’ case and put a watchful eye on the court as Spooner is tried.

Justice for Corey Stingley

The most recent case to come to light is the strangling of sixteen-year-old Corey Stingley at a liquor store in Milwaukee county. Three white men reportedly accused Stingley of theft, and attempted to conduct a citizen’s arrest. While the three grown men detained Stingley he was strangled to death. No charges were brought against any of the men involved in his death. Corey’s father, Craig Stingley, led the Occupy Coalition rally on Sunday, carrying a portrait of his son.

“There’s no reason that the men who killed my son should still be out on these streets, no reason period. But they are, and that’s because this system is broken,” said Craig Stingley in an interview with WISN news.

Justice for Derek Williams

For two years the Occupy Coalition has rallied tirelessly alongside friends and family of Derek Williams to demand justice. They have helped expose a cover-up of his death that leads all the way to the Police Chief’s desk, and beyond.

After community pressure, the autopsy records were revised to show Williams suffocated after Milwaukee Police broke his neck. Persistent, militant rallies for Derek Williams led to a federal inquest into his death. The jury in the inquest recommended homicide charges against the three white police who refused, against protocol, to help Williams while he suffocated in the back of their squad car. Incredibly, the judge disregarded the jury’s advice and allowed the officers to walk right back to duty on Milwaukee streets, with no punishment whatsoever. The inquest, won through community pressure, did not bring justice for Derek, but it did expose the racist and corrupt nature of the so-called justice system.

Systematic change

Persistent community mobilization aims a spotlight on the corrupt and deadly police misconduct in MPD, on their political supporters, the police and fire commission, the sheriff’s office, and even the mayor’s office. With every injustice exposed, more community members are joining the coalition.

The Occupy Coalition joins community leaders and family members to fight for justice in the courts, but it is also demanding systematic change. Activists blame racist discrimination and national oppression for many of the tragedies perpetrated against African-American youth by Milwaukee police and racist vigilantes. But they are also targeting the city’s elite power structure for encouraging and protecting those who commit such crimes. Occupy leaders are discussing continued actions addressing the ineffective Police and Fire Commission, but this weekend, they plan to take to the streets again.

More actions planned

Carrying over the momentum from last weekend, this weekend will have three separate events. On Saturday, July 20, the Occupy Coalition will participate in the 100 cities rally called for by Al Sharpton. The rally will be held at noon in front of the Federal Courthouse at 517 E Wisconsin Ave. Also on Saturday, the “Cop Watch” Program will meet at Urban Underground at 2pm, 4850 W Fond Du Lac Ave.

On Sunday, the Occupy Coalition will lead another mass march beginning at 6pm by the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on MLK Drive, near Vine Street.

#MilwaukeeWI #OppressedNationalities #AntiRacism #OccupyMilwaukee #OccupyTheHood #TrayvonMartin #GeorgeZimmerman #InjusticeSystem #DerekWilliams #OccupyCoalition #DariusSimmons #CoreyStingley

Milwaukee, WI – Occupy the Hood-Milwaukee has called for a protest on March 29 following the news that the three white Milwaukee police who killed Derek Williams – a Black man – will not face state criminal charges. Two federal investigations are still ongoing.

“Our government is involved in a conspiracy and cover-up regarding Derek Williams and we will not tolerate it. The people are calling for an arrest and justice to be served to the Milwaukee police department,” said Khalil Coleman of Occupy the Hood.

The protest will be Friday, March 29 at 3:00 p.m. on 16th and Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Share on: https://www.facebook.com/events/344434579006479/?notif_t=plan_edited

#MilwaukeeWI #InJusticeSystem #PoliceBrutality #Racism #OccupyTheHood #DerekWilliams

Minneapolis, MN – More than 100 people braved below-zero weather to join a Martin Luther King Day march here, Jan 21, for “Jobs, Justice, and Housing.” The event was organized by Occupy the Hood and Minnesota Neighborhoods Organizing for Change.

