BROOKLYN, NY — On the evening of June 11, over 100 New Yorkers gathered near the New York Police Department 83rd Precinct in Bushwick for a speakout hosted by Boricua – meaning a native of Puerto Rico or of Puerto Rican descent – and community organizations including Juventud Unida por la Independencia (JUPI) and Adolfina NYC.

The speakout was a response to a brutal attack by the NYPD at The Bush and Mood Ring bars after the National Puerto Rican Day Parade on June 8. At around 8 p.m. on June 8, officers from the 83rd Precinct raided The Bush. Speakout organizers stated it was no accident that the NYPD targeted a lesbian bar during Pride Month. The unprovoked attack left several in the hospital. The NYPD denied patients any contact with the outside world, surveilling those receiving treatment.

In the early morning of June 9, Mood Ring hosted a bombazo, a performance of bomba, which was organized by Boricua organizers and cultural workers. Bomba is a music and dance tradition from Borikén that combines the traditions of indigenous and enslaved peoples. Bomba became an expression of resistance to enslavement, colonialism and imperialism.

Like the attack at The Bush, the NYPD entered the building without warning and immediately escalated to physical violence. They targeted performers and instruments, injuring attendees on their way to the stage. Organizers took immediate action to protect community members and unarrest people. As a result, even though nearly 100 police officers participated in the raids, only six people were arrested. Three were released in the early morning and three were transferred to the courthouse. One was held for almost 36 hours, in violation of New York State law.

The June 11 speakout began with a call-and-response performance of plena, a Boricua music and dance tradition influenced by bomba. Organizers then delivered an official statement and demands before inviting community members to speak. Speakers from other organizations, including a vendor from Bushwick and a member of the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR), made statements of solidarity.

The speaker from the New York Alliance connected the 83rd Precinct’s brutality to the 2023 killing of 78-year-old Caesar Robinson. Two officers from the 83rd Precinct shot Robinson seven times at his own apartment, despite being called there on his behalf. The Alliance speakers also contextualized the attacks within the wider increase in repression urged on by the Trump administration. The NYPD’s escalation of violence has disproportionately harmed protesters and marginalized New Yorkers.

Other speakers included a member of the community who was born in Bushwick but had been displaced due to gentrification. He said he was proud to continue to be part of the Boricua community in Bushwick and urged community members to join the linked struggles against gentrification, xenophobia and police brutality.

The organizers’ seven demands are to: drop all charges; release all footage with the faces non-police individuals blurred out; release the names and disciplinary records of all officers involved; set up a community oversight board to independently investigate the use of excessive force; compensate community members for their medical bills, legal fees and trauma; release a public apology from the NYPD, the office of the mayor, and the city council, and, finally, remove the NYPD from parade celebrations.

JUPI, Adolfina NYC, and other Boricua and community organizations will continue to build a campaign in response to the attacks.

#BrooklynNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #StopPoliceCrimes

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

Aurora, CO – On September 27 community members and activists gathered to support the family of Jor’Dell Richardson, who was murdered by police. The crowd demanded accountability for his killing at a meeting with officials of the city of Aurora and Arapahoe County.

As the trial for two of the Aurora Police Department officers responsible for the 2019 killing Elijah McClain continues, unrest in Aurora over the killing of Jor’Dell Richardson has resurfaced.

On Thursday, June 1, at around 4:20 p.m., 14-year-old Black teenager Jor’Dell Richardson was shot in the stomach by Aurora police officer Roch Gruzseczka. He was shot on the ground when he was already subdued by Gruzseczka and officer James Snapp.

A rare opportunity to confront District Attorney John Kellner in a public forum became even more crucial for the family and activists when his office ruled Richardson’s killing justified and no criminal charges against the two officers.

A coalition of groups led by the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee (DCAC) prepared a protest at the so-called Justice System Racial Equity Event put on by the Arapahoe County government. The coalition included Stand up for Racial Justice, Students for a Democratic Society, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

When it became clear to the Aurora Police Department (APD) that they would have more detractors than supporters at this event, they pressured the owner of the original venue to change location, claiming that DACAC had “called for violence on social media.” A spokesperson for the county later claimed that the change in venue was for the purpose of having more space to accommodate more people.

After a brief set of chants of “Black lives matter!” “Forever 14!” and “Say his name: Jor’Dell Richardson!” the crowd of about 100 people marched into the meeting chanting Jor’Dell’s name. Multiple members of the community, including members of Jor’Dell’s family, made their demands clear: Fire and indict Roch Gruszeczka and James Snapp and fire Interim Chief Art Acevedo.

Facilitators of the community conversation asked the crowd to provide solutions to the racial bias in policing in Arapahoe County. The community supporting the Richardson family made it crystal clear that the first step needed to be taken towards a solution to these issues was accountability from APD, its officers, and from District Attorney Kellner. After citing the need for leadership accountable to the people, a few activists brought up the demand for community control of the police.

Jonce Palmer, chair of Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee, called out Chief Acevedo for their proven track record of racist, corrupt policing in other major cities like Miami and Houston, citing the execution of a no-knock warrant in 2019 that killed two innocent Black people and keeping revenge porn of another officer as a beat cop. Acevedo is also a regular guest on Alex Jones’ reactionary conspiracy show InfoWars.

Palmer went on to say, “The first step in this process is clearly accountability, but the second step is democracy, is giving people a vote in how they are policed.”

Several young people who went to Richardson’s school addressed the interim chief directly about how his killing impacted them and questioned the intentions of the two APD officers who killed him. One teen told Acevedo “Y’all gave him CPR for a gunshot wound. And even us children know that first you should put pressure on the wound. He was still breathing, talking perfectly fine. Why did they give him CPR? They had no intention of helping him; their only intention was to kill him.”

One organizer with the PSL, Nate Kassa, asked Acevedo if he would resign. When he said no, the protesters marched out, chanting “If we don’t get it, shut it down!” There was nothing else to discuss when it became clear that the demands of the family would not be met at this meeting.

Groups like Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee are going to continue organizing in close connection with the Richardson family and building their coalition to bring about accountability from racist police in Jor’Dell Richardson’s killing.

#AuroraCO #JorDellRichardson #KillerCops #StopPoliceCrimes #DenverAuroraCAC

Aurora, CO – On June 16, the family of Jor’Dell Da’Shawn Richardson laid their child to rest with an outpouring of community support. Meeting at the Aurora Municipal Center, the body of Jor’Dell Richardson was brought in its hearse to the complex containing both City Hall and Police Department Headquarters. The family was surrounded by members of the community in the pouring rain.

14-year-old Black boy killed by Aurora PD

Jor’Dell Da’Shawn Richardson was 14 years old when he was killed by police in the alleyway behind a vape shop on the corner of 8th Avenue and Dayton Street in Aurora. He and a few other Black teen boys were seen outside the vape shop in hoodies and COVID masks. As the two officers pulled up to the vape shop, Officer Roch Gruszeczka can be heard saying in the recording, “They just shoplifted out of there. I’m going to light them up.”

Richardson was chased down by Officers Gruszeczka and James Snapp on suspicion of having robbed the store and was eventually tackled to the ground. Richardson said, “Stop, please! You got me, you got me!” While Richardson was subdued on the ground, the officers started yelling that there was a gun. At least one of Richardson’s hands was pinned to the ground. Then Gruszeczka shot Richardson once in the abdomen, yelling obscenities like “I’m gonna shoot your ass!” Both body cam recordings can be found on YouTube.

Family memorializes Jor’Dell Richardson

Surrounded by love and support from about 400 rain-soaked people, the family of Jor’Dell Richardson expressed their grief and love for their child lost to police brutality. Many folks wore baby blue clothes with pictures of Richardson containing the slogan “Forever 14.”

“It's hard for me. I have to look at pictures, watch old videos to remember my son,” said Laurie Littlejohn in her eulogy. “I won’t get to see him graduate high school, go to prom, start his own family, because a police officer took him from me.” She criticized Officers Gruszeczka and Snapp for escalating their encounter with her son. “Instead of having a heart and being a human, realizing their mistakes, they want to put it all off on my son. He’s not here to speak up for himself, so I’m gonna do it.”

Jameco Richardson, Jor’Dell’s father, spoke next. He thanked the community for their love and support and echoed Laurie’s words. “We can’t give up because there’s so many more lives out there we need to fight to save.”

At a march held last week Jameco Richardson called for Chief Art Acevedo’s resignation. This demand was reflected in signs carried by demonstrators, along with calls to “Jail all killer cops!”

Those assembled also heard from Anton Richareson, Jor’Dell’s 19-year-old brother. He remembers his younger sibling as a bright young boy. “I don’t care what my brother did; that didn’t give you the right to shoot him at all. He was such a beautiful soul. All he wanted to do was play basketball, finish school and make my mom proud.”

Family, community once again march for accountability

As speeches ended, the event transitioned to a processional march led by the hearse. People chanted “Black lives matter!” “Say his name: Jor’Dell Richardson!” and “Forever 14!” as they marched up and down Alameda Avenue.

Not even the heaviest gusts of rain deterred the family or their supporters from completing their march. The processional was so powerful, the march was able to delay not only traffic, but a northbound light rail train on their way back to the Aurora Municipal Center.

As the family and hearse peeled off to gather in fellowship in a private event, activists kept on marching down the street. As demonstrators turned down Chambers Street to finish their event where it began, APD officers blocking traffic got physical with one of the organizers.

Two officers were harassing him and wrestled his bicycle out of his hands and threw it to the ground. As other protest marshals came nearer, the cops complained that one lane of traffic could be opened. But the organizers backed up the marshal’s position, keeping him safe from police and managing to keep traffic blocked, ultimately keeping marchers safe. Even after weeks of criticism from the community, APD continues to be a violent, repressive occupying force.

The event was organized by a coalition of groups, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Denver DSA, Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, Stand Up for Racial Justice, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Activists will keep on working with the family to continue the struggle for police accountability in Aurora, Colorado. The national struggle for community control of the police continues.

The Richardson family is asking for donations for the costs of Jor’Dell’s funeral. You can donate and send messages of support and solidarity to https://tinyurl.com/justice4jordell.

#AuroraCO #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the family of Jor'Dell Richardson and the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee.

On Thursday, June 1st at around 4:20 pm, a 14-year old Black teenager named Jor’Dell Richardson was shot in the back by a yet to be identified Aurora police officer. He was shot on the ground when he was already subdued by said officer.

Police allege that Jor’Dell and a group of unidentified individuals were attempting to rob a convenience store on the corner of 8th and Dayton. Jor’Dell was followed by APD officers to an alleyway behind the store where he was shot to death. Jor’Dell was lying on his stomach with his back in the air when he was killed by an APD officer.

APD claims that Jor’Dell was armed at the time of the incident. Interim Chief of Aurora PD Art Acevedo said in a press conference, “These kids think that this is a video game. I don't know what they think this is.” Killing a Black child in cold blood is a racist police crime.

Chief Acevedo’s history of misconduct, from keeping nude photos of a fellow officer in a squad car, with whom he had an affair, and showing them to other officers in the 2000s, to conducting a no-knock warrant in Houston in 2019 that killed two innocent people, to fraternizing with known right-wing extremists like Alex Jones and members of the Proud Boys in the 2010s, clearly demonstrates he is unfit to handle cases of police crime with accountability to the people.

The Richardson Family and the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee are raising the following demands for justice for Jor’Dell Richardson:

● The immediate release of all unedited footage of the incident, including bodycams, surveillance cameras from local businesses, and HALO footage.

● The release of the identity of the Aurora PD officer who shot Jor’Dell Richardson to death.

● The firing, indictment, and conviction of the Aurora PD officer who shot Jor’Dell Richardson to death.

● An immediate independent investigation into the Aurora Police Department by the Department of Justice to discover department-wide misconduct.

● Community control of APD!

The Richardson Family is asking for donations for the costs of Jor’Dell’s funeral. You can donate and send messages of support and solidarity to tinyurl.com/justice4jordell.

#AuroraCO #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Grand Rapids, MI – On Saturday, May 27, 60-plus community members gathered in Martin Luther King Park for a march to demand justice for Patrick Lyoya. Lyoya was a 26-year-old Congolese refugee murdered by Grand Rapids Police Department Officer Christopher Schurr last year. Peter Lyoya, Patrick’s father, is determined to keep public focus on the case to stop the city and Schurr’s defense team from further delaying a trial.

The march was organized by the Lyoya family, in cooperation with the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and Kent County Commissioner Robert Womack. Israel Siku, a translator for the family and a liaison between Patrick Lyoya’s closest relatives and the broader community, helped lead the march and translate speeches.

Before beginning, all the protesters were handed shirts with the slogan “We will never forget what you have done” on the front and “We will never forget Patrick” on the back, along with double-sided signs reading “Justice for Patrick Lyoya” and “You can’t free the guilty.”

Marchers chanted through residential streets surrounding the park, encouraging onlookers to join in. Siku led several call-and-response chants: “Will we ever forget? No!” “Will we ever forget what Schurr did? No!” “What do we want? Justice!” In the middle of the march, Siku and the protesters broke into dance and handclaps before a crowd of all ages.

Siku then handed the bullhorn to Robert Womack, a strong and early supporter of the family, to begin speeches. He introduced Peter Lyoya as the first speaker, who made it clear the message of the rally is “We have not forgotten.” Lyoya, in a forceful speech, said the city has covered up the brutality of the police department against Black lives for too long – today it was Patrick; tomorrow it could be anyone else. The family said they will continue to fight for justice and for a conviction.

Kellan Martin, a member of the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, was introduced next by Womack. Womack called the Alliance’s involvement with the rally, along with local immigrant rights group Movimiento Cosecha Grand Rapids, a “rainbow coalition” and thanked the group personally for their efforts in organizing.

“Those in power who want to divide us are scared of what can happen when we unite and act as one,” said Martin. The Alliance provided a banner with the words “Justice for Patrick Lyoya” carried by the family for the duration of the march.

Since Patrick’s murder last year, Schurr, who has been charged with second-degree murder, has been granted multiple trial delays, with the latest pushed to October 24. In April, Schurr was granted a leave of appeal to contest the charges, with the defense arguing the District Court’s decision for Schurr to stand trial in Circuit Court was an overstep.

The family has said repeatedly these delays are a tactic to erode public support. In the past year, and after the release of video evidence, a grassroots movement has erupted in the city, with groups from all over calling for Schurr’s conviction.

After the speeches, the group was routed back to MLK Park, wrapping a two-mile trek through the streets. The rally, as promised by all the groups and individuals involved in organizing, is the first of several this summer.

