OUTRAGEOUS CONTRASTS

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OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People Protesting Police Murder and Brutality and Other Injustices

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OUTRAGEOUS Hands-off Treatment of White Supremacists, Cops and other reactionaries

OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People Protesting Police Murder and Brutality and Other Injustices


OUTRAGEOUS Hands-off Treatment of White Supremacists, Cops and other reactionaries

 

OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People...


Attica Scott, booking photo

Attica Scott, a Black member of the Kentucky state legislature, was at a protest around Breonna Taylor, doing a livestream, when she, her daughter, and 22 others were arrested. They now face class D felony charges of first-degree rioting, failure to disperse, and unlawful assembly. Scott spent 10 hours in jail before being released.


OUTRAGEOUS Hands-Off Treatment of White Supremacists...


Brett Hankison, booking photo

Brett Hankinson, the ONLY pig to be charged with anything in the MURDER of Breonna Taylor, faces three class D felony charges—not for killing Breonna, but for shooting into the apartment of her neighbors. This is the SAME charge given to Attica Scott for  protesting this murder. Hankinson has spent 32 minutes in jail.

 

OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People...


Tracy Cole, Alvin Cole‘s mother. Photo: AP


Alvin Cole. Photo: AP

17-year-old Alvin Cole was murdered by a cop in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. On October 8, Alvin’s mother, Tracy Cole, and sister, Tristiana Cole, were arrested at a peaceful protest in Milwaukee for violating curfew. Tracy Cole, who uses a cane, was taken to a hospital with a large bump on her forehead and an injured arm from being roughly handcuffed by cops.


OUTRAGEOUS Hands-Off Treatment of White Supremacists...

October 7, the Milwaukee County DA said there was “sufficient evidence” showing that Joseph Mensah, the cop who murdered Alvin Cole, believed “deadly force was necessary,” and so will not face any criminal charges.


Protesters and police line up Friday, Oct. 9, 2020, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. On Wednesday, District Attorney John Chisholm refused to issue charges against Wauwatosa Police Officer Joseph Mensah for the Feb. 2 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Alvin Cole at Mayfair Mall. Photo: AP/Morry Gash)

OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People...


Kenosha, September 1. Photo: twitter/therevcoms

In Kenosha, Wisconsin, protesters who took to the street after cops shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back have faced vicious attacks and arrests by the police. In the first 12 days of protests, 250 people were arrested. There were reports of pigs in unmarked cars running down and arresting protesters. Members of Riot Kitchen, a Seattle-based group that serves food at demonstrations, were filling up cans at a gas station when marked SUVs sped in and cops jumped out with guns drawn. One pig shattered the van’s passenger-side window with a baton, unlocked the door, and pulled a person out. Nine people were taken into custody.


OUTRAGEOUS Hands-Off Treatment of White Supremacists...

August 25: 17-year-old white supremacist Kyle Rittenhouse killed two protesters, 26-year-old Anthony Huber and 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, and seriously injured a third. Rittenhouse then walked down the street past cops, who did nothing. Earlier in the evening, police told Rittenhouse and other armed vigilantes that they were “appreciated” and gave them water. Rittenhouse, allowed to leave and go home, wasn’t arrested until the next day. Trump claims Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense, and Tucker Carlson at Fox “News” calls Rittenhouse a hero fighting for “law and order.” When Donald Trump Jr. was asked why the White House has not condemned Rittenhouse, he said, “We all do stupid things at 17.” Rittenhouse’s lawyer is now arguing Rittenhouse should not be extradited to Wisconsin because this would be “turning him over to the mob”—further bolstering the claim that Rittenhouse was only acting in self-defense and further slandering protesters as being a “mob” of aggressors.


August 25, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Photo: AP

OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People...


Kenosha cops gassing a documentary filmmaker — after allegedly groping her breast.

Cops routinely use pepper spray, rubber bullets, tear gas, and batons on protesters and many arrested face very serious charges. According to the FBI, in the first 10 days of protests around the country after the May 25 murder of George Floyd, more than 13,600 protesters were arrested with 300 facing federal crimes. Colinford Mattis and Urooj Rahman face life in prison for allegedly setting a police van on fire with a Molotov cocktail at a BLM protest in Brooklyn. In Oklahoma City at least five people were charged with incitement to riot for painting murals in the city’s downtown.


