Articles tagged police
Posted 11 years ago on March 15, 2013, 4:36 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags:
police,
brooklyn,
stop and frisk,
nypd,
nyc
via OccupyWallStreet.net:
16-year-old Kimani Gray was shot seven times – four times in the front of his body, and three times in the back – last Saturday. And for a third straight day demonstrators gathered in his neighborhood, East Flatbush, to protest New York Police Department brutality. After 100 people attended a candlelight vigil near Brooklyn's 67th Precinct, as many as 50 people were arrested as a demonstration spread throughout the neighborhood. Thereafter, according to a range of bloggers and social media activists, East Flatbush became a "frozen area," with media barred.
RT reports, "Brooklynites were heard shouting "murderers!" at the massive police presence Wednesday as officers prohibited people from even stepping onto the street in one of New York's poorer neighborhoods while police helicopters circled overhead." Ray Kelly himself, the Police Commissioner, did not characterize the demonstration as a riot, as some local newspapers did, but he did describe the assembly as disorderly.
Police mistrust runs deep in a neighborhood disproportionately targeted by the NYPD's deeply unpopular Stop and Frisk policy, widely regarded as a racist practice.
Franclot Graham told AP: "I'm not going to tell people don't be angry because we're all angry...It's OK to vent but you have to respect the family's wishes and be peaceful." Graham's teenage son, Ramarley Graham, was shot and killed after police chased him into his Bronx home last year. A New York police officer has since been charged with manslaughter in the death.
Gray's family maintains he wasn't armed. According to AP, a cousin of Kiki, Ray Charles, was still having trouble accepting the NYPD's official version of events: "My cousin was scared of guns...I honestly just want justice. They didn't need to shoot him like that...The real issue in Brooklyn is cops have been harassing us for a long time," he said. "It needs to stop."
ON-THE-SCENE REPORTING FROM OCCUPY WALL STREET
One Occupy activist on the scene, Austin Guest, observed:
At the invitation of a comrade from Flatbush, I went down for the second straight night tonight to the protests surrounding Kimani Gray's murder at 55th & Church. Out of a sea of over three hundred people, I was one of maybe a dozen white faces, most of them journalists. For the the first time in over a year spent organizing non-stop demonstrations on Wall Street, I was at a protest, but I was just along for the ride – firmly and gladly ensconced in the back seat. From that back-seat position, I witnessed one the most mind-blowing protests I have ever been to. I felt humbled and at times scared – in the presence of a deep, intense force surging up, demanding to be heard.
A few moments that stick in my head:
- A crowd of protesters being pushed aggressively out of the street in front of the 67th precinct by riot cops, turning on a dime, sprinting in the opposite direction, finding and surrounding a cop car, shoving it and hitting its windows, dispersed only by a barrage of pepper spray to their faces from the terrified cop inside the car
- A teenage girl staring down a line of riot cops and yelling "MURDERERS!" fearlessly at the top of her lungs into their stone cold faces
- The look of panic on the driver of a police van's face after the rear window of his van was smashed, seemingly from nowhere
- A crowd being pushed down a side street by scooter cops, followed minutes later by a shower of glass bottles flying from apartment buildings onto the heads of the scooter cops
- A car by Kimani's memorial blasting Bob Marley's "War" and a mass of quiet, somber people pulsing and bobbing their heads in slowly growing rage."
Tensions were high, but according to Yoni Brombacher Miller, "I wasn't worried about getting arrested myself; it was clear they (the NYPD) weren't interested in the non-people of color, or adults. They were clearly going after the youth."
Brombacher Miller added, "How can we best amplify and strengthen their militant struggle for justice? Some, like Councilman Jumaane Williams argued that the 'youth should be controlled', and while he argues that they're right to be angry, he is also stifling their rage instead of agitating with them. The NYPD cannot and will not be part of the restorative process. The only steps that must be taken, are a demilitarized, reduced NYPD with expansion of social programs and services, which currently the NYPD is actively a part in preventing.
"I was roughly thrown over barricade by cops, but I'll be back tomorrow, and the night after and after, because this is truly historical, and Brooklyn's moment. The youth today were brave, and many more shall be inspired to join up."
To show solidarity with those arrested, call 311 and demand that everyone arrested at the Kimani Gray vigil be released from the NYPD 71st + 69th precincts in Brooklyn. Or call the precinct directly: 71st precinct (718) 735-0511, 69th precinct (718) 257-6211
Posted 12 years ago on Oct. 22, 2012, 7:11 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags:
police,
europe,
spain
In a move sure to send shivers down the spines of activists and civil liberties advocates everywhere, the Spanish government is taking steps to prohibit the filming and photographing of on-duty police and security forces, the New York Times reports. Described by Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria as a reaction to the recent shocking clashes between police and demonstrators – such as the Madrid anti-austerity actions – this ban is necessary, they claim, to strike a balance "between citizens' right to protest" and the need "to uphold the integrity of state security forces."
The deputy prime minister made his announcement a day after Spain's director general of police, Ignacio Cosido, said that said that draft legislation for such a ban was already in the works.
This position is in direct conflict with European laws governing the freedom of the press and human rights and an affront to all the dedicated citizen journalists putting themselves in harm's way in the service of transparency. The proposed new legislation also makes it illegal to disseminate photos and videos of security forces over social networking sites such as Facebook.
Angel Casana, a lead writer for the national newspaper El Mundo, weighed in on the plan via an online editorial: "If this proposal goes ahead, it is going to be impossible to know about events as they occur on the streets just at a time when streets are at boiling point due to the dire economic situation of many families."
Video livestreamers, in particular, have reason to worry that they will be prohibited from doing their work. There already exists a vast amount of video evidence collected by citizen journalists across Spain that documents indiscriminate police violence during protests that resulted in grave injuries against people who were exercising their constitutionally protected right of political expression.
These streams are not only reliable news footage, but also contribute to historical record of our time and therefore belong not only to Spain, but to the entire world. The idea that a government feels it has to erase part of it's record to ensure it's own safety indicates an awareness that its actions, if documented, will provoke public disapproval and increase dissent.
Igancio Cosido specified that the new rule would prohibit "the recruitment, reproduction or processing of images, sounds or information of members of the security forces in the exercise of its functions as may endanger their life". If they really believe that the routine actions of police officers in dealing with protesters would evoke such an extreme reaction by the general viewing public, perhaps they should review their use of tactics instead of trying to suffocate the evidence. Another world is possible.
Photograph: Chema Moya/EPA
Posted 12 years ago on Sept. 23, 2012, 4:08 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags:
police,
s17,
bloomberg,
nyc
The first anniversary of Occupy Wall Street was a joyous affair for the 99%.
Yet regrettably, it was also a day that illustrated how Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ‘private army’ has been increasingly unleashed to beat, arrest, imprison, and broadly suppress OWS.
Please post your videos, photos, and stories about how your rights were infringed on the Occupy Bloomberg’s Army Facebook page.
Occupy is a nonviolent movement, but this has not prevented Bloomberg’s Army from engaging in targeted arrests of specific organizers as well as random street ‘snatch and release’ intimidation tactics.
On September 17th not even the constant drone of helicopters overhead could drown out the screams of ‘I’m a journalist’ from the reporters who were arrested merely for practicing their and our right to freedom of the press.
And not even a cry of ‘I’m a City Councilmember’ was enough to staunch the established policy of brutality within the Mayor of Wall Street’s Police Department.
The message being sent by Bloomberg’s Army is being heard loud and clear. In Bloomberg’s New York: anyone who supports Occupy Wall Street in any fashion is being made an example of.
Were you one of these people extra-legally arrested or assaulted, or have you witnessed someone who was?
Post your videos, photos, and stories on the Occupy Bloomberg’s Army Facebook page.
