The Revolution Continues blog is news, views, opinion and other expressions of hope from a leftist point-of-view. (We are not affiliated with any candidate, political party or organization. All are welcome.)
Part-way through writing this week’s article the unthinkable happened again. ICE/CBP agents murdered another American citizen in cold blood on a cold street in Minneapolis during a general strike. Alex Pretti was an ICU nurse at the VA hospital. He was helping another person when he was beaten to the ground and shot several times by federal agents. Videos of the incident show that he was never a threat at any time to anyone before the agents murdered him.
Within the past month we’ve witnessed the deaths of three citizens at the hand of federal agents—Keith Porter was murdered by an off duty ICE agent in Los Angeles on New Year’s Eve, Renee Good and Alex Pretti shot by ICE/CBP in Minneapolis in January while working as legal observers. Three Americans who had long lives to look forward to have been cut down early by the fascist state. They are symbols and martyrs of the Revolution… The Revolution that is being born even as I type this.
Rest in power, Alex, Renee, and Keith. May we do you proud.
The following poem posted by Sony Thăng on his X account inspired my article. You’ll see why.
Trump is the perfect American symbol.
A loudmouth preacher of greatness standing on a
mountain of debt, spectacle, and unpaid human cost.
He is the flag turned into a product.
The gospel turned into a grift.
The empire turned into a reality show.
The Perfect American Symbol
by C. A. Matthews
If things appear to be falling apart, so much the better.
The global capitalists’ empire truly is a “reality show” of sorts. It’s scripted by the twelve richest men in the world and acted out by their chosen politician-puppets. The entire plot of this sick and twisted reality show has become more and more obvious over the last few years. It can be summed up simply: Endless War for Endless Profits.
Millions of deaths are necessary in order to generate the trillions of dollars’ worth of profits for those lucky billionaires (or oligarchs if you prefer that term). I mean, you wouldn’t buy a killer drone or an AI surveillance program that hasn’t been extensively tested, would you? You wouldn’t waste your money on something that doesn’t work as advertised, right?
What better place to test out your new “toys” than in an open-air concentration camp called Gaza? It’s full of frail human bodies to crush, explode, and dismember at will. And once it has been emptied and turned into a luxury resort, they’ll just move the weapons testing on to a new location. Hmm… How about Minneapolis?
These twelve super-wealthy white males didn’t get filthy rich by holding back any. They didn’t get rich by having morals or practicing compassion. Eight decades ago, about the same time the apartheid regime in what is now called Israel formed, novelist George Orwell penned their mantra:
War is peace. Ignorance is strength. Freedom is slavery.
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The kids didn’t ask for permission. They didn’t care about violating a noise ordinance or getting arrested. They just wanted ICE gone. For good. For the family of Renee Good. For the good of the community.
This is what Revolution is all about. It’s about doing good for the sake of the community—not the billionaire oligarchs ruling this fascist state.
Revolution is not about doing nothing and taking the shit dumped on us. It’s about shoveling that shit right back into the faces of those who wish to bury us. We bury them instead until the threat is no more.
I think the constant following and videoing of ICE agents in Minneapolis will wear the bastards down in time. They will leave town and avoid the upper Midwest from now until their ultimate demise at our hands. So keep it up, kids! You do us proud.
More Americans need to demonstrate the same bravery, the same courageous bloody-mindedness of the Minneapolis protesters...
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learn more about what it means to be a revolutionary, please copy or click on the following link:
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be able to leave comments. You can become a free or paid subscriber and
receive weekly posts in your email box, along with occasional special
articles just for paid subscribers, too.
This
article is the 554th blog posting of The Revolution Continues. We began
in June 2015, and we're still going strong. Please keep reading,
sharing, and subscribing to help TRC continue for another eleven years. Thanks!
How many Humvees and Tasers does an average police department need? How much pepper spray and teargas? If you have a reputation for killing persons of color, it seems you can never have too many army cast-offs or spend too much of your city's budget on obtaining weapons of war to use against your civilian population, in groups or individually.
