News and Views from the People's Struggle
Dallas, TX – Close to 80 people came together late Thursday evening, September 26, at the Grassy Knoll in downtown Dallas for a vigil held to honor the late Marcellus Khaliifah Williams. Williams was executed by the state of Missouri on September 24 for a 1998 murder which DNA evidence showed he did not commit. The unusual numbers for the death penalty-related vigil indicated the community's grief, frustration and righteous anger.
By Antonia Mar and Zunyana Crier
New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, September 17, community members showed up at the Joe Brown Park gymnasium in the New Orleans East neighborhood to attend a forum with New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick. The Office of the Independent Police Monitor (OIPM) hosted the event in response to public concern over NOPD’s consent decree, as the department pushes to be released from federal oversight.
In the gymnasium, a majority-Black crowd of about 20 people confronted Kirkpatrick on rising trends of racist policing and condemned the department’s move to end the consent decree.
Attendees emphasized NOPD’s criminal history, and that the consent decree was put in place because of the brutalization of Black people after Katrina.
“We are the reason for the consent decree,” stated Edward Parker of New Orleans United Front, talking about Black New Orleanians. He referenced Kirkpatrick’s previous employment as superintendent in Oakland. “You had problems with the Black community, same way you’re gonna have problems with us in this community if you keep shoving [the ending of] the consent decree down our throats.”
The consent decree mandates constitutional, bias-free policing. However, the 2023 annual report from the OIPM showed that 90% of police use-of-force was against Blacks, despite the Black population in New Orleans representing 56% of the city. NOPD use-of-force against Black women rose 54% from 2022’s numbers. This past Mardi Gras 2024, 90% of stop-and-frisk firearm searches targeted Black people. And July’s monthly report from the OIPM reveals more civilian complaints against the NOPD have been filed in 2024 than any year before.
With the future of federal oversight in question, the need for a civilian oversight board was at the front of the public’s mind. However, Kirkpatrick rejected community control, stating she believes civilian oversight boards are “dysfunctional.” The comment stunk of hypocrisy, as NOPD’s dysfunction continues to make headlines: NOPD Officer Leessa Augustine and former Officer Jeffrey Vappie are both currently under separate federal investigations for wire fraud and lying to federal agents, and the city was recently ordered to pay out $1 million in a civil suit for negligence after former Officer Rodney Vicknair molested a minor in 2020.
“I remember New Orleans before the consent decree,” said Toni Jones of New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police. “We are still dealing with racist and criminal policing. No policy is going to fundamentally change until we get the community control we need over the NOPD.”
Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick speedily left before all of the public’s comments could be addressed.
Washington, DC – On Tuesday evening, September 17, over 50 community members gathered outside of the 7th District Police Station in Southeast DC to protest recent instances of police violence. Just two weeks before, in the early morning of September 1, 26-year-old Justin Robinson was found unconscious in his car after crashing into a McDonald's. As he began to regain consciousness, an officer held their gun just inches from his face. When Robinson groggily reached up due to the light shining in his face, Officers Vaso Mateus and Bryan Gilchrist shot Robinson ten times.
Atlanta, GA - On Sunday morning, August 4, around 50 community members gathered at Park Avenue Baptist Church for a service in memory of Sonya Massey and the lives taken by police murders in Georgia. Many families who lost loved ones to police murder were present and shared their stories.
Tampa, FL – On July 27, close to 100 members of the community came to a vigil remembering Sonya Massey. Sonya Massey was a Black woman murdered in her home by a police officer.
Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, July 28, members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) joined community members for a vigil that was followed by a rally and march to honor the life of Sonya Massey and others victimized by police. Massey, 36, lived in Springfield, Illinois, and was murdered in her own home by police after her request for help. Her death has sparked national outcry against police crimes and a national call to action around the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act.
Washington, DC – On Sunday, July 28, over 200 community members gathered at Freedom Plaza in downtown DC to hold a vigil for Sonya Massey. The vigil, organized jointly by the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DC Alliance) and community activists, featured prayers, stories, speeches and chants condemning the murder of Sonya Massey and other police violence.
Milwaukee, WI – As the Republican National Convention came to an end on Thursday, July 18, hundreds of law enforcement officers and dozens of media outlets circled a crowd gathered for a rally at Red Arrow Park demanding justice for D’Vontaye Mitchell and Samuel “Jah” Sharpe, Jr.
Fullerton, CA – Over 30 people, including families impacted by police killings, protested against police brutality at the Fullerton Transit Center on Friday, July 5. The protest was spurred by the March killing of Alejandro Campos Rios by the Fullerton Police Department. Rios was homeless and experiencing a mental health crisis when police killed him.
Baton Rouge, LA – On Monday, July 7, the family of Deaughn Willis held a press conference in front of City Hall to demand justice. Willis was murdered by East Baton Rouge Deputy Eno Guillot in 2022. Guillot was denied qualified immunity for the murder in a ruling earlier this year. However, Guillot is still employed by the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office and has not faced any criminal charges.
Tallahassee, FL – On June 19, friends and family held a rally at Tallahassee City Hall demanding to overturn the verdict and sentence against Calvin Riley.
Community members joined the Riley family to speak during public comment at the city commission meeting, which apparently was held despite the Juneteenth holiday. Speakers demanded justice for Calvin Riley after he received a conviction and a DUI sentence, despite proof that a police officer planted evidence on him.
Tallahassee, FL – On Saturday, June 1, around 25 community members held a rally at Leon County Courthouse to continue to demand that the false and racist charges against Calvin Riley be dropped.
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.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TAARPR).
The Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is delighted to announce that all charges on Antwan Glover have been dismissed! This victory would not have been possible without Antwan fighting with us against these false charges. We thank all who participated in the call-ins, email-ins, and attended his court date protests in Bartow.
New Orleans, LA – On Friday, May 10, a small crowd gathered in front of the Federal Building downtown to demand justice for Ronald Greene, a 49-year-old Black man killed by Louisiana State Police on May 10, 2019, just outside Monroe, Louisiana. The rally was hosted by New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP).
Minneapolis, MN – Minneapolis city government placed a roadblock in front of the ballot measure to establish community control of the police, May 9. Community members say the fight will continue.
Washington, D.C. – On May 4, the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR), hosted its first local conference. A first of its kind for a branch of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), the conference brought about 50 organizers, activists and community members together for a discussion on police accountability and community control. Many of the attendees were Black, Latino, Arab, Asian, and Pacific Islanders.
New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, March 2, around 50 community members packed into a community space in the 7th Ward. There, Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held a forum titled “Black Power and the need for communist organization.”
Chicago, IL – “You can't throw a stone and not hit someone who is affected by police torture and wrongful conviction here in Chicago, the torture capital of the United States,” said Merawi Gerima, a co-chair of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST.)
Gerima was speaking at the annual People's Hearing on Police Crimes on Saturday, February 24, at the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) in Woodlawn neighborhood on the predominantly Black South Side.
Milwaukee, WI – After a five-day trial, a jury acquitted former Milwaukee police officer Michael Mattioli of first-degree reckless homicide on Friday, November 10. Mattioli was on trial for the murder of Joel Acevedo, which took place in April 2020 and was one of the central cases during the 2020 uprising in Milwaukee.