dissent

Communities United Against Police Brutality
EMAIL NEWSLETTER
September 21, 2008
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It has been a month since our last newsletter and very much has happened in that month. On a rather personal note, this editor has had some difficulty summing up all that has happened and getting to the point of being able to write about it. It's also just plain difficult to be in the middle of action and write about it at the same time.

While police brutality is the daily reality of people of color, homeless, low income people and others, the sheer coordination and repressive conduct of police during the RNC harkens a new level efforts to crush dissent. No free speech was tolerated during the RNC and new levels of terror and brutality were rained down on community activists just for opposing the Republican agenda. This conduct was supported and aided by elected officials including mayors and council members on both sides of the river. Now some are trying to worm out of what they unleashed by holding bogus "public" hearings (with hand-picked speakers), naming partisans to phony "independent" investigations, or calling for investigations they know will never materialize.

Both mayors have been effusive in their praise of police conduct--the same conduct that has left many activists bruised and battered and facing serious criminal charges. In this new climate, all police need do is invoke the "terrorism" word and they get a free pass to raid, beat, bomb, gas and arrest, with the grinning assent of elected officials. In the run-up to the annual October 22 National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality, CUAPB will examine this new climate, what it means for all activists (not just those opposed to the current administration), and how it is likely to spill over toward people already feeling the boot of police oppression.

(see full article and video here here or here)