How much is a child's life worth? If you're twelve-year-old Tamir Rice or thirteen-year-old Adam Toledo, not much. It's not even worth very much if you're sixteen or seventeen or twenty, especially if there's some money to be made in it for private prisons or immigrant detention centers.
Let's not deny the facts any longer. In a capitalist society neither children nor adults of color nor the poor and homeless of any color or gender identity are seen as having much worth in the eyes of those in power. Those of lesser worth are seen as disposable commodities to the wealthy elites, things to be used and abused and then thrown in a landfill (grave) or cage (prison) at will.
Since testimony began in the Derek Chauvin trial on March 29, at least 64 people have died at the
hands of police nationwide. Black and Brown people
represent more than half of those killed. With the re-opening of public spaces as the world is declared "post-Covid," we should only expect more deaths by cops.
According to Marjorie Cohn:
On April 27, the International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Violence Against People of African Descent in the United States,
for which I am serving as a rapporteur, will release its report with
findings of fact and recommendations addressed to national and
international policy makers. The commission is examining whether police
violence against Black people in the U.S. constitutes a gross violation
of international human rights and fundamental freedoms. Testimony was
presented to the commission by family members and attorneys about police
killings of 43 Black people and the paralyzing of another, all of whom
were unarmed or were not threatening the officers or others. --The Supreme Court Is Also To Blame For Daunte Wright's Death
So, it's not just Chauvin and his ilk who are at fault. We can't just lay the blame on "a couple of bad apples." Our human rights are being deliberately abridged. The corrupt system that runs our country is to blame for perpetuating this overtly military-style response against its own people.
You aren't seeing things. US policing budgets in total are greater than budgets for the Indian and Russian Armies. Take that Russiagaters! Why should anyone obsess over one poor country like Russia so much when it can't even afford to spend for its actual army as much as we do on just our police?
Could conspiracies like Russiagate be just another way to deflect attention away from things that really matter? A method of keeping the public from dwelling on the number of deaths caused by the police and the fact that kids are still being held in cages along our border with Mexico?
So, why is the US police force the third wealthiest "army" on the
entire planet? (We already have the world's largest conventional army by far.) The answer is clear: we're at war with our own citizens. People of color are
being used for target practice, and all citizens are being forced to pay ever more taxes to cover up police malpractice, that is, police brutality.
When we say "demilitarize the police" it means it's time to take away their military-grade weaponry that is being used against civilians who are exercising their freedom of speech and right to assemble. When we say "defund the police" it's backed up by the above memes which demonstrate just how much money our government pumps into what is one of the best customers of the Military-Industrial Complex, your local police department.
"Demonetize the children" should be self-explanatory. Any cop killing anyone's child--including an adult child--should be charged with murder. Private prisons and detention centers should be closed because no one should be making billions of dollars off the suffering of others, particularly struggling drug addicts and refugees fleeing violence. Compassion not cages should always be our goal.
Until we see money taken away from police departments, away from the Military-Industrial Complex, and away from the pockets of the for-profit prison/detention center industry, we will only see more innocents shot by the police, more protests, and more arrests to fill the prisons.
There's really only one answer to this genocidal mess. Replace cops with social workers to answer calls dealing with people in mental/emotional crises. Take the guns off those who walk a beat much like the British bobbies who don't carry weapons. More empathy, more training, more psychological testing of police recruits. Zero hiring of white supremacists, zero military equipment, zero lethal force allowed.
Abolish the police and replace them with what we need, not what the gun manufacturers want. And stop putting a price tag on human life.
"I need to drive my two-year-old to daycare tomorrow morning. To ensure we arrive alive, we won't take public transit (Oscar Grant). I removed all air fresheners from the vehicle and double-checked my registration status (Daunte Wright), and ensured my license plates were visible (Lt. Caron Nazario). I will be careful to follow all traffic rules (Philando Castille), signal every turn (Sandra Bland), keep the radio volume low (Jordan Davis), and won't stop at a fast food chain for a meal (Rayshard Brooks). I'm too afraid to pray (Rev. Clementa C. Pickney) so I just hope the car won't break down (Corey Jones).
