Category Archives: State Oppression

And The Children Shall Lead Them.

12 November 2012

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Five hundred people gathered in downtown Oakland on Saturday to protest police brutality, racial profiling and stop & frisk; the picture-perfect day contrasting sharply with the grim tales of police abuse told by the families of victims.

It was both a sad and hopeful day. Sad for the obvious reasons yet hopeful because of the coalition we are building and the messages we are sending:

“This slaughter must end!”
“We are not going away!”

The sons and daughters of the parents who fear the most for their soon-to-be-grown sons and daughters took a special role in our march through West Oakland after the rally.

Click here to read the entire essay, including more photographs and video of the rally.

End Racial Profiling. End Stop & Frisk. The Movement is Building, The Moment is Now.

9 November 2012

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By JP Massar

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Alan Blueford of Oakland, CA, age 18, was shot and killed after being stopped for being, young, Black, male and “acting suspiciously.” His last words were “I didn’t do anything.”

Manual Diaz of Anaheim, CA, age 25, was shot in the back and killed as he ran away after officers decided to check him out because he was standing next to a car, talking to other young, Hispanic men inside it.

Derrick Gaines, age 15, was shot and killed in South San Francisco after officers stopped him and his friends for “acting suspiciously.”

Ramarley Graham, age 18, was shot and killed in his own bathroom after being chased there by a New York City police officer over a bit of marijuana.

There are far too many more.

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Each case makes headlines. Each time the police announce that the officer thought that the deceased had a weapon. Usually no charges are brought, and in the cases when they are filed police officers are almost always acquitted — rarely if ever is an officer of the law convicted of murder for the execution of a young man of color — even if he was unarmed and shot from behind.

Eventually the case fades from memory, to be replaced by the next. As the cycle begins anew.

It’s way past time for this to end.

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The Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition is attempting change this dynamic. On November 10th, 2012, in downtown Oakland, we will be staging a rally and march Against Police Brutality, to End Racial Profiling, and in Opposition to Stop & Frisk Policies which aid and abet such.

We have invited the families of the victims of police murders from around the Bay Area and Northern California, some going back as much as twenty years, to speak. We have reached out to local organized labor and have gotten endorsements for this action by local ILWU and SEIU chapters; their representatives will be speaking. Kristian Williams, author of Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America will also be lending his voice to ours.

Click here to read the entire essay, including our open letter to Judge Thelton Henderson about his decision on whether or not to put the Oakland Police into Federal Receivership in relation to their racist policies and behaviors.

A Year Ago Today Scott Olsen Fell and A Reign of Terror Began.

25 October 2012

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by JP Massar

One year ago to the day, in the wee hours of the morning of October 25th, 2011, armed thugs invaded the newly-named Oscar Grant Plaza in downtown Oakland. Bringing with them tear gas, batons and military style arms, they gassed, beat, dragged and kidnapped people who were doing nothing more or less threatening than sleeping in tents or sitting in the plaza keeping vigil. As one Occupier caught up in the gotterdammerung, Allie123, wrote

At around 4:30 AM the police came from everywhere… A line of police in full riot gear with huge guns pointed their weapons at us… the police tear gassed us… I heard huge explosions… I was the first person taken.

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The intent of this action was clear: to strike enough fear into the hearts and minds of the Occupiers that they would vanish into the mist, departing to points unknown, never to bother the good burghers of Oakland again. This was the first attempt at mass violence used by the state against Occupiers. True, there had been kettling and mass arrests in New York, and a few police pepper-spraying a few protesters apparently at random. But there had been as yet no concerted, centrally directed attempt to eradicate by both physical and psychological violence an Occupy site and by projection an entire local movement.

But it didn’t work.

Click and read the entire essay here.

Are The Oakland Police Going Down At Last? At Long Last?

5 October 2012

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Three developments in these last few days have given pause to those who believe the Oakland Police will remain, as they have for so many decades, untouchable.

Judge Thelton Henderson

The Oakland Police Department has a sordid history going back at least to the 1960′s when unremitting police brutality spurred on the formation of the Black Panther Party, one of whose principal goals was the protection of African-American neighborhoods from the police.

For decades officers have ruled the streets of Oakland much as an occupying army (1), willfully ignorant of the Bill of Rights, impervious to the political attacks on their power that wax and wane as City administrations come and go, and able to shrug off multiple assaults by civil rights attorneys — which end up costing the taxpayers, but not Oakland’s Police Department, millions of dollars a year in civil rights settlements.

Even when forced to sign onto agreements (‘negotiated settlements’) in 2003 and then 2005 which promised drastic reforms in their policies and procedures, they have been able to effectively ignore those court-approved and monitored settlements through into the current decade. The latest but certainly not the only manifestation of this was their handling of Occupy Oakland, in direct violation of both settlement agreements.

What has suddenly happened?

Click here to read the entire essay, finding out what has happened

Photo is of Federal Judge Thelton Henderson, who is presiding over the case that might finally take OPD down.

Support Leah-Lynne Plante & all Grand Jury Resistors!