#GrandRapidsMI #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Milwaukee, WI – Earlier this month, Wisconsin Republicans introduced a proposal regarding the shared revenue – LRB-2938: Local Government Funding. This proposal increases Milwaukee’s city and county shared revenue if they agree to do the following: reinstate police officers in Milwaukee Public Schools, preserve current staffing levels, at the minimum, of police officers, fund the police pension through an increase in the sales tax, eliminate the policy creation power of the Fire and Police Commission (FPC), and require representatives from the police association to serve on the FPC.

“Simply put, this is a racist and politically repressive attempt to coerce Milwaukee into accepting a pro-cop bill. Milwaukee is heading towards fiscal insolvency this year, almost entirely due to the growing police budget and pension,” said Alan Chavoya, the outreach chair for the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “Republicans see this as an opportunity to revert progressive change in Milwaukee, and Mayor Johnson and County Executive Crowley seem poised to go along with it.”

On Friday, May 5, the Milwaukee Alliance held a press conference to officially announce the launch of their Fair Share campaign and denounce this anti-Milwaukee proposal. Following the passing of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 575 that requires the public release of video footage regarding critical incidents from the police, the Milwaukee Alliance understands the proposal as a direct shot against this victory. The Milwaukee Police Association (MPA) filed a temporary injunction against the FPC when the SOP passed.

“The MPA realizes that their arguments against the SOP don’t have much to stand on. Instead, with the help of their Republican friends, they are trying to change the law to get what they want,” said Omar Flores, one of the co-chairs of the Milwaukee Alliance.

“We demand a fair shared revenue. A fair share of the products of our labor and of what is owed to us. We demand the GOP to keep their hands off the FPC. Milwaukee deserves oversight power over the entities worsening the budget crisis, so we should be democratizing oversight, not disempowering it. We demand that police are kept away from public schools,” said Lauryn Cross, the other co-chair of the Milwaukee Alliance. “And we are demanding a town hall with Mayor Johnson and County Executive Crowley. No more backroom deals!”

According to various reports, Mayor Johnson and County Executive Crowley have been “negotiating,” and their past decisions supporting more police funding indicate that they are willing to comply with the proposal.

The Milwaukee Alliance was also joined by representatives of Black Leaders Organizing Communities and Students for Democratic Society – UW Milwaukee. This struggle around the shared revenue proposal is felt by a wide range of groups in Milwaukee. Shortly after the Milwaukee Alliance’s press conference, they also spoke at one co-hosted by the MPS School Board and Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT). In 2020, LIT successfully organized a campaign to remove MPD officers from their schools, so this proposal directly challenges the democratic process that led to their removal in the first place.

The fight against the Republican-led attack on Milwaukee is on. The Milwaukee Alliance intends on carrying on this struggle and uniting various forces around the city to defeat shared revenue proposals that have these absurd strings attached. Since city officials cannot be trusted with listening to the demands of Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Alliance and partners are also pushing for community control over the resources in the city.

#MilwaukeeWI #StopPoliceCrimes

Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, April 6, inside a packed City Hall room, families, organizations and concerned residents offered public testimony to the Fire and Police Commission (FPC) in support of the 24/48 Campaign demands. At this meeting, the FPC made a motion to present the resolution for the creation of a standard operating procedure (SOP) pertaining to the release of video footage of critical incidents involving officers from the Milwaukee Police Department. After a nearly two-year struggle led by the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the FPC is poised to adopt this SOP when it is put to a vote at their April 20 meeting.

This represents a tremendous victory for the movement against police crimes in the city of Milwaukee. The release of footage SOP would be the first of its kind for MPD. Without such a protocol in place, the police are able to withhold all evidence of what happened to their victims, both from the public as well as from the families of those murdered or brutalized.

Based on the input from the entire FPC, the resolution will be edited to reflect these two demands: video footage is to be released to the victim’s family within 48 hours of a critical incident, and to the broader public within 15 days. The former clause was initially withdrawn by FPC Executive Director Leon Todd after consulting with the police – and without consulting his fellow FPC members – but the overwhelming support for the reduced timeframe from public testimony convinced the other commissioners to include it in the final draft.

While the timelines for public release and family access had a clear majority in favor, there was still disagreement between commissioners about MPD’s chief of police possibly exercising the right to an extension beyond the 15-day period. The presented SOP draft granted a 15-day extension in extraordinary cases, but it was brought down to a five-day extension. The public made it known that there should be no extension for MPD as that leaves the door open for the editing of footage and other coverup measures. There is a strong chance that commissioners will vote in favor of removing this provision in the final draft. The Milwaukee Alliance intends on making the demand for no exceptions heard at the next public testimony.

Before the FPC regular session, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression organized a press conference outside of City Hall. They provided context about the two-year campaign and reasoning for the 24/48 demands. Hearing from family members who have lost loved ones to police violence in the city has clearly made this issue widely felt with the public. It has also highlighted the true nature of the FPC as a body that does not oversee the police but instead takes orders from them. The longer the process went on, the clearer it became that Executive Director Todd was listening more to the concerns from the MPD than to those of the families and communities.

“If the FPC keeps going so far to say that they need to keep the best interests of the MPD in mind, we need to make our own commissions. This has already been done in cities like Chicago,” said Lo Cross, co-chair of the Milwaukee Alliance. “We know that with the ECPS ordinance, a democratically elected council of people who have been affected most by police and don’t side with them can make real change. We know putting pressure on electeds only goes so far, and what we really need is to get rid of the systems that disempower us.”

Although the demands for the release of names of officers involved in critical incidents within 24 hours and the public release of all relevant footage within 48 hours weren’t fully met, the inclusion of the provision for families to promptly view video evidence is a significant accomplishment. It will go a long way in helping families fight for justice and for control of the narrative, something that MPD or whatever sister police department is leading the investigation have had exclusive control over up to this point. This SOP will be a step in the right direction for transparency and accountability in Milwaukee and serve as a launching point for the struggles yet to come.

#MilwaukeeWI #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following April 6 joint statement of the Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar and Minneapolis for Community Control of Police. Consent decree falls short and keeps power out of community hands We need an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Commission to permanently reign in the abuses of MPD

On Friday, March 31, the City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) announced the signing of a consent decree to address human rights violations by the Minneapolis Police Department. The agreement was negotiated entirely behind closed doors; community had zero opportunity to even read it before it was voted on by City Council and signed by the Mayor. MDHR conducted extensive community engagement, while the City did nothing to engage with the residents of Minneapolis. With no input from the community, the City negotiated the agreement entirely behind closed doors.

While the agreement lays out some much-needed policy changes, ultimately the structure of the power mechanism is unchanged, with Jacob Frey as the only elected civilian with any power over the police. Frey and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights concede the agreement is just a roadmap, but who is driving us down that road? This plan hinges on the Police Chief having the will to carry out changes and at the end of the day, the Police Chief reports directly to the Community Safety Commissioner, an unelected bureaucrat, and the Mayor, an unaccountable elected official. Now they are asking for blind trust from a community that has borne the brunt of racist and violent policing for decades.

MDHR’s investigation into the City and Police Department documents what Minneapolis residents already knew: left to its own devices, the Minneapolis Police Department will avoid accountability and reparative action at all costs. How can the families and communities who lost Jamar Clark, Fong Lee, Terrance Franklin, Justine Damond, Travis Jordan, George Floyd, Amir Locke and countless other stolen lives trust the very institution that has inflicted decades of brutality to carry out reforms? The City and MPD have resisted these reforms for decades. Why should we trust that it will be different this time?”