A statement from the organizers notes, “This march seeks to honor that legacy of Doctor King – the MLK of the ‘Vietnam and Beyond’ speech, in which he condemns the militarism, materialism, and racism in U.S. society and proclaims that: ‘A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death… Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’”

After rallying at 16th Street and Hennepin Avenue, marchers made their way to the skyway system, where they moved through downtown Minneapolis. A concluding rally was held near People’s Plaza. Among the speakers there was Deb Konechne of the Welfare Rights Committee, who spoke of their struggle at the Minnesota legislature to raise the welfare grants.

#MinneapolisMN #DrMartinLutherKingJr #OccupyTheHood #MinnesotaNeighborhoodsOrganizingForChange

Milwaukee, WI – Over 150 people took the streets here, Oct. 13, demanding justice for Derek Williams, a young Black man killed by the Milwaukee Police Department.

Originally covered up as a case of sickle cell anemia, protests since then have exposed this as a racist case of police brutality and murder. Williams' death is now seen on camera. Widely circulated on YouTube, Williams, gasping for breath, pleaded for help in the back of a police car for over eight minutes before dying as a police officer is heard saying, “You're breathing just fine,” and “You're just playing games.”

The spirited march, led by Occupy the Hood, brought in many community organizations and lasted for miles, marching directly down Center Street and past the death site of Williams before going to the notorious Milwaukee Fifth District Police Station. Protesters blocked streets all around the police station while holding a speak-out and prayer.

The group demanded the firing of Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn. The group also demands a real Fire and Police Commission. The current commission, criticized by the NAACP as a “rubber stamp” for police decisions, watched the video of Williams’ death and determined the police didn't do anything wrong.

In addition to the Derek Williams cover-up, two officers involved in the killing have also been part of an investigation regarding illegal cavity searches in Milwaukee's Black community. These officers, Gregory Kuspa and Jeffrey Cline, have now been charged with felonies. In one instance, an officer held a gun to a man's head as two more held his arms and a third choked him while jamming a hand into his anus, supposedly searching for evidence.

Ruthie, a grandmother of Derek Williams, was at the demonstration. “The event today was about justice. Nobody deserves to die like that. This has been going on for years.”

Join the Facebook group and donate and learn more here. Stay tuned for the online petition and more upcoming events.

A Citizens’ Tribunal will take place Monday, Oct. 22, from 5:30 until 8:00 p.m. at the DNR Building, 2300 N. Martin Luther King Drive.

#MilwaukeeWI #PoliceBrutality #Racism #OccupyTheHood #MilwaukeePoliceDepartment #DerekWilliams

Milwaukee, WI – Dozens of community organizations came together here, April 10, for the “Rally to Demand Justice for Trayvon Martin, Bo Morrison and Victims of Milwaukee Police Brutality.”

Speakers included Milwaukee’s iconic civil rights leader Vel Phillips and members of National Black United Front, Voces de la Frontera, Occupy the Hood, Occupy Milwaukee, Peace Action Wisconsin, Milwaukee Inner City Congregation Allied for Hope and Nation of Islam, Muhammad Mosque #3.

“There’s a war being waged on African and poor people of this country; this is not just in Florida, this is not just in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They will do whatever we allow them to do until we start to stand up for ourselves and stand up for one another,” said Tony Marley of Occupy the Hood “I feel like they at war with us right now, like this the Gaza strip, right up and down North Avenue any time of day.”

After several speeches, protesters marched up Martin Luther King Drive to the Milwaukee Police District 5 headquarters. District 5 patrols part of Milwaukee’s predominantly Black North Side. Allegations of police abuse in District 5 have been common, but community members are especially concerned about recent cases of illegal cavity searches and the death of a young man in the back of a squad car.

Speaking in front of the District 5 Police station, Khalil Coleman of Occupy the Hood said, “This isn’t just a problem with District 5, it’s also a problem with District 3, it’s a problem in District 1 – this is a problem across the whole system.”

Sexual assault by Milwaukee police

Eight Milwaukee District 5 police were are currently on ‘desk duty’ for illegally strip-searching, cavity-searching and sexually assaulting neighborhood residents in public. One of the victims, a 22-year old woman, said the police illegally strip searched her “at least three times,” adding that they even searched her vagina and anus in public, without consent. Allegations of illegal strip searches by District 5 police go back at least two years and include as many as 20 victims.

In July of 2011, a Milwaukee police officer responded to a 911 call and raped the victim. The victim called police after hearing someone try to break in her back door on Milwaukee’s North Side. After being raped by the responding officer Ladmarald Cates, the victim was ignored by several officers at the police station, who accused her of lying when she begged for help. The victim was left in a jail cell for 12 hours, waiting to be interviewed about the incident.

The Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office refused to charge Officer Cates for any crime. Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn eventually fired Cates for “idling and loafing.” Cates was not charged until federal prosecutors stepped in.

The Milwaukee Police Department has a bad habit of ignoring police brutality. Officers such as Mucha and Cates have been accused of breaking the law many times, but never received any punishment. Officer Cates was accused of sexual assault twice with a female prisoner and once with a 16-year old girl, but was never charged or reprimanded.

Milwaukee police brutality is nothing recent for residents of Milwaukee. There are many cases involving Milwaukee police as the perpetrators of rape and sexual assault, but the vast majority of those officers are left on the streets and even allowed to respond to sexual assault cases themselves.

MPD racism and brutality

One of the police officers under investigation for illegally cavity searching people is District 5 Supervisor Sergeant Jason Mucha. In 2011, Sgt. Mucha crashed his squad car into another driver. He then accused the other driver of possession and crashing into the police vehicle. That case was dismissed in court after video evidence contradicted Sgt. Mucha's testimony. The court found that Sgt. Mucha wrongfully searched the driver's car, but did not punish the officer. Sgt. Mucha has also been investigated for police brutality and planting drugs on search victims, but was never punished by the department's internal investigations.

Sgt. Mucha also has a history of targeting political activists. Last August, while hundreds of community members protested an appearance by Governor Scott Walker, Sgt. Mucha and his officers arrested two well-respected community activists, Bryan Pfeiffer and Andy Andre, for no clear reason. The activists are challenging the allegations by Sgt. Mucha and his officers in court.

More allegations of brutality were raised against Milwaukee Police District 5 after the death of a 22-year old Black man, Derek Williams, in the back of a squad car. The case recently resurfaced after new evidence revealed there was a broken bone in his neck when he died in custody on July 6, 2011. Police claim Williams died from a “sickle cell crisis” although Williams did not have sickle cell anemia disease and therefore could not have suffered a sickle cell crisis, according to doctors at the National Institutes of Health. Williams begged for help as he was handcuffed and shackled in the back of the squad car. Police failed to call for an ambulance and Williams died in the back of the squad car. His family has filed a lawsuit against the department.

Statistics show that Milwaukee police aggressively target neighborhoods of color, and Black and Latino people are most often the targets of random searches, brutality, rape and murder.

A recent study by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel confirmed that Black drivers are seven times more likely to be pulled over than white drivers. Latinos are five times more likely to be stopped than whites. Primitivo Torres of the immigrant rights group Voces de la Frontera told the Sentinel, “It was always there, but never to this extent…we are seeing cases almost on a weekly basis. We ask why they are being stopped, and we can’t find out why.”

Bo Morrison

Wisconsin residents are also upset over the recent murder of another young Black man, Bo Morrison, in Slinger, Wisconsin. The murder has received national attention for its parallels to the murder of Trayvon Martin. 20-year old Bo Morrison fled an under-age drinking party and was his on a neighbor's porch when the homeowner shot him. Recently, hundreds of community members rallied in support of the Morrison family. At the time of the killing, the homeowner knew of the party next door, had already called the police and knew police were in the area. According to his own testimony, the homeowner loaded his weapon and walked outside to confront Morrison on the porch. When Morrison stood up, the homeowner shot and killed him. “He executed my son,” said Bo Morrison's mother, “this cannot happen to another kid.”

