San Jose, CA – On Thursday, February 20, the family of Antonio Guzman Lopez, Students for a Democratic Society, Justice for Josiah, the Aztec Dancers and several other organizations and community members held a vigil honoring the memory of Lopez, an undocumented man killed by San Jose State’s on-campus police 11 years ago, on February 21, 2014.

His murder was caught on body camera footage, where he was shot twice by police sergeant Mike Santos. Santos faced no repercussions for the murder, having been reinstated shortly after the incident.

The vigil began at 6:30 p.m., around the memorial on San Salvador Street. A blessing and prayer were performed by the Aztec dancers. The program then began with Laurie Valdez, who was Lopez’s partner, giving a speech, along with Josiah, her son, who was four years old at the time his father was murdered.

Valdez began her speech by not only calling attention to Lopez’s murder, but also the families of other victims of police brutality. “I’m so glad that [Antonio’s] name is still being remembered,” said Valdez. “As long as we continue to say his name, his memory will never die.”

Josiah then gave his speech, reflecting on the difficulties of growing up without his father, and the trauma of the killing. He ended his speech off saying, “I’m 15 years old now, four when [the murder] happened. I’m still fighting, still getting stronger each day. We won’t forget him, or anyone else that was killed.”

John Duroyan, president of San Jose Students for a Democratic Society, led chants and introduced several other speakers, including Uriel Magdaleno from Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, Oli Harter from SDS and Students against Mass Incarceration, and Romaine Charite, San Jose SDS’s political organizing chair.

Magdaleno drew attention to the ongoing attacks on undocumented immigrants, stating, “What is troubling about Antonio Guzman's case is the rhetoric around it - the rhetoric continuing to accuse undocumented immigrants of being criminals is very harmful rhetoric. The current Trump administration is just increasing that amount of hate against undocumented immigrants, against our community members.”

Harter called back to previous instances of police brutality, and the importance of individualizing and humanizing victims of injustice at the hands of police killings, stating, “The names rotate but the injustice remains. When asked to say their names, we take the time to individualize the martyr.”

The program came to a conclusion with Valdez giving final remarks, and the vigil attendees writing Antonio’s name in chalk all over the street next to the memorial.

#SanJoseCA #AntonioGuzman #StopPoliceCrimes #PoliceViolence #JusticeforAntonioGuzman #SDS #SJSDS #JusticeforJosiah #AztecDancers #SJSUPD #SJSU #SanJoseState

Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, Aug. 15, Mayor Tom Barrett announced a city-wide 10 p.m. curfew for teenagers.

Sheriff David Clarke announced that Sherman Park, where many protests have been held, would be closed from 6 p.m. Monday until 6 a.m. Tuesday.

The sheriff, along with Governor Scott Walker, were widely criticized for their heavy handed approach, which included activating the National Guard, which many called a deliberate escalation and media stunt.

Late Sunday night, Aug. 14, a line of marching riot police fired ‘less than lethal’ projectiles at protesters and using a sound device, both of which failed to disperse the crowd. About 50 people remained in the street in defiance of a police order to leave the area. Protesters threw rocks at police and armored vehicles on Sherman Boulevard.

Most protesters had gone home by 1 a.m. as a car was burning in the street nearby. The Milwaukee Police Department said seven officers were injured, three squad cars were damaged, and 14 protesters were arrested overnight. Three people who were arrested the night before were released on Sunday.

Police also reported that one person was shot near Sherman Park on Sunday night, and said an armored vehicle was used to transport the person to a hospital. Few details have been made public and it is still unclear what exactly occurred or who the victim or perpetrator was.

For three days, Milwaukee and the Sherman Park neighborhood have heard politicians, police and clergy begging for protests to end by calling for order, calm and healing. Meanwhile, activists have called for more protest, organization building and justice. After protests continued late into Sunday night and Monday morning, the state has responded with more repressive measures to go into effect on Monday evening.

A video of Alderman Khalif Rainey, who represents the district, went viral after his comments at a city press conference were unexpectedly candid. “This is a warning cry,” Rainey said. “The Black people of Milwaukee are tired. They’re tired of living under this oppression. This is their existence, this is their life ... what has happened tonight may have not been right, I’m not justifying that. But no one can deny the fact that there’s problems, racial problems here in Milwaukee that have to be closely, not examined, but rectified. Rectify this immediately.”

Activists around Sherman Park have also brought a variety of messages and strategies. One march chanted “Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail.” Signs printed by Milwaukee's Coalition for Justice read “Respect and love” and “Black lives matter.” And in rallies and impromptu street speeches some called for the video of the shooting to be released.

Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn said the officer who killed Sylville Smith on Saturday, Aug. 13 was wearing a body camera. The mayor and police chief both cited the video to justify the killing but the video has not been seen by the victim's family, the public or the media.

In recent years community activists have fought for the release of video evidence in at least three killings by MPD. Most of those tapes have not been released, but after a lengthy battle with the city through protests and lawsuits, one tape was released showing the in-custody death of Derek Williams, who died handcuffed in a squad car in 2011. That video helped expose a police cover-up and resulted in a special inquest recommending charges against three officers who refused to help Williams before he died, but none of the officers were ever charged.

#MilwaukeeWI #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #policeViolence #Antiracism #PoliceRepression

For a community that had experienced decades of racist discrimination and police violence, enough was enough. For two days, police were confronted in the streets, squad cars were destroyed, and abandoned buildings burned.

