Posted 12 years ago on July 25, 2012, 5:23 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Anaheim kids give firsthand accounts of police brutality
Last Saturday in Anaheim, California, police on routine patrol killed an unarmed person of color (Manuel Diaz), shooting him in the back in broad daylight. As a crowd of concerned neighbors gathered at the site to demand justice, they in turn were attacked by heavily armed police, who were recorded on video firing rubber bullets and pepper balls at close range into the crowd, which included women and children. In the ensuing chaos, an unrestrained police dog charged the crowd, mauling two people. Although police claim this was an accident, neighborhood witnesses disagree. Witnesses further report that, even as the events were still unfolding, police offered to buy footage from people's cell phones, apparently to cover up the incident. Later that same night, Anaheim PD shot and killed another person under suspicious circumstances. This is at least the sixth "officer-involved" shooting in Anaheim this year alone.
These are not isolated incidents; police violence is pandemic across the nation, and indeed the world. For people of color, poor people, immigrants, LGBTQ people, drug users, and other marginalized communities: EVERYWHERE IS ANAHEIM.
Although statistics documenting the number of "officer-involved shootings" (doublespeak for killings and attempted killings committed by police) are nearly impossible to find (we looked), marginalized communities everywhere know they are commonplace. We have not forgotten Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Duanna Johnson, Rekia Boyd, or the countless other victims of police violence. As long as power is concentrated in the hands of an (overwhelmingly racist, sexist, classist, and homophobic) elite, we continue to see police violence used against those of us at the margins.
Terrorized communities are left to ask: who polices the police, and why are police able to deploy lethal and potentially lethal force against unarmed people in the first place? In the wake of the horrific tragedy in Aurora, Colorado, where police were able to arrest a heavily armed suspected mass murderer without injury, why are police empowered to act as judge, jury, and executioner when it comes to people of color, poor people, immigrants, LGBTQ people, drug users, and other marginalized communities?
Enough is enough. Terrorized communities are standing up. Demonstrators, including members of Occupy Orange County and other regional Occupiers, have rallied outside the Anaheim Police Department headquarters and at Anaheim City Hall, in spite of the menacing presence of riot police throughout the city.
Manuel's parents have held vigils with hundreds of their primarily Latin@ neighbors and have pledged to file a lawsuit, saying their son was merely out with friends when he was murdered by the police – even as corporate media parrot phrases like "suspected gang member" (a label applied liberally by police to further profile, criminalize, and incarcerate people of color), and villify protesters by flashing images of property damage that pale in comparison to videos of police wantonly brutalizing civilians that instantly go viral online but are rarely shown on for-profit news outlets. Two officers have been placed on paid leave and the city has said they are conducting an independent review – but we know that justice rarely comes when the State is allowed to police itself.
We demand real justice and accountability; power must be restored to the people! From Anaheim to New York and beyond, the people must respond: No justice, no peace, disarm the police!
In Anaheim – even amidst escalating police violence – spontaneous demonstrations numbering in the thousands have continued to grow nearly every night since Manuel's murder. We encourage solidarity demonstrations everywhere else! See below for more info on actions:
Something big is happening in Sunset Park. Tenants are demanding liveable conditions and a response to the 400 documented housing violations in their building. For years residents in these three buildings have been living in fear of fires, electrical blackouts and disease-triggering agents like mold, cockroaches and rats. Despite numerous complaints made to city agencies and politicians’ offices, these violations continue to threaten the lives of dozens of residents.
Occupy Sunset Park asks you to join them to show ongoing support for the rent strikers by stopping by for a nightly vigil from 6pm to 7pm on 46th Street between 5th and 6th Ave. in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, near the R train at 45th St.
Occupy these Actions and Assemblies
Wednesday, July 25, 6:00-8:00pm Tech Training: Civi and Wiki 33 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn
Come to this Tech-Ops/Occupy training in wiki or Civi use, meet Occupy movement techies, and have a beer with us. Civi is a Constituent Relationship Manager (CRM) to gives you tools to send email blasts to your groups, sign up new people, accept donations and more. Wikis are a type of website that is easy for a large and decentralized group of people to use to share information.