#MilwaukeeWI #PoliceBrutality #AfricanAmerican #OccupyMilwaukee #OccupyTheHood #TrayvonMartin

With the Trayvon Martin case drawing growing national attention to police and vigilante violence against young men of color, members of Occupy the Hood say their program addresses multiple community needs including building strength and stamina to ensure their safety and survival in America while at the same time improving their overall health.

Khalil Coleman of Occupy the Hood said, “It’s time we take back our hoods. In order to do this, we must take care of the health of our people, our communities and our quality of life.”

For more information contact Occupy the Hood-Milwaukee at: mkeoccupythehood@gmail.com or (414) 395-0134

#MilwaukeeWI #BlackLiberationMovement #AfricanAmerican #OccupyTheHood #Exercising

Minneapolis, MN – Organized by Occupy the Hood, about 250 people joined a Martin Luther King Day march here, Jan. 16. Marchers assembled at one of the city’s largest homeless shelters, the Salvation Army Harbor Light, and proceeded to City Hall for a rally.

Members of the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression distributed leaflets to march participants about the FBI’s campaign against Dr. King and the current FBI repression directed against Carlos Montes and other anti-war activists.

A statement from the event’s organizers said, “On this King Day observation we march in the spirit of Dr. King’s desire for justice for all. So in his honor we march to demand: jobs for all; a freeze on foreclosures; housing for all; workers rights and a livable wage; no more cuts to social programs; an end to racist mass incarceration; an end to scapegoating immigrants; an end to discrimination in all its forms.

#MinneapolisMN #OppressedNationalities #DrMartinLutherKingJr #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyTheHood

Milwaukee, WI – In response to concerns from community members of the 20th Street neighborhood, north of North Avenue, a newly formed Occupy Coalition consisting of Occupy the Hood, Occupy Milwaukee, Occupy Riverwest and other groups collected trash that had been scattered throughout the streets and lawns of the community. About forty bags of trash were piled in front of an abandoned home on 20th and Meinecke with a banner reading, “Banks and politicians made this mess.”

Community members left their homes to join in the cleanup and wholeheartedly supported the message that greedy bankers and their political cronies are to blame for the condition of their neighborhood.

Muhammad Mahdi, who is running for Supervisor in the 5th district states, “Unemployment leads to foreclosure and abandoned and dilapidated houses, which invites crime and trash. Jobs are a necessity and housing is a human right!”

The Occupy Coalition has a series of actions planned to tackle the issues that Milwaukee residents are facing and they state that they are willing to do what it takes to put an end to this crisis for the 99% and to end attacks on the most oppressed.

#MilwaukeeWI #Milwaukee #HousingStruggles #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMilwaukee #OccupyTheHood #OccupyRiverwest

“This demonstration was important for Occupy the Hood Milwaukee, Occupy Milwaukee, and really Occupy Wall Street,” commented Occupy marcher Alicia Skeeter. “This is an all people’s movement and the diversity present yesterday is truly a testimony to how much of a crisis we are in.”

Occupy the Hood encourages people to attend a People's Hearing about SB 207 this Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 6:00 p.m. at the Amalgamated Transit Union Hall in Milwaukee.

#MilwaukeeWI #PoorPeoplesMovements #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyMilwaukee #OccupyTheHood #OccupyTheHoodMilwaukee

Occupy the Hood, Milwaukee, is responding with a campaign designed to kill the bill. The following are videos from a community meeting and press conference with organizers and activists in Milwaukee, along with testimony from a public hearing in Madison:

#MilwaukeeWI #InJusticeSystem #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyTheHood #SB207AB286