The consent decree outlines policy changes, culture changes, and accountability measures that must be implemented. It offers two forms of accountability and oversight: the newly-created and problematic Community Commission on Police Oversight (CCPO) and the Independent Evaluator team. The CCPO is made up of City Council and mayoral appointees, the Independent Evaluator will be selected by MDHR and the City and approved by the Court. Before the Independent Evaluator is selected, the top 3 finalists for the role have to present to the public and answer questions, but there is no mechanism to ensure the public’s preferred Independent Evaluator is ultimately the one approved by the Court. All of the City staff and bureaucrats tasked with carrying out these changes ultimately report to “Strong Mayor” Jacob Frey. Worse, the Police Chief is also appointed by the Mayor (with Council approval) and only the Mayor has the power to remove the Chief. All of these mechanisms of accountability and oversight are fundamentally undemocratic. Appointees are not accountable to the public in the same way elected officials have to be.

Another fatal flaw of the process laid out by the settlement agreement is it assumes the same people who have exacerbated Minneapolis’s police brutality crisis for years will suddenly have the discernment to designate appointees that will actually listen to and implement feedback from the community. Our community has been shut out of and ignored in every city program or policy meant to increase police accountability.

In addition, the CCPO appointees are not empowered to determine policy or enforce discipline. Instead, discipline is determined by the Police Chief alone. The only civilian with power over the Chief is Mayor Frey, who famously campaigned on his bogus no-knock warrant ban, just a few months before Amir Locke was murdered on the couch where he slept as the result of a no-knock warrant.

Leaving this much power in the hands of a Police Chief depends on them being aware of and committed to eradicating the egregious racism, sexism, and discriminatory behavior baked into police culture. The failures of even so-called “progressive” chiefs like Medaria Arradondo in making any substantive changes to the MPD’s racist practices and culture is a testament to how our community can’t count on MPD or City leadership to hold the MPD accountable. This continues the pattern of promising change without delivering. Without empowering community members to lead accountability and reform efforts, especially those most impacted by racist police violence, we can’t break free from the endless cycle of police abuse and inaction.

These reasons outline the need for elected oversight of the MPD. It’s why we need Community Control.

There can be no accountability without analysis and punishment of past crimes perpetrated by officers in the MPD. The settlement makes no provisions for firing or disciplining officers based on past records of conduct and does not offer any plan to investigate cases for victim’s families that have alleged abuse or cover ups. Derek Chauvin was not the only officer with dozens of undisciplined complaints, and multiple civilian murders on his record, but he’s one of very few who’ve faced any real consequences. Many of the most violent officers still serve on the MPD force. Not only do the families of past victims of police violence deserve acknowledgement of harm, it's also critical to the safety of community members that officers with documented records of abuse are removed from the force.

This consent decree does not make the police permanently accountable. Effectively, it only puts them on probation. Someday, the consent decree will be terminated. After that, aside from the powerless CCPO, there will be no other form of permanent oversight, and therefore no assurance that the policy changes imposed on the MPD will continue to be enforced. A court-appointed Independent Evaluator will monitor the Police Department and have the authority to check the power of the Mayor is positive, but independent oversight with decision making power like this should be both permanent and elected.

The consent decree is not enough to meet the longtime demand by community members that MPD be held accountable for its violent racist practices. In order to have true accountability, the people of Minneapolis need to be steering the process from start to finish: we need community control of police.

The Minneapolis Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC) is a community-led, grassroots, historical demand to enact community control of the Minneapolis Police Department. If implemented, CPAC would be an all-elected, all-civilian body directly accountable to the people. Instead of a temporary period of oversight, the CPAC would be enshrined in the Minneapolis Charter, making it difficult to remove or undermine its powers. Civilians, including those who have experienced police violence, would be empowered to determine MPD policies, and to enforce disciplinary measures against officers who violate those policies and break the law. CPAC would have the power to hire and fire the Chief of Police, set and review the MPD budget, and remove officers it finds unfit for duty.

Minneapolis for Community Control of Police and Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar are currently collecting signatures to get CPAC on the ballot for this year’s City election. Our communities have waited long enough for real, concrete change to policing in Minneapolis. Though no system can transform police into a force for public good, we can create a system in which they are held accountable for the ways they have harmed our communities and prevent further racism and violence.

The deadline for signature collection is May 1, so we are in the final push to get CPAC onto the ballot this year. Nearly 9000 signatures are required; we are 80% of the way and doing a final push right now. If you’re interested in signing the petition to enact permanent, concrete oversight of the MPD, look on our website for the list of community sites hosting the petition – mpls4ccp.square.site. If you need a volunteer to bring the petition to you, contact us on the website or text us at (612) 234-2041‬.

If you’ve already signed the petition, you can support this critical work by joining our volunteers to collect petition signatures. Use the same contact info to: invite us to your apartment building to knock your neighbors doors to ask them to sign; get a petition sheet from us to have your friends, family, and neighbors to sign the petition; invite us to community events or tabling opportunities where we can gather signatures. Any registered voter in Minneapolis can sign the petition! The people of Minneapolis deserve to direct the process of transforming public safety: we deserve the Civilian Police Accountability Commission now!

#MinneapolisMN #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following April 6 joint statement of the Twin Cities Coalition 4 Justice 4 Jamar and Minneapolis for Community Control of Police. Consent decree falls short and keeps power out of community hands We need an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Commission to permanently reign in the abuses of MPD

On Friday, March 31, the City of Minneapolis and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR) announced the signing of a consent decree to address human rights violations by the Minneapolis Police Department. The agreement was negotiated entirely behind closed doors; community had zero opportunity to even read it before it was voted on by City Council and signed by the Mayor. MDHR conducted extensive community engagement, while the City did nothing to engage with the residents of Minneapolis. With no input from the community, the City negotiated the agreement entirely behind closed doors.

While the agreement lays out some much-needed policy changes, ultimately the structure of the power mechanism is unchanged, with Jacob Frey as the only elected civilian with any power over the police. Frey and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights concede the agreement is just a roadmap, but who is driving us down that road? This plan hinges on the Police Chief having the will to carry out changes and at the end of the day, the Police Chief reports directly to the Community Safety Commissioner, an unelected bureaucrat, and the Mayor, an unaccountable elected official. Now they are asking for blind trust from a community that has borne the brunt of racist and violent policing for decades.

MDHR’s investigation into the City and Police Department documents what Minneapolis residents already knew: left to its own devices, the Minneapolis Police Department will avoid accountability and reparative action at all costs. How can the families and communities who lost Jamar Clark, Fong Lee, Terrance Franklin, Justine Damond, Travis Jordan, George Floyd, Amir Locke and countless other stolen lives trust the very institution that has inflicted decades of brutality to carry out reforms? The City and MPD have resisted these reforms for decades. Why should we trust that it will be different this time?”

The consent decree outlines policy changes, culture changes, and accountability measures that must be implemented. It offers two forms of accountability and oversight: the newly-created and problematic Community Commission on Police Oversight (CCPO) and the Independent Evaluator team. The CCPO is made up of City Council and mayoral appointees, the Independent Evaluator will be selected by MDHR and the City and approved by the Court. Before the Independent Evaluator is selected, the top 3 finalists for the role have to present to the public and answer questions, but there is no mechanism to ensure the public’s preferred Independent Evaluator is ultimately the one approved by the Court. All of the City staff and bureaucrats tasked with carrying out these changes ultimately report to “Strong Mayor” Jacob Frey. Worse, the Police Chief is also appointed by the Mayor (with Council approval) and only the Mayor has the power to remove the Chief. All of these mechanisms of accountability and oversight are fundamentally undemocratic. Appointees are not accountable to the public in the same way elected officials have to be.