13 September 2012

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Rally Against FBl Repression
Friday September 14th @ 4:30pm 
Ron Dellums Federal Building in Oakland 
1301 Clay Street 
(Behind Oscar Grant/Frank Ogawa Plaza)
 
The FBI raids and Grand Jury investigations of our comrades in Portland are just two of many steps the State is taking to repress our dissent. Oakland will not sit back and allow this to happen.  It could be any of us.

Grand Jury Resistors Head Into Court, Expect Jail

From Portland comrades: Supporters will be gathering today in front of the Federal Court House in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington to express opposition to the secret grand jury investigating the anarchist movement, and to show their support for those refusing to testify.

This will be the third time Leah-Lynne Plante has been called before the grand jury.  Each time, she has publicly refused to cooperate.  She is expected to be imprisoned after today’s hearing.

“So far as I can see, the authorities are just using these hearings to intimidate people, create suspicion, and collect information that they can use to disrupt political movements,” said Leah-Lynne Plante, of Portland.  “It isn’t working.  None of the subpoenaed activists have testified, and the support we’ve received from the broader community has been really overwhelming.”

Yesterday hundreds of people from around the country faxed letters of protest to US Attorney Jenny Durkan, demanding she call off the grand jury investigation of the anarchist movement.  The “fax petition” read, in part:  “This case clearly shows that your office is persecuting political dissent. It is despicable that the US attorney and the FBI are harassing and intimidating this group of people for their political beliefs.”

For more information from the Portland folks, email The Committee Against Political Repression at nopoliticalrepression@gmail.com

Alan Blueford: Shot While Trying to Escape.

12 September 2012

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By JP Massar

In 2012, Alan Blueford was shot by OPD while trying to escape.

We know this is but one of many incidents in Oakland’s sordid past…

…
In 2007 unarmed Charles Davis was shot in the back and paralyzed…
In 2008 unarmed Jody Woodfox was shot dead while trying to escape…
In 2009 unarmed Oscar Grant was shot dead lying flat on his back…
In 2010 unarmed Derrick Jones was shot dead while trying to escape…
In 2011 unarmed Raheim Brown was assassinated in his car…
…

Alan Blueford memorial

You can help SPEAK OUT AGAINST THE MADNESS.

Read the entire essay ‘Shot While Trying To Escape’ by clicking here.

Marikana Mine Workers Massacre. A Statement of Solidarity.

1 September 2012

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A week ago local activists from labor, Occupy Oakland, and other progressive and radical groups came together at Oscar Grant Plaza in Oakland at a rally in support of the Marikana miners who were slaughtered by police in South Africa. The Occupy Oakland Labor Solidary Committee read a statement of support at that rally which has now been published:

To the workers striking against Lonmin:

We are the Labor Solidarity Committee of Occupy Oakland. We have been watching your struggle and are inspired by the strength, courage, and determination you have shown. We always support any and all workers who realize their power and stand up to fight back back against injustice. Injustices come from bosses, government, and even supposed allies.

None have fought with more fervor and righteous persistence as you. Few have ever faced the horrors that you have in return. We are both mournful and enraged by the brutality we know you have suffered. These actions must not go unanswered.

We extend to you a hand of solidarity from across the globe. We want to fight alongside you. We are workers also; your battles are our battles. We are on the same side; we share the same enemies on the other side.

We call on all people who have only their labor to survive and any of their organizations to not just speak, but to act in solidarity with you. We would like to take action against any company that buys, transports, or invests in products from Lonmin PLC. This includes refusing to install, sell, use or transport products containing material from this mine. It also includes shutdown actions against investors and companies who service Lonmin PLC.

We also support every effort to resist unjust economic and government systems, including your actions resisting murderous, violent police. This is another common battle that we share.

Lastly, we support your ability to organize in any way that way that you, as workers, decide, in order to combat the injustices you face. We will do what we can to support and defend you. This is one fight; we should be one fist.

In mourning, outrage, and solidarity,

– The Occupy Oakland Labor Solidarity Committee

Click here for an essay on this which includes video of the massacre and video of the rally

If You Live in Oakland, You Could be Eligible for $1,000,000. Or You’re Dead.

28 August 2012

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Michael Siegel, Oakland civil rights attorney and all-around nice guy, has obtained information from the City of Oakland about police shooting lawsuits that have happened over the past decade and their resolutions.

Here’s a guide to how you, too, can get a cool $1,000,000 (give or take) from the taxpayers of Oakland. Unless you’re already shot dead.

The Lawsuit:

The city of Oakland agreed Tuesday to… pay the family of a man who died after being arrested by Oakland police officers in 2000, a case that a federal appeals court said led to misrepresentations and stonewalling by the Police Department.

Jerry Amaro III, 35, was arrested on suspicion of trying to buy drugs from undercover officers near 73rd Avenue and Holly Street in East Oakland on March 23, 2000. During the arrest, several officers, including now-Capt. Ed Poulson, used excessive force, breaking five of Amaro’s ribs and lacerating his left lung, said the family’s suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Incident Date: 3/23/2000
Settlement Date: 12/1/2011
The Settlement: $1,700,000

Click here for full article with many more settlements detailed

Alan Blueford memorial