OUTRAGEOUS Hands-Off Treatment of White Supremacists...

Cops routinely protect and leave alone white supremacists, reactionaries who come to attack protests. June 19, 2020, in Albuquerque, Steven Ray Baca and a right-wing militia group threatened protesters planning to topple a statue of a genocidal Spanish conquistador. After a scuffle broke out, Baca fired into the crowd, hitting at least one person. Cops arrived and formed a ring around the reactionaries who were protecting Baca. The pigs detained Baca and other reactionaries and then fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades at protesters.

A class-action discrimination lawsuit filed in federal court in September says more than 100 protesters in Kenosha were arrested “for violating the County imposed curfew order, yet in spite of the presence of pro-police protesters and militias, NOT A SINGLE PRO-POLICE demonstrator has been arrested” for violating curfew.

OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People...


Minneapolis – Demonstrators gathered outside the governor’s mansion where victims of police brutality told of their experiences. Photo: AP.

Trump has called on his supporters to terrorize and intimidate people standing up for justice, “to dominate the streets.” After the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, protests broke out across the U.S. and Trump tweeted, “When the looting starts, the shooting starts,” and called the protesters in Minneapolis “THUGS.”


OUTRAGEOUS Hands-Off Treatment of White Supremacists...

White supremacists are called “heroes” and “very fine people.” Trump argues Kyle Rittenhouse, who murdered two protesters in Kenosha, acted in self-defense. Two white racists who pointed guns at Black Lives Matter protesters were paraded on stage as heroes at this year’s Republican National Convention.


These two white racists who pointed guns at protesters in St. Louis were invited to speak at the Republican National Convention.

OUTRAGEOUS Repression Against People...

September 26: 60 people protesting police brutality and systemic racism in Yorba Linda, California, were outnumbered 3 to 1 and surrounded by threatening Trump MAGA mobs—while deputy sheriffs either stood by or corralled protesters. Tatiana Turner was arrested and charged with attempted murder for driving her car into a crowd. She had been trying to get deputies to help her leave the area safely when her car was surrounded by reactionaries. Turner is being held in jail on $1 million bail.


Tatiana Turner being arrested by Orange County deputy sheriff. She is being held on $1 million bail. Photo: AP


OUTRAGEOUS Hands-Off Treatment of White Supremacists...

There have been more than 100 cases of cars running into protesters since the murder of George Floyd. Only two, including Tatiana Turner’s case, involve Black Lives Matter protesters. The drivers in at least 43 cases reportedly acted with “clear, malicious intent,” meaning they shouted racial slurs and/or declared their hatred of protesters. And in a number of these cases, drivers received more lenient treatment and much lighter charges.

Sources:

Kentucky Lawmaker Facing Felony Protest Charges Is ‘Determined to Get Justice for Breonna Taylor,’” Democracy Now!, October 5, 2020.

Activists describe detention for protesting in Kenosha,”  wisconsinexaminer.com, Isaiah Holmes, September 14, 2020.

More than 250 arrests in Kenosha unrest; most have been from the surrounding area,” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Bruce Vielmetti and Sarah Volpenhein, September 4, 2020.

Police, federal agents arrest Seattle-based Riot Kitchen crew that stopped in Kenosha to serve free food,” Seattle Times, August 29, 2020.

2 Black Lives Matter demonstrators are facing life in prison,” Insider, Kelly McLaughlin, September 24, 2020.

Protesters in Multiple States are Facing Felony Charges, Including Terrorism,” The Intercept, Akela Lacy, August 27, 2020.

Lawsuit: BLM protesters say they were treated more harshly than pro-police demonstrators in Kenosha,” journaltimes.com, Adam Rogan, September 4, 2020.

Alvin Cole’s mother and sisters arrested after more protests over teen’s killing by police,” CNN, Sara Sidner, Mallika Kallingal and Joe Sutton, October 9, 2020.

Yorba Linda, Orange County, California, MAGA Thugs Attack, