Police State

Court action filed against Northern Mounties:

Quote:

Brutality, racism and neglect leading to enduring trauma and an ingrained fear of police are some of the allegations that Indigenous people level against the RCMP in sworn affidavits filed in Federal Court in October 2019.

An Indigenous man with six broken ribs and a punctured lung presumed intoxicated by RCMP and thrown in the drunk tank for 14 hours.

A Dene woman on crutches for six weeks after RCMP slammed the car door on her foot several times during an arrest while her daughter watched and cried: “Mom.”

A Gwich’in man knocked unconscious and concussed, thrown to the ground and dragged into a cell by his feet then beaten by an RCMP officer.

A Dehcho man stripped down to his boxers and thrown into a freezing cold cell, pepper sprayed after a fight and dragged into a hallway with no cameras then kicked all over by four Mounties.

The list goes on.

The court documents recount these and many other incidents as part of a proposed class-action lawsuit that alleges widespread brutality, negligence and systemic discrimination by the RCMP, which enforces the law throughout all three territories.

The claim seeks $600 million in damages for all First Nations, Inuit and Metis in Nunavut, N.W.T., and the Yukon who were harmed by unnecessary use of force by RCMP from 1928 until now.

Cop describes fear of being filmed

U.S. Port Workers Stop Work in Protest of George Floyd Killing

Dockworkers across the country stopped work today in a show of support for George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) stopped work and lay down their tools Tuesday morning for an 8 minute and 46 second moment of silence in honor of George Floyd and all victims of police brutality.

The International Longshoremen’s Association, AFL?CIO (ILA) and United States Maritime Alliance, Ltd. (USMX), representing employers of the East and Gulf Coast longshore industry, also stopped work for a “peaceful protest hour” at all ports from Maine to Texas.

The ILWU represents dockworkers primarily on the U.S. West Coast with approximately 40,000 members in 50 local unions in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, as well as British Columbia, Canada.

“Our union has a long history of confronting racism on the job, in our communities and around the world,” said ILWU International President Willie Adams in a letter to ILWU Coast Longshore Division.  “Today we’re joining millions of people who are demanding justice and fundamental change.”.....

"Peel Officer who shot D'Andre Campbell refusing to speak to SIU 2 months after fatal Brampton shooting."

https://twitter.com/idilatweets/status/1271156773395841025

"Toronto cop arrested in human trafficking investigation involving a 16 year old girl."

https://twitter.com/CBCToronto/status/1271456828531060737

Pigs will be pigs. No wonder the chief is taking early retirement. Defund the mofo police!

WATCH: "Minneapolis City Council unanimously passed a resolution to replace the police department with a community-led public safety system. Councillor Alondra Cano has campaigned to defund the police in the wake of George Floyd's death. We speak to her on the phone..."

https://twitter.com/NatashaFatah/status/1271846152703561728

'There Goes Wendys' (and vid)

https://twitter.com/AlexWhittler/status/1271979597161209856

The Wendys where Atlanta police shot and killed Rayshad Brooks has been lit on fire by protesters.

Yannick Marshall on Anti-Colonial Rebellion and Pushing Back Against Liberal Cooption (and podcast)

https://itsgoingdown.org/yannick-marshall-revolt-pushing-back-liberals/

'let's not burn the plantation, let's ask them to provide a warning before they whip...'

"In this episode of It's Going Down podcast, we speak with Giovanni Marshall, an author, poet, educator and contributor to Black Perspectives. We discuss the ongoing rebellion and broadly about what support looks like as the liberal manager class attempts to grab control over the movement and funnel it back into the existing system."

Two Perspectives on Defining Systemic Racism in the RCMP (and vid)

https://twitter.com/JodiKoberinski/status/1271971584308207616

"Pam Palmater on CBC laying down some facts and calling out Canadian complacency regarding white supremacist ideology that manifests as police brutality."

"No. Black and Indigenous struggles are interlocking and interconnected. All of us stand to gain from the growing movement to Defund The Police. No to this analysis that pits us against one another as we organize collectively for abolition, decolonization and a police free world."

https://twitter.com/policingblack/status/1271964560195497988

Anti-racism walks held in Shetland

It comes after the organisers of Shetland's main Up Helly Aa festival said blackface "will not be tolerated".

Ellie Ratter, from Brae, had written to the festivals across Shetland asking them to formally ban squads from using blackface in their acts.

She took action after pictures showing its use were posted online in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.

From Unst to Fair Isle, hundreds of marchers took part in a series of anti-racism walks near their homes while observing social distancing.

Under the banner, "Shetland wi Black Lives Matter", people from over 50 communities picked up posters from collection points during their walk.....

..translated by my browser

Demonstration against law 21 in front of François Legault's office

More than a hundred people gathered Sunday outside the office of Prime Minister François Legault in Montreal to denounce Bill 21, a year after its controversial adoption under the gag order.

The signs were varied, and French was predominant. "Dignity, equality and security for all", could be read on a small poster. Another: "Law 21 = systemic racism". A third simply said, "My veil, my choice. "

Teacher Bouchera Chelbi came to the microphone to denounce Law 21, a “sexist” law, because in reality it mainly targets women who wear the hijab, she said.

“Giving up on Law 21 would open the door to change. There is a lot of talk about equality these days. It is time for the boots to follow the lips. "

A representative of the Justice Women group has released disturbing statistics on the effect of Law 21: the group received 60 complaints for bullying on social networks and more than 300 complaints for contemptuous looks and remarks received by Quebecers wearing the hijab in public transport, and who no longer feel safe there. "More than 30 people have given up teaching jobs, and 15 have agreed to take off their hijab to be able to work, and are suffering in silence," the group noted.

"A year later, we can see that this law and a solution that is still looking for a problem," says Justice Femme, who points out that women victims do not file complaints for lack of confidence "in a government whose politicians are the source of the problems they face. "

London Breed Pushes San Francisco Reforms: Police No Longer Will Respond To Non-Criminal Calls

https://t.co/9D9Rq6G8Nu?amp=1

"San Francisco police officers will be replaced with trained, unarmed professionals to respond to calls for help on non-criminal matters involving mental health, the homeless, school discipline and neighbor disputes, as part of a new wave of police reform. That change and others, which will be implemented over the coming months, are part of a plan by Mayor London Breed to try to reduce police confrontations with the community. Breed unveiled her proposals after weeks of massive protests over the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis..."

If true another significant community reform package, which if implemented, should be repeated or improved upon in other jurisdictions. Toronto could/should do at least as well. Here's hoping they and other cities in Canada can be induced to overcome their political fear and trepidation of the police,their unions and elites to deliver the same substantial and necessary changes demanded by the present mass mobilizations.

Abolish the RCMP!

https://twitter.com/JohnOCAP/status/1272566112715186181

"Canada should declassify, deconstruct and defund the RCMP. Governments won't simply give us what we want - we must force the change we need..."

Prof Angela Davis on Black Lives Matter Protests, Trump vs Biden & Defunding the Police (and vid)

https://www.rt.com/shows/going-underground/491798-angela-davis-usa-prote...

"We have to have an abolitionist imagination if we wish to guarantee a future...And this moment has been a long time coming."

Riots: The Language of the Unheard (and vid) *Must Watch!*

https://www.rt.com/shows/renegade-inc/491825-america-riots-language-unhe...

"Host Ross Ashcroft is joined by American political activist Ajamu Baraka and author and editor of Black Agenda Report, Margaret Kimberley, to discuss the ongoing racial tensions in America."

https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/dene-man-alleges-rcmp-beat-him-up-day-after-yellowknife-anti-racism-march/

Dene man beaten by RCMP day after Yellowknife anti-racism march

I hate these neutral sounding headlines when it comes to police, as if someone walking around with literal boot marks on his face and a history of police violence is lying!

After the police, the military is next.

Former Atlanta Police Officer Who Shot Rayshard Brooks Charged with Murder

In Georgia, prosecutors have charged former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe with 11 counts — including felony murder — for the shooting death of 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, who was shot twice in the back outside a Wendy’s restaurant on June 12. The charges carry a sentence of life in prison, or even the death penalty. A second officer involved in the killing, Devin Brosnan, will be charged with aggravated assault. Prosecutors said he has agreed to turn state’s witness and testify against Rolfe, but Brosnan’s lawyer disputes this claim.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard on Wednesday revealed a photo of Rolfe kicking Brooks as he lay bleeding on the pavement, saying both officers failed to give Brooks any medical attention for more than two minutes.

Paul Howard Jr.: “During the two minutes and 12 seconds, that Officer Rolfe actually kicked Mr. Brooks while he laid on the ground, while he was there fighting for his life. … From the videotape, we were able to see that the other officer, Officer Brosnan, actually stood on Mr. Brooks’s shoulders while he was there struggling for his life.”

The Guardian reports that officer Garrett Rolfe was previously accused of covering up a 2015 shooting along with two other officers. Rolfe and the other officers reportedly opened fire on a Black man named Jackie Jermaine Harris while chasing him for driving a stolen truck. The officers hit Harris once, puncturing his lung, but never reported the shooting.