We will not be stymied by the over 180 arrests on our anniversary, nor intimidated by the unprovoked and random nature of so many of them.
We will fight for our right to protest Wall Street while we protest Wall Street itself.
All Roads Lead To Wall Street
-- from the ‘Your Inbox: Occupied’ team (click here to subscribe)
Posted 12 years ago on Sept. 12, 2012, 11:32 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags:
police,
guitarmy,
nyc,
stop and frisk
Ramarley Graham Vigil To Be Held At Bronx Criminal Courthouse Occupy Guitarmy To Occupy Courthouse On Eve Of NYPD Trial
This Thursday, September 13, Occupy Guitarmy will join the family of Ramarley Graham at the start of the trial of the NYPD officer charged with the killing of their son. The courthouse will be the site of a large group of social justice activists including Stop Stop & Frisk, Take Back The Bronx and hip hop group Rebel Diaz.
On February 2, Ramarley Graham, an 18-year-old Bronx resident, was followed home from a local convenience store, shot and killed by officer Richard Haste inside his own home. The community was outraged at this brutal and unnecessary act, and Ramarlay’s story has now been linked to the large number of victims of police brutality in the city. Many prominent communities, from city councilmen (Jumaane Williams) to religious leaders (Rev. Al Sharpton) have spoken on behalf of Graham and against the policies of the NYPD.
Bronx Courthouse Occupied
On the eve of the trial the Occupy Guitarmy will lead a group of activists from Union Square on an eight mile march to the Bronx Criminal Courthouse (215 E 161st St.) where they will perform a “sleepful protest” outside the court’s doors.
The Occupy group wishes to highlight the confluence of policing problems evident in the tragedy of Ramarley Graham: an out of control surveillance state, lack of proper police training, racial profiling, unlawful entry, and unwarranted use of lethal force. These are endemic problems within the NYPD’s failed drug enforcement and Stop & Frisk policies.
Wednesday
March leaves Union Square Wed, Sept 12, 3pm
March arrives Bronx Courthouse 215 E 161st Street at 7pm
Songs and Occupation into the night
Thursday
9am, Bronx Criminal Court (215 E 161st Street)
1pm: Vigil for Reynaldo Cuevas, a man shot by a police officer while he escaping the scene of an armed robbery. At Aneurys Deli Grocery at 1299 Franklin Ave.
The Occupy Guitarmy is a musical street action project of the OWS Music Working Group. The leaderless, multi-instrumental group plays and sings in support of workers and for actions supporting economic, environmental, or social justice. The group’s two most recent actions were a trans-Manhattan march in support of the Russian musicians and political prisoners Pussy Riot, and a 99 mile march from Philadelphia to NYC to celebrate the 100th birthday of Woody Guthrie.
For more information, please see www.guitarmy.org @owsmusicgroup @owsguitarmy
Contact: music@nycga.net
Goldi 917-382-9868
Posted 12 years ago on Sept. 12, 2012, 11 a.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tags:
nyc,
stop and frisk,
police
via the Stop Mass Incarceration Network
WHEN: Thursday September 13 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
WHERE: 5 borough locations below
New York, NY – On Thursday, September 13, in every borough of New York City, people who have had enough of the illegal NYPD policy of stop-and-frisk will gather at various locations to “Blow the Whistle” in areas heavily targeted by the NYPD. The Stop Mass Incarceration Network says 14,500 whistles have been distributed to communities, with another 6,000 to be given out Thursday.
According to NYPD figures, every day almost 2,000 mostly black and Latino males are stopped by the NYPD, subjected to stop-and-frisk, which the Network calls “unconstitutional, unjust, and racist.”. Organizers say, “In the face of the massive public outcry against stop-and-frisk, the NYPD is doubling down. They are on pace to stop and frisk almost as many people in 2012 as their record in 2011 of 684,000. Now is the time to organize widespread political resistance that can end to stop-and-frisk.”
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