Another fatal flaw of the process laid out by the settlement agreement is it assumes the same people who have exacerbated Minneapolis’s police brutality crisis for years will suddenly have the discernment to designate appointees that will actually listen to and implement feedback from the community. Our community has been shut out of and ignored in every city program or policy meant to increase police accountability.

In addition, the CCPO appointees are not empowered to determine policy or enforce discipline. Instead, discipline is determined by the Police Chief alone. The only civilian with power over the Chief is Mayor Frey, who famously campaigned on his bogus no-knock warrant ban, just a few months before Amir Locke was murdered on the couch where he slept as the result of a no-knock warrant.

Leaving this much power in the hands of a Police Chief depends on them being aware of and committed to eradicating the egregious racism, sexism, and discriminatory behavior baked into police culture. The failures of even so-called “progressive” chiefs like Medaria Arradondo in making any substantive changes to the MPD’s racist practices and culture is a testament to how our community can’t count on MPD or City leadership to hold the MPD accountable. This continues the pattern of promising change without delivering. Without empowering community members to lead accountability and reform efforts, especially those most impacted by racist police violence, we can’t break free from the endless cycle of police abuse and inaction.

These reasons outline the need for elected oversight of the MPD. It’s why we need Community Control.

There can be no accountability without analysis and punishment of past crimes perpetrated by officers in the MPD. The settlement makes no provisions for firing or disciplining officers based on past records of conduct and does not offer any plan to investigate cases for victim’s families that have alleged abuse or cover ups. Derek Chauvin was not the only officer with dozens of undisciplined complaints, and multiple civilian murders on his record, but he’s one of very few who’ve faced any real consequences. Many of the most violent officers still serve on the MPD force. Not only do the families of past victims of police violence deserve acknowledgement of harm, it's also critical to the safety of community members that officers with documented records of abuse are removed from the force.

This consent decree does not make the police permanently accountable. Effectively, it only puts them on probation. Someday, the consent decree will be terminated. After that, aside from the powerless CCPO, there will be no other form of permanent oversight, and therefore no assurance that the policy changes imposed on the MPD will continue to be enforced. A court-appointed Independent Evaluator will monitor the Police Department and have the authority to check the power of the Mayor is positive, but independent oversight with decision making power like this should be both permanent and elected.

The consent decree is not enough to meet the longtime demand by community members that MPD be held accountable for its violent racist practices. In order to have true accountability, the people of Minneapolis need to be steering the process from start to finish: we need community control of police.

The Minneapolis Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC) is a community-led, grassroots, historical demand to enact community control of the Minneapolis Police Department. If implemented, CPAC would be an all-elected, all-civilian body directly accountable to the people. Instead of a temporary period of oversight, the CPAC would be enshrined in the Minneapolis Charter, making it difficult to remove or undermine its powers. Civilians, including those who have experienced police violence, would be empowered to determine MPD policies, and to enforce disciplinary measures against officers who violate those policies and break the law. CPAC would have the power to hire and fire the Chief of Police, set and review the MPD budget, and remove officers it finds unfit for duty.

Minneapolis for Community Control of Police and Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar are currently collecting signatures to get CPAC on the ballot for this year’s City election. Our communities have waited long enough for real, concrete change to policing in Minneapolis. Though no system can transform police into a force for public good, we can create a system in which they are held accountable for the ways they have harmed our communities and prevent further racism and violence.

The deadline for signature collection is May 1, so we are in the final push to get CPAC onto the ballot this year. Nearly 9000 signatures are required; we are 80% of the way and doing a final push right now. If you’re interested in signing the petition to enact permanent, concrete oversight of the MPD, look on our website for the list of community sites hosting the petition – mpls4ccp.square.site. If you need a volunteer to bring the petition to you, contact us on the website or text us at (612) 234-2041‬.

If you’ve already signed the petition, you can support this critical work by joining our volunteers to collect petition signatures. Use the same contact info to: invite us to your apartment building to knock your neighbors doors to ask them to sign; get a petition sheet from us to have your friends, family, and neighbors to sign the petition; invite us to community events or tabling opportunities where we can gather signatures. Any registered voter in Minneapolis can sign the petition! The people of Minneapolis deserve to direct the process of transforming public safety: we deserve the Civilian Police Accountability Commission now!

#MinneapolisMN #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Denver, CO – On Thursday March 23, over a dozen activists and members of the community gathered in the morning outside of the district attorney’s office to demand justice for Elias Armstrong and his family.

On February 5, a white vigilante tracked Elias’ stolen car from the affluent Central Park neighborhood on the eastern edge of the city to a small, working-class community on the opposite side of town. Security footage shows that 12-year-old Elias Armstrong was standing in plain view next to the vehicle when the vigilante located it. With full knowledge that his actions put children at risk, the man drew his weapon and ran at full speed toward the stolen car. Elias Armstrong jumped into the driver seat to try and drive to safety, but the vigilante fired his gun over a dozen times into the car full of kids. Two other minors in the vehicle with Elias suffered gunshot wounds but survived the attack. Armstrong died in the car two blocks from where he was shot.

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has refused to press charges against the man who murdered Elias Armstrong over a car. She refuses to release 911 tapes or any audio of the encounter and she even refuses to provide the name of the vigilante so that the Armstrong family could pursue a civil lawsuit. It was announced at this event that the family believes they have learned the identity of the gunman and have officially pressed charges. Beth McCann has sent her message loud and clear: She’s not interested in justice for the Armstrong family. Like so many before her, Denver’s top law enforcement officer has announced that white property is more valuable than Black lives.

The Armstrong family has a long, multi-generational history with racist violence, often at the hands of police. Elias’ older brother, Torrence, was killed by Westminster police just a few months prior to Elias. Elias’ father, Thomas, is still seeking justice for an incident in 2005 in which Denver PD left him in a coma after a vicious beating and torture. Naturally, many members of the family believe that they have been specifically targeted for violence by Denver police and those acting on their behalf. “If you want to become a serial killer, become a Denver police officer because you’ll get away with it every time,” said Thomas Armstrong.

The Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee, an organization that fights against racist and political repression in Denver and its largest suburb, have noticed a pattern of DA McCann denying justice to the victims of racist violence. This is especially true in the case of racist police violence such as the mass shooting committed by Denver PD last July which injured seven. Beth McCann was quick to press charges on one of the victims in that shooting, 21-year-old Jordan Waddy, but passed the buck to a grand jury to decide the fate of the three officers who recklessly shot into a crowd. Only one of those officers has been charged.

Belinda Wray’s son, Mark Wray Jr., was killed by an Denver Regional Transit District bus under a number of suspicious circumstances but DA McCann closed the case only 45 minutes after Mark’s death. Wray told the crowd, “My son deserves the truth! This city deserves the truth! I’m not scared and I’m gonna take this to the end!” The DA’s repeated attempts to push cases under the rug and deny justice to families of horrible crimes prompted some demonstrators to carry signs referring to her as “Cover-up McCann.”