On Wednesday night, a number of Atlanta police officers staged a “sick out” and refused to show up for their usual shifts to protest the criminal charges against the two officers.

George Floyd’s Brother Calls on United Nations to Probe U.S. Racism and Police Brutality

In Geneva, the brother of George Floyd on Wednesday called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to set up a commission of inquiry into racism and police brutality in the United States. Philonise Floyd spoke by video link.

Philonise Floyd: “When people dared to raise their voice and protest for my brother, they were tear-gassed, run over with police vehicles. Several people lost eyes and suffered brain damage to rubber bullets. Peaceful protesters were shot and killed by police. Journalists were beaten and blinded when they tried to show the world the brutality happening at the protests. When people raise their voices to protest the treatment of Black people in America, they are silenced. They are shot and killed.”

There was no United States representative present as Philonise Floyd spoke, since the Trump administration withdrew the U.S. from the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2018.

Chris Hedges: Seeing Through Faux-Solidarity Performance Stunts of Politicians and Corporations

https://youtu.be/WVyPNeFvkDA

"The people in the streets get it..."

Cuba Condemns US Systemic Racism at the UN Human Rights Council

Cuba’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva Wednesday denounced the systemic racism and police brutality prevailing in the United States before the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

 “The reality is that racism and police violence against Black people and minorities are not exceptions or errors within that system. They are the system!” Pedroso said.

The Cuban diplomat stressed George Floyd’s murder was not an isolated event, but a consequence of recurrent human rights violations. He also explained that Black communities face economic and social disparity due to centuries of systemic racism.
 
“We hope that these unfortunate events will mark a turning point in the future in the fight against racism, discrimination and the abuse of Black people,” Pedroso stated....

deleted.

Police Free Schools are Safer Schools: The end of policing in Vancouver schools

Recent high-profile murders of Black and Indigenous people by police officers in both the US(1) and Canada(2) have catalyzed a much-needed public conversation(3) about systemic racism, especially anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism. Unprecedented demonstrations in major cities around the world form the backdrop to growing calls to question the role and mandate of the police(4) in our society. We owe it to children and youth to carry forward these important conversations into schools.

As parents, educators, and community members, we want schools to be places where all children and youth feel welcome, safe, and valued. We want to believe that this is already the case, but many Black, Indigenous, and racialized students and their families do not feel safe at schools where police are present. Recent research demonstrates the ineffectiveness and negative impacts of SLOs in schools. We call for the immediate end to School Liaison Officer Programs and the redirection of investments into community-led programs in schools.

Whatever we wish to be true about the police, the roots of modern policing are grounded in harm. As policing expert Robyn Maynard observes, the RCMP was created to clear the plains as part of the project of Indigenous genocide.(5) The ongoing racism and abuses of power in these institutions today is well documented. BC has the highest rate of police-involved deaths per capita in the country.(6) Further, Indigenous and Black communities are over-represented in racial profiling and carding practices,(7) as well as in prisons.(8) In 2017, Indigenous people accounted for over 16% of street checks, despite making up 2% of Vancouver’s population, and Black people accounted for 5% of street checks, despite accounting for only 1% of the population.(9)

It is thus not surprising that SLOs are disproportionately placed in schools with more Black, Indigenous, marginalized, and low-income students,(10) who already experience over-policing. Police can enter classrooms without a teacher’s consent, and they are involved in everything from school trips to career days to clubs targeted at low-income students. Different cultural codes and normative teen behaviour such as gathering in groups is labelled as threatening or deviant by SLOs in these contexts, resulting in heightened levels of surveillance and students being labelled as “high risk” and consequently criminalized as part of the school-to-prison pipeline. The Canadian Pediatric Society recently stated that “racism is a social determinant of health that undermines adolescent development and has a profound and lifelong impact on youth and their health status.”(11) If school boards and trustees truly care about the wellbeing of all students, they must address the negative impacts that police presence in schools has on racialized students.

Take, for example, the testimony of secondary student Haleluya Hailu. As she writes in Burnaby Now: “As a black woman, as a student and, at the end of the day, just a person. Going back to my half-empty classrooms, the last thing I want to see is a RCMP officer staring back at me. If you feel reassured by a badge and a gun, that is a privilege that I wish I could have.”(12).....

What Would It Mean To Defund The Police?

quote:

How will we be safe if we defund the police?

Black activists are not saying that we need to do away with publicly provided safety services. Instead, we are acknowledging a very troublesome truth: at best, most police services do not keep any of us very safe. At worst, they target, brutalize and kill Black and Indigenous people. When we say Black lives matter, we are saying that our lives are worth considering a new way to provide safety and security services in our society.