When my wife picks him up at the end of the day, I'll remind her not to dance (Elijah McClain), stop to play in a park (Tamir Rice), patronize the local convenience store for snacks (Trayvon Martin), or walk around the neighborhood (Mike Brown). Once they are home, we won't stand in our backyard (Stephon Clark), eat ice cream on the couch (Botham Jean), or play any video games (Atatiana Jefferson).
After my wife and I tuck him into bed around 7:30pm, neither of us will leave the house to go to Walmart (John Crawford) or to the gym (Tshyrand Oates) or on a jog (Ahmaud Arbery). We won't even walk to see the birds (Christian Cooper). We'll just sit and try not to breathe (George Floyd) and not to sleep (Breonna Taylor)."
These are things white people simply do not have to think about.
--- Author unknown
***
My name is Kyle Bibby and I served in the Marine Corps as an
Infantry Officer for over six years. As a Black man who earned the
uniform and served this country, I, along with many other Black
veterans, am growing concerned with the military equipment being
utilized by police departments across the country.
Increasingly, the training, equipment, and ultimately philosophy of
policing in the United States are being modeled to approach American
civilians as threats. Police departments receive militarized vests,
armored vehicles, weaponry, and training that they end up deploying
against civilians in the streets — especially Black and brown civilians.
Over the past year, we’ve witnessed a consistent and utterly unacceptable
deployment of force by uniformed police, and a culture of violence that
seeks to dominate communities rather than serve and heal them. If we’ve
learned anything, it’s that we can’t continue this war in our streets.
Yet, the trend of the military giving police combat gear is getting
worse, not better — the police are on track to get more military
hardware in 2021 than they did in 2020. Congress needs to act.
I became a Marine in 2007, but I'll be Black my entire life, treated differently in and out of my uniform.
I know that any interaction with police could all too easily
lead to detention, injury, or death. The police don’t care that I’ve
gone to war to protect this country — I could be the next George Floyd,
or Daunte Wright, solely due to the color of my skin.
While many are saying that our system is broken, I have to
disagree. Our system is working the way it was designed — to oppress and
disenfranchise the Black community while disguising it as “law and
order”. The rot is to the core and to the roots.
Simple reform isn’t enough: We must dismantle the system brick by
brick and push for transformative change together by standing strong and
not allowing our justice system to stay the same any longer.
We have the momentum to make real, lasting change — now we need your help to mobilize and organize passionate people ready to make a difference.
In solidarity,
Kyle Bibby U.S. Marine Corps veteran, Afghanistan Common Defense
***
JUSTICE FOR DAUNTE WRIGHT MEANS DEFUNDING AND ABOLISHING THE POLICE
The Movement for Black Lives and our supporters support the family
and community of Daunte Wright who had his life ripped from him by
former police officer Kim Potter. Daunte was a beloved son, brother and
father to a two-year-old. We’re grieving alongside his family and
community, and will continue fighting to defund the police in the
pursuit of justice and Black liberation.
A police officer murdered Daunte just miles from where another
officer murdered George Floyd last year. As Black people in Minnesota
and across the country have been forced to relive George Floyd’s murder
during the ongoing trial of his murderer, Derek Chauvin, the murder of
Daunte Wright is a harsh reminder of the daily threat the police pose to
Black lives, while police departments continue to be rewarded with
outsized budgets and impunity.
Police killed 121 people in traffic stops in 2020, and Black people
are pulled over at disproportionate rates with deadly consequences —
Sandra Bland, Philando Castile and now Daunte Wright. A traffic stop
should never be a death sentence. There is no excuse for the continued
murders and terror inflicted by police.
As the Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, and broader Minnesota
communities grieve, a militarized police force continues to perpetrate
tremendous harm on a community in mourning, with police officers
recklessly shooting tear gas at protestors and arresting and jailing
people at protests for extended periods of time in an intentional effort
to further terrorize and silence our communities.