An organizer in Benton Harbor's fight for justice, JoNina Abron, chairwoman of the Southwest Michigan Coalition Against Racism and Police Brutality, told Fight Back!, “I call what happened a rebellion, because I believe the community's response was a result of years of pent up rage and frustration. The people of Benton Harbor are fed up with the years of police brutality that they have had to live with. They are outraged by the economic apartheid that they see every day. Benton Harbor's population is 95% Black. They are outraged by the racism of the criminal justice system. Their response was the culmination of many things that came together. The people of Benton Harbor saw an 11-year old boy, Trenton Patterson, struck and killed in September 2000 in another police pursuit case. They saw that nothing was done in that case.”

Benton Harbor police, along with those in the surrounding township, have a history of brutality, which has left more than a few injured or dead.

Tale of Two Cities

Benton Harbor is a small town. The folks that live there are Black. 50% of the population is unemployed. Across the river is St. Joseph. The residents are white, and it is the center for business in Berrien County, where both cities are located. The unemployment rate in white St. Joseph is 2%.

A statement from Benton Harbor community organizers shines a light on this divide. It notes, “At one time, St. Joseph and Benton Harbor were referred to as 'twin cities,' well, no more! The city of Benton Harbor is now 95% Black, while St. Joseph is 95% white. But these figures alone do not tell the whole story. There is the bridge which separates the two communities, which are two different worlds really. They are separate and unequal entities. More importantly, the bridge marks the line of demarcation between those who have power from those who are ruled over.”

The statement also pointed out, “It is no exaggeration at all to say that St. Joseph and Berrien County officials stole the available federal and state funding, which impoverished the city of Benton Harbor to the stage where it is the poorest city in Berrien County and in the state of Michigan. They robbed the community of all wealth, the same as if they had used a gun for armed robbery. All of this made St. Joseph the dominant city in Berrien County, and one of the most affluent in that state, while Benton Harbor became a beggar city of thousands of ever younger Black people. This economic apartheid is a large factor in what led to the revolt of June 17.”

Another facet of the political and economic life of Berrien County is the Whirlpool Corporation, the world's largest manufacturer of home appliances. While it's headquartered in Benton Harbor, the corporation favors the white city of St. Joseph. Fred Upton, heir to Whirlpool's founder, is a right-wing republican. Upton has done everything in his power to make government dollars flow to St. Joseph.

Struggle Continues

On June 12, community organizers issued a statement advancing the demands of the mass movement in Benton Harbor: “We call for an end to the racist outrages against the Black people of Benton Harbor by white politicians in Berrien County, Michigan. We call for an end to racial segregation and economic apartheid in this county. We call for an end to police brutality and to officially sanctioned violence against the black population of Benton Harbor. We call for an end to political disenfranchisement, neo-colonialism and the sharing of political power in Berrien County. We call for an end to the theft of community and economic development funding by county politicians, which has impoverished the black community of Benton Harbor and enriched St. Joseph's white community.”

The statement continued, “We call for the removal of all racist judges and prosecutors in the local judicial system, and immediate cessation of unjust selective prosecution of all those arrested during the June 17-18 rebellion in Benton Harbor. AMNESTY NOW! We want the criminal prosecution of: Benton Charter Township officer Wes Koza, for the death of Terrance Shurn on June 16, 2003; all officers responsible for the death of 11-year old Trenton Patterson in September, 2000; all Benton Township officers involved in the April 27, 2003 strangulation of Arthur Partee and other suspicious deaths of black people in Berrien County. Most importantly, we call for an immediate end to the reckless police pursuit policies through populated black civilian areas.”

Organizers are also calling for a boycott of tourism to St Joseph. The next issue of Fight Back! will contain an account of the ongoing protest movement.

No Justice, No Peace!

#BentonHarborMI #PoorPeoplesMovements #InJusticeSystem #News #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #policeViolence #AfricanAmericanCommunity #rebelledAgainstPoliceTerror #policeTerror #TerranceShurn #policeKilling #JoNinaAbron #SouthwestMichiganCoalitionAgainstRacismAndPoliceBrutality #BentonHarborPolice #WesKoza

Said Katrina Plotz of the Anti-War Committee, “Those responsible for attacking our protest against the war on Iraq need to be held accountable. Nearly 400 people were arrested. Riot police repeatedly met our demonstration with tear gas and concussion grenades. We have every right to speak out against the war. We demand all charges against anti-war protesters are dropped. Those who stood in the way of our right to protest will now answer for their actions.”

Mick Kelly was carrying the lead banner in the march to the Xcel Center. Police blocked the march route at 12th and Cedar. He was shot after police tore the banner off its poles.

Kelly, who was among the organizers of the massive anti-war march on the first day of the RNC Sept. 1, has another lawsuit pending against the city of Saint Paul stemming from an incident where he was arrested on June 5 for passing out leaflets promoting that anti-war protest outside the Obama rally.

The lawsuit is being pursued by attorneys Ted Dooley, Gena Berglund and Peter Nickitas, all members of the National Lawyers Guild.

Speaking at the press conference, Meredith Aby stated, “We in the Anti-War Committee encourage other protesters who were assaulted, detained and arrested to follow Mick Kelly’s lead and sue the city of Saint Paul. We ask the city to have public hearings so that suing the city will not be the only avenue available for people to get the attention of the mayor’s office. We encourage everyone who attended the Anti-War Committee’s No Peace for the War Makers demonstration to speak out against their treatment. Even in the face of this oppression at home, the anti-war movement must continue to speak out against the U.S. occupation and war in Iraq. It is imperative that we not be silent. We refuse to be intimidated. The Iraqi people need us to continue to protest the unjust and immoral occupation of their country. We ask our supporters to join us in the streets and to join us in our demand that all charges be dropped.”

#StPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #News #Iraq #RepublicanNationalConvention2008 #lawsuit #noPeaceForTheWarmakers #policeViolence #antiwarMarch