Canadians spend more than $41 million per day on policing, but Statistics Canada estimates that up to 80 percent of calls for police services in Canada are non-criminal “calls for service.” That means that the police spend most of their time attending to alarms, disturbances, traffic accidents, overdoses and mental health-related issues. Most of these issues can be serviced by a civilian service or medical provider with specialized, more effective training.

Despite the lack of danger inherent in the majority of what police do, police too often use lethal force. That’s especially true if they encounter Black and Indigenous people during a call for service. D’Andre Campbell, for example, was killed in April after calling the police to help with a mental health crisis. Toronto’s Andrew Loku and Montreal’s Pierre Coriolan were both experiencing mental distress when they were killed by police officers. In Ottawa, Abdirahman Abdi was having a mental health crisis right before police officer Daniel Montison allegedly beat him to death with knuckle-plated gloves in 2016.

quote:

But who will I call to help with a burglary or sexual assault?

Let’s consider what happens currently. Police are typically responding to burglaries after they occur—not sweeping in to catch thieves in the act. You might be surprised to learn that police in Canada “clear” a shocking less than 16 percent of cases of burglary and theft, and that “clear” does not mean “solve.” It only means that a charge is laid. Right now, your insurance company is far more useful in the case of a burglary or theft than the police.

And the statistics for gender-based violence are far worse. Less than 10 percent of sexual assaults are reported to the police, and those who do report their experiences are often dismissed or mistreated.

Policing is not an effective service for either of these issues. Shouldn’t their role be reevaluated?

What will we do instead?

Police services cost Canadians $15.1 billion per year. If we were to defund the police, we could put that money into new services that would better serve our safety and security needs. We could afford to create front-line emergency services for mental health and sexual assault, along with investigation services—for murders, theft, violent crime—that do not fail as often as the police do.

And we could create safety and security services that actually serve Black and Indigenous people rather than killing us. We also deserve to have our community safety and security needs attended to, but our only option now is far too perilous. Black lives matter. We have an obligation to refuse to fund a service that treats us as though we do not.

The 'Palestinian Chair': Exposing the Israeli's Direct Role in US Violence

https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/06/19/the-palestinian-chair-exposing-i...

"...The banning of deadly police practices by many American states and cities following the murder of an African-American man, George Floyd, at the hands of Minneapolis police officers is, once more, shedding light on US-Israeli collaboration in the fields of security and crowd-control. The fact that thousands of [North] American police officers have been trained by Israelis, thus the burgeoning of violent military-like tactics used against ordinary Americans, is only one link in a long chain of deadly exchanges..."

..i understand some of the east coast shut down as well.

Union workers shut down West Coast ports in support of Juneteenth

Ports along the West Coast of Canada and the United States are quiet as workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union stop operations to support racial equality and social justice.

A statement from the union says the eight-hour action honours Juneteenth, the celebration of the liberation of slaves in the United States in 1865 that is commemorated on June 19.

The union has 60,000 members who work in ports in Alaska, British Columbia, south to California and in Hawaii.

A statement posted by the Canadian union, which is autonomous from its U.S. counterpart, says the organizations have "a proud history of defending the rights and dignity of people.''

In the United States, the traditional day of celebration turned into one of protest Friday as Americans marked Juneteenth after widespread demonstrations against police brutality and racism.

In addition to the traditional cookouts and readings of the Emancipation Proclamation — the Civil War-era order that declared all slaves free in Confederate territory — Americans were marching, holding sit-ins or car-caravan protests.

Demonstrations in Toronto

In Toronto, hundreds of protesters staged a peaceful sit in where they blocked two major downtown roads.

There was a festive atmosphere with songs playing from loudspeakers, protesters dancing and people shouting anti-racism slogans in front of Toronto police headquarters.

People wrote "defund the police'' and "no justice, no peace'' in chalk on the road in front of the police station, and protesters chanted "Black lives, they matter here.''.....

Thousands of anti-racist dockworkers have shut down a port in Oakland as workers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union went on strike at 29 ports along the West Coast of the United States to protest against racist police violence and exploitation. ⁠

video link

'They'd Have Machine Guns Out For The' : Trump Says CHAZ Would Have No Chance if Right Wing Instead of Anarchists Occupying Seattle

https://on.rt.com/ajzy

"I have an offer out - any time you want, we'll come in, we'll straighten it out in one hour or less..."

They will be set up to demonstrate the necessity of 'law and order'.