The Armstrong family is demanding that District Attorney McCann confirm the identity of the dangerous man who killed their son, the 911 calls associated with the incident, all video footage and audio associated with the incident, and a full, independent investigation into the events of that evening. They want murder charges as well as several state and federal weapons charges pressed against the vigilante. They also want legislators to pass a law, which they would like to be called “Elias’ Law,” which forbids people from taking matters into their own hands when attempting to recover stolen vehicles. In the case of 16-year-old Torrence Armstrong, the family demands bodycam footage of the incident which has still not been released. Finally, the family demands the creation of a Civilian Police Accountability Council which would provide communities with genuine, democratic control over how they are policed.

#DenverCO #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Denver, CO – On Thursday March 23, over a dozen activists and members of the community gathered in the morning outside of the district attorney’s office to demand justice for Elias Armstrong and his family.

On February 5, a white vigilante tracked Elias’ stolen car from the affluent Central Park neighborhood on the eastern edge of the city to a small, working-class community on the opposite side of town. Security footage shows that 12-year-old Elias Armstrong was standing in plain view next to the vehicle when the vigilante located it. With full knowledge that his actions put children at risk, the man drew his weapon and ran at full speed toward the stolen car. Elias Armstrong jumped into the driver seat to try and drive to safety, but the vigilante fired his gun over a dozen times into the car full of kids. Two other minors in the vehicle with Elias suffered gunshot wounds but survived the attack. Armstrong died in the car two blocks from where he was shot.

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann has refused to press charges against the man who murdered Elias Armstrong over a car. She refuses to release 911 tapes or any audio of the encounter and she even refuses to provide the name of the vigilante so that the Armstrong family could pursue a civil lawsuit. It was announced at this event that the family believes they have learned the identity of the gunman and have officially pressed charges. Beth McCann has sent her message loud and clear: She’s not interested in justice for the Armstrong family. Like so many before her, Denver’s top law enforcement officer has announced that white property is more valuable than Black lives.

The Armstrong family has a long, multi-generational history with racist violence, often at the hands of police. Elias’ older brother, Torrence, was killed by Westminster police just a few months prior to Elias. Elias’ father, Thomas, is still seeking justice for an incident in 2005 in which Denver PD left him in a coma after a vicious beating and torture. Naturally, many members of the family believe that they have been specifically targeted for violence by Denver police and those acting on their behalf. “If you want to become a serial killer, become a Denver police officer because you’ll get away with it every time,” said Thomas Armstrong.

The Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee, an organization that fights against racist and political repression in Denver and its largest suburb, have noticed a pattern of DA McCann denying justice to the victims of racist violence. This is especially true in the case of racist police violence such as the mass shooting committed by Denver PD last July which injured seven. Beth McCann was quick to press charges on one of the victims in that shooting, 21-year-old Jordan Waddy, but passed the buck to a grand jury to decide the fate of the three officers who recklessly shot into a crowd. Only one of those officers has been charged.

Belinda Wray’s son, Mark Wray Jr., was killed by an Denver Regional Transit District bus under a number of suspicious circumstances but DA McCann closed the case only 45 minutes after Mark’s death. Wray told the crowd, “My son deserves the truth! This city deserves the truth! I’m not scared and I’m gonna take this to the end!” The DA’s repeated attempts to push cases under the rug and deny justice to families of horrible crimes prompted some demonstrators to carry signs referring to her as “Cover-up McCann.”

The Armstrong family is demanding that District Attorney McCann confirm the identity of the dangerous man who killed their son, the 911 calls associated with the incident, all video footage and audio associated with the incident, and a full, independent investigation into the events of that evening. They want murder charges as well as several state and federal weapons charges pressed against the vigilante. They also want legislators to pass a law, which they would like to be called “Elias’ Law,” which forbids people from taking matters into their own hands when attempting to recover stolen vehicles. In the case of 16-year-old Torrence Armstrong, the family demands bodycam footage of the incident which has still not been released. Finally, the family demands the creation of a Civilian Police Accountability Council which would provide communities with genuine, democratic control over how they are policed.

#DenverCO #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

The Milwaukee Alliance, families of police crime victims, and over 1000 signatories of the 24/48 petition support and demand an SOP that requires the release of footage related to critical incidents within 48 hours. They also support and demand the public release of the officers’ names within 24 hours. They’ve made this clear for nearly two years to the members of the Policies and Standards Committee and the Milwaukee police department representatives who also join the meetings.

Throughout this struggle, the Fire and Police Commission (FPC) members have made it clear that they view themselves as mediators between the demands of the people and those of the police. This is why, rather than simply codifying MPD's informal practice of releasing heavily redacted footage within 45 days, they are proposing a 15-day timeline. Such a proposal is an improvement, but it is still not close enough to the demands for 24/48. Moreover, this proposal is moving further and further away from what began this campaign, which aimed to greatly reduce the pain and suffering families experience when they lose a loved one and have to wait months or years to find out what happened.

In February, the SOP draft included a provision that would require the release of footage to families within 48 hours. At that meeting, police representatives of neighboring municipalities and participants in the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team used up the majority of the session’s time to offer inaccurate excuses as to why this could not be met. They went as far as to threaten pulling out of the Milwaukee Area Investigative Team agreement, which requires an external police agency to investigate critical incidents. Their threats seemed to have worked. In the SOP draft presented on Thursday, this provision had been removed.

It’s evident that the police agencies will not allow the FPC to seek a middle path. They do not want an SOP that requires a higher degree of transparency because they know this will limit their practice of crafting a narrative and swaying public opinion prior to any footage release. As they do in most critical incidents, they like to depict the victim as a criminal or dangerous person in order to justify their violence. Should the footage, the highest standard for transparency and evidence in these kinds of cases, be released within 48 hours, the police will not be able to manipulate public opinion in their favor. This is why they are so adamant about forcing the FPC to push the release timeline closer to 45 days.

The police may have more resources (nearly half of the city’s budget), but the Milwaukee Alliance has people power. They intend to use this power to ensure that the FPC side with the people of Milwaukee and actually do something to hold police accountable and ensure transparency. The campaign is coming to an end. The Policies and Standards Committee will be presenting the SOP draft for debate at the FPC General Meeting on April 6. The Milwaukee Alliance is ready to meet them there and make the demands of the people and the families heard to ensure that the FPC oversees the MPD in a way that secures the safety of the community.

#MilwaukeeWI #MilwaukeeWIWI #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, March 21, members of the Justice for Brieon Green Coalition picketed in front of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office. The picket was originally planned to pressure Sheriff Denita Ball after she failed to hold the promises she made to the coalition – allowing members to tour the county jail and upload the standard operating procedures to the website for public access.

However, less than two days after this picket was called, media reported that Terrance Mack, age 37, had died inside the county jail. Mack represents the third death inside the county jail since December. Thus, the picket was also a response to this latest in-custody death.

The 20 people who showed up to the picket walked in front of the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) for just under an hour. In a show of solidarity with those who’ve lost their lives in the county jail, much of the event was met by a large amount of encouragement and sympathy from passersby.

Alan Chavoya, outreach chair of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, said, “We have to come together. When we come together we can put the pressure on these people and force them to act.”

The Justice for Brieon Green Coalition is demanding that MCSO to allow members of the Justice for Brieon Green Coalition to tour the jail; that MCSO to hold a public town hall with Denita Ball now; transparency in all cases and in how the jail operates; and, independent (non-law enforcement) investigations into the deaths and into the conditions of the jail.