Wednesday, July 25, 6:30pm - 8:00pm Farmworker Justice Rally Chipotle at 17th St & Broadway (864 Broadway)
Join Occupy’s 99 Pickets and Community/Farmworker Alliance to demand Chipotle stand true to your "sustainable" image and Sign the Fair Food Agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. There will be a wall of postcards, rally and a chance to get your picture taken for chipocrisy.tumblr.com.
Wednesday, July 25, 5:00 - 9:00pm (and Every Wednesday) Freedom School Community Night 195 Maujer St, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Everyone Wednesday night the Freedom School welcomes the community to a potluck and tour of the school. Come visit and see all the renovations: the OWS Library, the brand-new Media Center, and more! Found out more about the school at paulrobesonfreedomschool.org.
Friday, July 27th, 3:00pm March on Wall Street Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park) to Wall Street
Join us in meeting the bankers and brokers for the closing bell as we issue our grievances and stand in support of workers everywhere.
Friday, July 27th, 7:00pm Sunset Park Food For Thought Film Series: Broken on All Sides La Casita, 414 45th Street, Sunset Park
Next Friday's Food For Thought FIlm Showing will be BROKEN ON ALL SIDES, a timely exploration of mass incarceration and the racist nature of the criminal justice system as explored in Michelle Alexander's THE NEW JIM CROW Join us for film and discussion! Friday, July 27, at La Casita in Sunset Park. FREE.
Saturday, July 28th, 7:30am Stop the Frack Attack. Rally in DC (bus leaving from NYC) Liberty Plaza (Zuccotti Park)
OWS Environmental Solidarity joins other New Yorkers in the fight against Fracking. Now is the time to bring the stories of the people truly impacted by oil and gas development to the legislative and regulatory entities that can—and must be pushed to—make a difference in the way that the fossil fuel industry operates in this country and the energy options the nation pursues.
Saturday, July 28, 11:30am Premiere of Occupy Brooklyn TV Brooklyn cable TV & streaming
Occupy Public Access TV is launching a new OWS TV show this week. It will air on TW channel 35, Cablevision channel 68, and RCN channel 83 in Brooklyn, and on Verizon cable channel 43 throughout NYC. A special edition of the show, with extra footage, will be published on occupypublicaccesstv.com.
Saturday, July 28th, 1:00pm Radical Walking Tours - Gowanus Canal & Brooklyn Transect Union Street @ Gowanus Canal
Engage the city, your body, and others, by putting yourself in motion to engage the political, ecological, and your embodied urban environment – New York City.
Saturday, July 28th, 2:00pm S17 Education Planning Assembly Washington Square Park
September 17th, Occupy's one-year anniversary, is just around the corner. This is a call for all groups planning education-related activities to come together and coordinate actions, resources, needs, etc. If you aren't involved in a group, but want to help plan educational events for S17, this meeting is also for you.
Sunday, July 29th, 2:00pm Strike Debt Strategy Session 33 W 14th St New York
Join us as we strategize about the next steps in this movement to transform, challenge and re-think debt. As Strike Debt gains momentum and as debt emerges as a key theme among many organizers, we gather to ask some major questions about debt and movement-building.
Tuesday, July 31st, 6:30pm Occupy Astoria Movie Night - The New Jim Crow Church of the Redeemer, 30-14 Crescent Street at 30th Avenue
Join Occupy Astoria for our ongoing Film Series. The New Jim Crow, litigator turned legal scholar Michelle Alexander's recent book, challenges us to place mass incarceration at the heart of our struggles for racial justice in America.
Friday, August 3, 4:00pm Wake Up Wall Street: Money Out, Voters In
The 3rd in a series of condemnations of CITIZENS UNITED. As long as our democracy is hijacked by big corporate money, there will be no business as usual.
Daily #OccupyUnionSq Info Table @OWSUnionSquare
Every day Occupy Union Square has an info table open and staffed, acting as a hub to promote the constant flurry of events and meetings occurring across OWS.