Charging Kim Potter is not enough to create real accountability for
police or real safety for these communities. Ultimately only defunding
and abolishing the police will stop this terror and bring about real
safety. There is no ‘reforming’ this system—the time is now to divest
from deadly policing and invest in a vision of public safety that
protects us all.
We’re calling for all those who stand in defense of Black lives to
support Black-led organizations in Minneapolis and across Minnesota as
they continue to support and mobilize their communities in this moment.
If you’re able, send donations to:
Watching mere glimpses of the Derek Chauvin trial--not the "George Floyd Trial" as it has been called in some instances--can really enlighten you on the ugly reality of the US justice system. In our criminal courts it doesn't matter about the motivations of the alleged killer. It's all about the "worthiness" of the crime victim.
In this case, Mr. Floyd has been found lacking in worthiness by the Chauvin defense attorneys. According to them it was okay for a member of the Minneapolis Police Force to murder Floyd in cold blood while other officers assisted by keeping witnesses at bay with unspoken threat that they, too, could be killed or maimed by the cops if they intervened.
You don't think these police officers were trained killers? Think again:
Prosecutors will likely try to isolate Chauvin as one of “a few bad
apples.” That may be an effective prosecutorial strategy to convince
jurors they should convict him. But this “rogue cop” characterization —
also used after the 1991 Rodney King beating and the police killings of
Michael Brown, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling and Breonna Taylor —
obscures the systemic nature of police violence against Black and Brown
people in the United States. Even the best training in the world cannot
teach police, who are licensed to kill and deployed to enforce a racist
system, not to be racist.
Black people who are unarmed or not attacking police are 3.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white people, the Brookings Institution found. Moreover, police kill Black people at more than twice the rate of whites even though Black people account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population. More than 75 percent of the time, choke holds are applied on men of color.
"Even the best training in the world cannot teach police, who are
licensed to kill and deployed to enforce a racist system, not to be
racist..."
Once you concede that it's not only the police who are racists--it's the entire system they are taught to uphold that is racist--then George Floyd's murder makes "sense" if only in the fact that it was inevitable. His wretched death by the actions of Minneapolis police officers was inevitable given the training and the social conditioning of his killer and his accomplices.
So, how do we make Black Lives Matter, LGBTQIA Lives Matter, Asian Lives Matter, Migrant Lives Matter, Red Lives Matter, Women & Girls Lives Matter, Brown Lives Matter... if we're all constantly fighting against a system that wants to keep its divisive status quo in place?
“We say you don’t fight racism with racism — we’re gonna fight racism with solidarity,” said Fred Hampton, Black Panther founder. Hampton knew that solidarity is the ticket to overthrowing oppression. It's why he was killed--he wanted to bring many diverse groups together.
Cooperation among differing groups and organizations of Americans in a very large "Rainbow Coalition" will be necessary. This union of unions will be made up of activists who won't stand by and be silent any longer as their fellow Americans are killed by a system designed to keep wealthy capitalist, white, cisgendered males on top by any means necessary--which includes murder and intimidation.
Keep watching the Derek Chauvin trial via the live stream at Unicorn Riot, and you'll see our unjust system of justice exposed. https://unicornriot.ninja/livearchive/ Then reach out to area groups/organizations who are speaking out against police brutality and for human rights on any level. Join them and pass their information along to others and ask them to join a larger coalition of groups fighting for these goals. Solidarity must begin at the local level before it can spread to a national level and make a lasting change.
🚨 ACTION ALERT 🚨 SIGN ON NOW! Join us in support of declaring a National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls on May 5th. Sign on: https://t.co/p7Y9S5QiJj.
This campaign is a collaboration between
UltraViolet and BLM Louisville community activists working on the ground
to demand justice for Breonna Taylor.
On March 13, 2020, three Louisville police
officers shot Breonna Taylor after breaking into her home. They didn't
even call for medical help for her as she lay dying.1
But despite more than a year of
protests calling for justice for Breonna, none of these officers has
been criminally charged. In fact, one of the officers involved in
Breonna's killing is still employed by the Louisville police.2
Enough is enough. The officers involved in
Breonna's killing should all be fired and arrested, and they aren't the
only ones. Our allies at Black Lives Matter Louisville have built a
database of police officers who have neglected their duties and injured
or killed Black people, and we have a plan to turn up the pressure and
demand accountability.