There is no oversight body for the MCSO. Only Sheriff Ball can hold people accountable in these cases, and only she can create policies that will ensure the safety of the people in her custody. She hasn’t shown a willingness to do either of these two things. The Justice for Brieon Green Coalition will continue to pressure Sheriff Ball and fight for justice for those who have died inside the county jail.

#MilwaukeeWI #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

Los Angeles, CA – On March 11, about 30 people gathered in front of the East LA Sheriff’s Station to protest the recent murder of Miguel Angel Lopez, a 70-year-old Chicano man, during an early morning raid in his Maywood home while his wife, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were present.

On January 26 at 5:45 a.m., two LA Sheriff deputies from East LA station murdered Miguel Lopez, shooting him seven times while conducting a search warrant; claiming he had a gun in his hand. Miguel’s wife Luz Lopez was getting ready for work when the two deputies were at their home and thought they were burglars. The deputies detained Luz and did not allow her to warn Lopez, nor did they attempt to de-escalate the situation as Luz pleaded with deputies to talk to Lopez, and calm him down.

Led primarily by his grandchildren, Rosangela, Jacob, Rochael Lopez, and Centro CSO leading chants, the action was joined by the families of Anthony Vargas, Ernie Serrano and David Ordaz Jr., who were also killed by deputies; along with allies such as the Brown Berets. “My grandpa was a jokester and loved to laugh and make others laugh too, even if it meant the rough tickles that he would attack his grandkids with,” said Xicana Lopez “He loved spoiling his grandchildren. He was a family man, a gentleman and a protector.”

After some speeches, everyone walked towards the station where barricades were set up and started chanting, “What do we want justice? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” “Say his name! Miguel Lopez!” “Release the body cams,” and “We want Justice, bring Deputy Perez out.” After crossing the barricades, the deputies advanced towards the aunts of Anthony Vargas with their squad cars then everyone else followed.

Jacob Lopez recognized one of the deputies from the day Lopez was murdered standing outside and got on the mic, “You signed a warrant and gave us a death sentence,” he said “I recognize one of you, and I remember you bragging how you emptied your clip into my grandpa! You could’ve killed my two-year-old niece! She was right behind my grandpa when you shot him!”

After an hour of chants, everyone went back to the canopy for more speeches from impacted families and held a balloon release in Lopez’s name.

The family is demanding Justice for Miguel Lopez that includes accountability and prosecution of the killer deputies involved in his murder. A GoFundMe was set up for arrangements and to help memorialize Lopez: https://gofund.me/3176260b

#LosAngelesCA #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes

New York, NY – On March 4, a dozen activists rallied across from the 79th New York Police Department Precinct building in Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn to condemn the harassment and mistreatment of the Bed-Stuy community at the hands of the precinct cops. The protest also marked the launch of the New York Community Action Project’s (NYCAP) campaign to fire abusive cops across the city.

The rally began with the emcee welcoming everyone who had come out and leading the crowd in energetically chanting, “The violence needs to stop! Fire bad cops!”

Speaking on the racist and criminal behavior of the NYPD across New York City, Lee Dynes from NYCAP cited the NYPD’s own recently released use of force report, stating, “In 2021, in New York City, 95% of the people that cops shot at were Black or Latino. The NYPD brutalizes us and our communities, and it is only getting worse.”

As the protesters chanted and held signs calling out specific officers at the 79th Precinct with records of racist and oppressive violence, the rally immediately drew vocal support from the neighborhood, with pedestrians and drivers in nearby traffic sharing their own experiences with the 79th Precinct and accusing the officers there of being “crooks.”

Shivani Ishwar of NYCAP addressed the 79th Precinct specifically, which received 74 complaints against its officers in 2022 alone, stating,. “Over half of the complaints to this precinct are about corrupt cops using violence against the people of this neighborhood.”

Ishwar continued by naming specific officers with the most egregious records including Emilio Ortega, Larry Meyers and James Hart. All of the officers named continue to pull six-figure salaries from the city, despite the numerous complaints accusing them of abuse of authority, violence against the community, and use of racial slurs. As Ishwar named each officer, the crowd chanted “Fire abusive cops!”

Although this rally focused on the behavior of the 79th Precinct, racist violent behavior is standard practice across the NYPD. The final speech of the rally, from NYCAP member Anevay Zapata, described how “the NYPD gets away with literal murder,” but concluded by offering a path forward through NYCAP’s campaign for community control of the police. “New York is my home,” Zapata said, “and I know that we deserve better. We all know that we deserve better than to be terrorized in this police state. CPAC now!”

The New York Community Action project will be holding their next rally in celebration of International Women’s Day, to discuss the role that police play in the repression of women and reproductive rights. The speak out will be at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 11 at 3:00 p.m.

#NewYorkNY #PoliceBrutality #NewYorkCommunityActionProjectNYCAP #StopPoliceCrimes

Fight Back News Service is circulating the statement from the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR).

On February 24, 2023, two Milwaukee police officers were criminally charged for their involvement in the in-custody death of Keishon Thomas. Thomas died on February 23, 2022 from acute mixed drug intoxication due to staff neglect and abuse while being held in Police District 5.

The officers involved were Donald Krueger and Marco Lopez. Krueger is charged with one felony count of abuse of a resident in a penal facility. Lopez is charged with one felony count of misconduct in public office. While we recognize these charges as progress, there were a total of thirteen other officers on duty who were responsible also for Thomas at the time of his death.

These charges come just over a year after Thomas’ death. Throughout this process, MPD stalled internal investigations, failed to be transparent in their findings, and harassed Thomas’ family. The District Attorney’s office also failed to be transparent in their review and keep Thomas’ family in the loop with the investigation. All of these factors further contributed to community distrust in the police and a delay in justice for the affected family.

The Milwaukee Alliance has continued to work on our campaign for 24/48. In this campaign, we demand that in cases of officer involved deaths, the involved officers’ names must be released within 24 hours. Moreover, the unredacted footage of these cases must be publicly released within 48 hours. A policy like this would make the issue of in-custody deaths more transparent for the public, hold officers involved accountable, and give closure to the families of victims. Keishon Thomas' family had to wait multiple months before they were able to see any footage. When they were able to see the footage, it was heavily edited and left them with more questions.

Again, we recognize that charging these two officers is a step towards justice for Thomas’ family, but we are also demanding that they get indicted. Furthermore, we are demanding for policy changes that ensure transparency and accountability from MPD. The fight for transparency and accountability gets results the fastest with fighting families and community organizations. The results of this investigation would not have been possible without Thomas’ family, who helped politicize the issue.  There is a long way to go in the fight towards justice for victims, but the future is bright.

#MilwaukeeWI #PoliceBrutality #MilwaukeeAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression #StopPoliceCrimes

New York, NY – Nearly three years after the George Floyd uprising of 2020, New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) has released the findings of its investigations into the New York Police Department’s misconduct during the protests. But rather than addressing the increasing brutality of the cops, the results of the investigations show how an unelected, ineffective review board becomes a tool of the state that harms communities and activists while empowering the police.

From the very beginning, the CCRB’s ability to investigate complaints of police misconduct during the 2020 protests was severely limited by the agency’s jurisdiction, which only allows it to investigate complaints that involve use of force, abuse of authority, and offensive language. As a result, of the over 750 complaints received, the agency was able to investigate only 321.

This basic weakness of the CCRB – which it shares with unelected review boards across the United States – should be alarming. If the agency intended to exercise oversight of the police cannot even hear the majority of our complaints, it enables the police to act against us with impunity.

But the roadblocks to the CCRB’s ability to investigate only worsened from there. For example, one of the first steps in investigating any complaint is to identify the cops involved. However, during the protests, NYPD officers wore black bands to cover their badge numbers. The NYPD claims that cops were told to wear the armbands to honor officers who died from COVID, an obvious bit of irony, given that the NYPD has repeatedly refused to comply with COVID safety regulations like masking and vaccine mandates, even during the height of the pandemic when New York City was the epicenter of cases in the U.S.

This supposed concern for COVID became even more blatantly false when NYPD officers refused to participate in virtual interviews with CCRB investigators throughout 2020. In doing so, individual officers had the support of the immensely powerful police union, the Police Benevolent Association (PBA).

The PBA was able to force the Civilian Complaint Review Board to negotiate with it to get officers to agree to be interviewed and won a deal extremely helpful to the cops: officers could have their union representative present during the interviews and could keep their cameras off, while investigators had to have their cameras on, and in some cases had to rotate their computers to show the cops the inside of their homes and prove that they were alone during the interviews, creating an unequal power dynamic that favored the police.

This example shows why it is crucial that an effective review board have the power to negotiate with police unions from a position of relative strength. Whatever else the PBA does, it is incredibly good at protecting officers at the expense of working class communities, organizers, and others in the labor movement.

Another key part of the CCRB’s investigations was video evidence of the incidents at hand. But once again, the CCRB’s inability and unwillingness to exercise real power over the police grants an obvious advantage to the NYPD. The CCRB is reliant on the NYPD itself to provide body camera footage that is relevant to investigations and the NYPD determines what counts as relevant footage. Unsurprisingly, in the investigations of the 2020 protests, CCRB requests for body camera videos routinely turned up irrelevant and unhelpful footage – if the requests were answered at all.

Beyond official investigations, access to body and dash camera footage is a common demand of the families of those impacted by police violence. For example, the family of Ronald Anthony Smith, a Black man struck and killed by a speeding police officer in Brooklyn in April 2022, spent most of that year demanding the CCRB get the NYPD’s footage of Smith’s death released.

So, an oversight body’s ability to access police footage is incredibly important for both the purposes of investigating police misconduct and for providing emotional closure to victims of police violence. To be effective, an elected oversight board would need to have direct access to police footage – the CCRB’s reliance on the NYPD for footage distracts organizers’ and sidetracks their time and effort toward pressuring the CCRB, while the NYPD retains the real power.

Finally, the CCRB’s lack of funding further hamstrings the agency. As the investigations dragged on into 2021 and 2022, ex-cop Eric Adams was elected as mayor of New York City. Since being elected, Eric Adams has slashed the budgets for several city agencies, including the CCRB, leaving the agency critically understaffed with one in five positions unfilled.

Meanwhile, Adams continues to inflate the already bloated NYPD budget, which has reached over $11 billion. The very officers involved in the complaints the CCRB is supposed to investigate continue to receive raises, with many officers making nearly $200,000 a year, despite the laundry list of allegations against them. It is therefore critical that an elected review board take away the power to set the police budget from cop cronies in city hall so that those resources can be used to fund programs that help rather than harm the community.

“Protests against police brutality bred more instances of police misconduct,” wrote Civilian Complaint Review Board Chair Arva Rice in the introduction to the report, adding “If this misconduct goes unaddressed, it will never be reformed.” Yet, in the final report the CCRB substantiated just 88 complaints related to the 2020 uprising, and the NYPD has imposed discipline in only 42 cases. As an unelected, toothless body, the CCRB is incapable of addressing police misconduct; it is limited in its scope, it is dependent on the NYPD’s cooperation, and it has no ability to enforce its findings. The CCRB creates the illusion of oversight, while in practice empowering the NYPD to act with impunity.

As the NYPD continues to gain even more power to terrorize our communities through Eric Adams’ despicable pro-cop policies, the fight for community control of the police is more important than ever. We need a civilian police accountability council that can address the long legacy of police brutality, and put the power to decide when and how our communities are kept safe in the hands of the people.

#NewYorkNY #PoliceBrutality #CommunityControlOfThePolice #StopPoliceCrimes

New York, NY – The New York Community Action Project held a speakout on Saturday, February 11, at Herbert Von King Park in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn. The speakout was to mark the police murders of Tyre Nichols and Manny Paez. Nichols was murdered in Memphis during a traffic stop, while Paez was killed by police while defending the land in Atlanta from the development of a police facility known as “Cop City.”

Speakers addressed both deaths, as well as local New York police crime cases, and the need for community control of the police to better hold the police accountable for killing people.

Along with speeches, the group led chants about the NYPD and community control, while educating people walking by about the campaign for a civilian police accountability council.

The New York Community Action Project – NYCAP – will be holding their next rally, “The Many Crimes of the 79th Precinct”, to raise awareness about the abuses by and complaints made against various officers in the neighborhood. The action will be on Saturday, March 4, at 3 p.m. at Herbert Von King Park.

#NewYorkNY #PoliceBrutality #NewYorkCommunityActionProjectNYCAP #StopPoliceCrimes

Tampa, FL – On Saturday, February 4, protesters gathered in downtown Tampa demanding justice for Tyre Nichols and others who were murdered by the hands of police nationally and locally. The protesters held banners that called for community control of the police and “convict killer cops.”

Police across the country began the year with the murder of Keenan Anderson on January 3, at  the hands of LAPD. Anderson was a father, teacher, and cousin to a founder of Black Lives Matter. January 7 was the brutal assault on Tyre Nichols by Memphis PD, which resulted in his death only three days later. Nichol’s was a father, photographer and FedEx worker. Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán was shot dead by Georgia State Patrol during a protest against the controversial “Cop City.”

“The fight doesn’t end until the community’s needs are met. The demand is an end to police terror and community control of the police is how we get there, and we’re dedicated to keep fighting until we get what we deserve,” stated David Jones from the National Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression – Tampa.

The behavior of the police in the murder of Tyre Nichols can only be described as barbaric. After having already pepper sprayed and tased him, the police proceeded to beat him for another three minutes. The initial claim which the police officers made for stopping Tyre Nichols was reckless driving. In the state of Tennessee reckless driving is a misdemeanor and a fine of upwards of $500, not a death sentence. No one should have to fear for their life at a traffic stop, and police must be held accountable for their actions.

Tampa, like the rest of the country, is no stranger to police sanctioned violence within its city limits. In 2014, the 14-year-old Andrew Joseph III was killed due to police negligence. Only just last year was some justice delivered for the death of Andrew Joseph III and not without struggle from his family and the community. Others who were murdered by the police within Tampa include Josiah Pinner, Jonas Joseph and Dominique Mulkey.

“We want the Tampa communities to have the power to fire and jail killer cops! To defund the police! To end racist programs like biking and renting while black! Oppressed nationalities including African Americans have a right to self-determination,” said Simon Rowe, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

It has been nearly three years since the George Floyd uprising, yet the police are setting records as 2022 had the highest rate of police killings in the past decade.

As long as people are willing to fight and stand against police crimes and fight for community control of the police, justice will eventually be served.

#TampaFL #PoliceBrutality #StopPoliceCrimes #TyreNichols