Saturday, May 1, is the Kentucky Derby. It's
the biggest media event in Kentucky every year, and with the state in
the national spotlight, it's a prime opportunity to remind the country
that Breonna's killers haven't been brought to justice. Our plan
is to fly an airplane banner over the event and to drive a mobile
billboard to force the national media to take notice and demand justice
for Breonna. Will you chip in $5?
The officers who killed Breonna Taylor want her to fade from public view. But we won't let that happen.
Breonna was an award-winning EMT and first
responder who loved helping her patients and her community. A daughter, a
friend, a Black American, she was 26 years old and planning to become a
nurse. Her life mattered.3
The protest movements that followed
Breonna's killing led to the Louisville City Council banning the use of
no-knock warrants. Two of the police officers were fired. Many cities
around the country are radically reenvisioning the role of police in our
communities and beginning to shift resources from punitive criminal
justice toward community investment, mental health, and rehabilitation.
But the fact remains that bad cops
who kill Black people must be fired. When they escape accountability, it
sends a message to other police officers that they will not be held
accountable for killing Black people.
The Kentucky Derby is hugely important to
the local economy. The state's top politicians and corporate leaders
will all be there, and the last thing they want to focus on is Breonna
Taylor. That means we have leverage to our demands, and we're going to
use it.
Our airplane banner and mobile billboard
will be impossible to miss, but without your grassroots donations, we
will not be able to continue organizing high-profile protests like this
one. Will you chip in $5?
The Families Belong Together Act is the only proposal that makes
amends and provides permanent relief and support for those impacted by
Trump's unforgivable family separation policy. But first we need it to
be introduced in Congress. We need to show there's support for this and
we can't do it without you. Will you take two minutes to contact your congress members and ask them to co-sponsor the Families Belong Together Act?
While we can't change the past, we can do everything in our power to
reunite families and create a fair procedure for permanent legal status
for thousands of children forcibly separated at the border. You
spoke up before about this injustice and we need you to stand with us
once again. Tell your lawmakers to do the right thing: Support the
Families Belong Together Act.
After enduring so much pain, these families deserve to be reunited in
the United States and provided citizenship, care, and a commitment that
family separation will never happen again.
The Revolution Continues
is now in our sixth year taking on the propaganda of the fauxgressives
and their friends in the corporate-owned duopoly. We need passionate
revolutionaries like you to help us provide progressive insights that
are being actively censored elsewhere. If you can donate a little to the
cause, please do so at the Paypal.me link below.
Join
us on June 20 for the biggest digital event of the century! The Poor
Peoples' Campaign--A National Call for Moral Revival will gather folks
from all over to proclaim this is the year we will not forget those who
are oppressed, those who are imprisoned unjustly, those who are
struggling to simply survive in America 2020. Be there! june2020.org
What "Kneeling" Offends You More?
Words fail at a time like this. How can one possibly write anything uplifting about another sadistic white cop killing a defenseless black man? So, this week we're sharing a variety of voices, memes and photos taken at a local police accountability rally to highlight the zeitgeist of America 2020. They say a picture paints a thousand words, but can a photo ever provide an adequate explanation of why We the People are being terrorized by overly militarized local police departments? Possibly nothing can, but the wealthiest classes seem to weaponize the cops as fast as they can get their failed banks bailed out by the government.
For until we scrap the immoral system that helped create these monsters in uniform who murder their fellow citizens in cold blood, we can expect a lot more protests. We can expect more rioting. And scapegoating. And bloodshed. As the song says, it's going to be "a cruel, cruel summer." And a long one at that. Warning: If you're easily offended by Colin Kaepernick taking a knee at a football game to protest police brutality, it's guaranteed that you will be offended by some of the following words and images. If you scream "All Lives Matter!" but still don't give a shit about the plight of your brothers and sisters of color, then you're going to be highly offended by the following, because we're fixing to rain on your little racist parade.
You know what? It's high time you were told to shove your "offense" up the back passage where your head currently resides. You're a part of the problem and not the solution. It's time you woke up to the harsh reality that is America for the majority of its inhabitants. Because any country that has the money and where-with-all to provide numerous armored Humvees and rubber bullets and tear gas to dozens of cities to shoot at peaceful protesters, but somehow doesn't have enough money to provide enough coronavirus testing and establish free health care during a pandemic, isn't "great" by any stretch of the imagination. It's time to burn those MAGAt caps and start working in harmony with your fellow human beings to build a better world.
This peaceful police accountability rally in Toledo, Ohio, would later turn into a short march through downtown streets where riot cops appeared out of nowhere to shoot tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and wooden plugs at protesters. Several were taken to local hospitals for head injuries, cuts and bruises. (first six photos by Adrian M.)
Police watched the proceedings from the top of surrounding buildings while drones buzzed the crowd while they were listening to area BLM activists. Witnesses said snipers were positioned atop the Lucas County courthouse opposite the "Safety Department" (a.k.a. Cop Shop) building as well.
After the rally speeches were over, the crowd started its march around the block, only to be confronted by riot police who tossed tear gas canisters into the marchers to disperse them.
Police drove into the crowd and divided them into smaller groups, scattering the marchers through nearby areas, mostly African-American neighborhoods.
Here's a protester's story about their photo (above): "That's some serious gear for people marching through a neighborhood. I don't recall this being the standard gear when a bunch of white people showed up fully armed at the Statehouse, do you? And btw, this was taken as they started tear gassing and shooting pellets at everyone, AGAIN. I went to take video right after this photo and they threw tear gas directly at us. Needless to say I didn't get my video."
Protester Josh W. states:
"I began filming right after they were shooting randomly into the crowd. The abrupt end was when my hand holding my phone in front of my face was shot by the officers not even ten feet away. If you’re upset that I was yelling, pleading with the cops to stop, keep in mind I had just been shot three times with wooden/rubber bullets. I had been watching them shoot at people for no reason. I had just watched them shoot my friend in the back of the head with a rubber bullet while she was giving someone first aid and she had to go to the hospital to get ten staples!
I saw one cop car being vandalized by a white guy. Multiple black people stepped in to stop him. Every time anyone got really angry and picked something up to throw because they were being tear gassed and shot at, people stepped in to stop them. The police overreacted and escalated. They shot into the crowd. They shot at children. They shot people with their hands up, shot people in the back at point blank range. They were fully armored and I did not see one cop get hit with anything. None of us were armed or had armor on. They just opened fire with wooden and rubber bullets. They shot tear gas canisters at people. They hit my fiancé in the back with one. They shot people as they ran away."
Protester Sierra W. shares her story:
"I want to bring to light a few things that most likely none of you who just watched the live videos saw. Even if you did, I need to explain the unknown context. Things I experienced with my own eyes about the peaceful protest yesterday here in Toledo.
Around 4pm, the beginning of our March and Protest. We're chanting and walking. The first round of tear gas was thrown. I was far away from it, but people began running. In front of me were two women with their children, one in a stroller. They began running and I ran behind them, we were all just taking precaution and weren't hurt. We come up to the first police officers I had seen, standing their ground. Shields on, behind or near their vehicles, guns drawn. One of the women and I looked at each other with confusion and fear. People behind us are chanting, " HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT". I immediately put my hands out to cover their babies and stand in front of their stroller. "PLEASE DON'T SHOOT US. We are leaving," the woman said. The cop turns to us, gun still drawn. I yell, "They have children!" One of the four officers laugh and say. "Don't worry, I wasn't gonna shoot," as we pass by. That family was Black and we were running. We all worried... the tear gas was unprovoked.
As I make my way around the block to join the rest at the safety building, I notice above the line of officers, on top of the safety building, and behind us, on top of the jail, were 4 snipers- two on each building. At least one, gun drawn, ready to shoot. They had drones flying above us. As the protest went on, we Marched through the streets. We came up to the next blocking of officers. Some people threw water bottles. At this point, I only saw white individuals throwing them. POC immediately bombarded them. "STOP. THIS IS A PEACEFUL PROTEST". Followed immediately by "HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT." The first few police did nothing and let us pass. They looked away as I stared at them and passed with my sign and hands up. Within a mile of that walk tear gas was thrown again. Because we were going to close to their barrier and they wanted us dispersed and in a certain area. Our March split up at this point.
We come around eventually to a halt. Something clearly happened up the street after we split, which was later reported to be vandalism, again by a white individual, to a cop car. They got away as far as I know. Our crowd stopped in front of the waiting officers. We were across the street from them. Probably 40 to 50 feet away. A water bottle was thrown. Protesters yell, again, "STOP. THIS IS A PEACEFUL PROTEST". Followed immediately by "HANDS UP, DON'T SHOOT." The police did nothing. We stood there and kept chanting, trying to keep the peace. SWAT pulls around and we begin to disperse afraid of getting tear gassed. The front line protestors stayed, unafraid. Within minutes as SWAT was driving by, they threw off 3-5 rounds of tear gas and multiple wooden bullets. We dispersed and those of us who were far enough away to be unaffected began first aid to help relieve the burn of the tear gas on others. In this same moment a woman, who was peacefully holding her sign across the street, was shot by what was confirmed to be a wooden bullet at her leg. She needed immediate medical attention and couldn't walk. She did absolutely nothing. A group of protesters covered her as she began trying to crawl her way to safety. She got far enough away to meet a fireman who took her to get medical attention. She's okay now but is clearly shaken and didn't understand what she did wrong to get shot.
We began making our way back to the safety building. I was mainly lost from the crowd just finding protesters who might need water or help with relief from tear gas. A few things happen in the duration of this time, but I cannot speak on them as I was not there. At least two more incidents of tear gas. I don't know why. At least one time was reported by other protesters as unprovoked. Eventually the majority of us make our way back to the safety building. The first thing we do is reconvene and let the First Aid stand know what happened so they can begin making runs towards people who need more milk to relieve the tear gas. They also had free snacks and water. The people who didn't break took a knee in front of the line of police officers in front of the safety building. They were also protected by their gear, behind their cop cars, guns ready. We waited for the rest of the protesters to make their way to this spot and we cheered as they arrived.
It was peaceful. The worst that I experienced happen is a few water bottles were thrown and those people were yelled at to stop.
I witnessed it with my own eyes. I don't care what ANYONE says. We were ultimately peaceful. We had the support of our Mayor, Governor and other prominent community leaders to protest. Nothing we did, in my experience with the majority of the crowd deserved for anyone to be tear gassed or shot with rubber and wooden bullets. They feared us, and didn't even try communicating with us. I must ask: what might have happened if they joined us, asked what we wanted from them or took a knee with us. WHY did they tear gas and shoot when we were PEACEFUL.
I can admit some officers did absolutely nothing when this happened. And some of them reacted just from us marching forward past their boundary.
(This is before any rioting began and I left, so I cannot speak to that. But from what others have told me, the riot was induced by a firecracker being set off. At this point some military vehicles of some sort showed up. DeWine stated he would send the National Guard to help support the people. They stood against us. Just for some clarification.) I've never experienced anything like this in my life. I'm disappointed and outraged. If my experience alone doesn't explain why we protest, I don't know what much more can.
Let's not forget the fact that we were there to speak of Justice in the name of our Brother, George Floyd- MURDERED by a police officer. The police believe they have the control. They are taking our tax dollars and using it to tear gas and shoot us for demanding justice for our Black community.
That's all I have to say. PLEASE unfriend me if you cannot understand this. I don't want to argue anymore. My Black Brothers and Sisters are TIRED of explaining themselves. TIRED of living in fear. TIRED of losing their loved ones. I am TIRED of trying to understand and convince those who are ignorant to these facts. We might get tired, but we will still show up and do this work that so clearly needs to be done.
We were peaceful. It was our constitutional right. We were peaceful. We were peaceful. And WE still were attacked. We still did not have the support of our police officers. This is NOT power to the people. We were peaceful."
Toledo Fire Chief Brian Byrd wrote this touching poem and posted it on Facebook, summing up his feelings as an African-American father: Last night.... Last night my soul was torn.... Last night, as I do EVERY night, I faced the fact that I was a black man BEFORE becoming a civil servant. Last night, as I do EVERY night, I faced the fact that I AM a black man WHILE I work as a civil servant. Last night, as I do EVERY night, I had to face the fact that I WILL BE a black man AFTER I am a civil servant. Last night... Last night, I felt the same anger and rage over the very issues being protested...because those same recurring issues affect me, my sons, my family... Last night, while trying to manage the chaos sparked by the same anger that I FEEL, I have to beg my son to not take part because I see the potential consequences of not only his actions, but the actions of others...as I watched the night unfold. Last night, I had to balance the responsibility of my duty with praying that I don't see the face of my son looking at me in disappointment because I asked him not to participate...when he knows that I really want to stand beside him with my fist raised...because he knows that I know his pain.
And now a meme for those who are offended by those who shout "Black Lives Matters!"
From R.P.: "Anyone who
continually tries to cover for the police's racist behavior is pretty
much of the same mindset. They believe there are two levels of
justice--one for white entitled people and one for everyone else. You
can't win arguments with anyone who can't see their white privilege
because they are steeped in the systemic racism of the predominant
culture that glorifies white oligarchs and demonizes poor people of
color."
From an anonymous Facebook post making the rounds:
"Imagine being pressed down onto concrete with a solid 200 lbs sitting
directly on your neck. This man begged for his life. This grown man
asked for his mom, for water, for mercy once he realized he was slowly
being killed. His nose bled and he lost control of his bladder. Yet he
remained trapped under the weight of the officer’s knee. In handcuffs
crying because he could not breathe. Onlookers tried to intervene only
to be threatened with pepper spray. Then he lost consciousness.
The weight of that knee stayed firm while a first responder demanded
they check for a pulse. They refused. The weight stayed on his neck. Off
duty medical personnel begged for the officer to get up. We watched a
man being killed. For 10 agonizing minutes.
Imagine dying that way.
His name is George Floyd. I understand people will dig through
everything he’s done wrong in his life. I understand that people will
roll their eyes at this. We will see his mug shot and he will become a
villain. There is no crime that justifies this punishment. Whether he
has a criminal history or mental health issues, there is no
justification for this death.
The cop should be charged with murder."
The following is an eye-opening video. It's perfect for refuting the idea that it's only a handful of "bad apple" cops escalating the violence, because in reality there's an orchard full of rotten apples out there. https://youtu.be/j3DX3SLGB34
Hennepin County
Attorney Michael Freeman announced that Officer Derek Chauvin has
been arrested and charged for the murder of George Floyd.1This is why folks protest.
Because even when a violent murder of a Black person is captured on
video by an officer with a long history of misconduct, public officials
drag their feet in securing justice for our communities.
Without
the brave people of Minneapolis putting their lives on the line by
hitting the pavement and protesting every single night, Derek Chauvin may have NEVER been arrested.
Still, this announcement hardly goes far enough. The other three
officers involved in the murder need to be held accountable as well.
This is why we are calling on County Attorney Freeman to hold ALL four officers,
Derek Chauvin, Thomas Lane, Tou Thao, and J. Alexander Kueng
accountable for the murder of George Floyd. They ALL have a hand in
George’s tragic death.
Our communities are tired, outraged, and fatigued over police officers murdering Black people with impunity. This is why over 2 MILLION people have signed our petition
demanding justice for George Floyd. The protesting and anger you see on
TV is a direct response to the systemic failures that have plagued
Black communities for decades. We did not create this problem. The
police officers who abuse our communities and prosecutors who fail to
hold them accountable created this problem. Time and again, justice is
denied when killer cops are not charged, or even arrested for their
misconduct.
It's time for a change. We can't give up. Let’s keep fighting.
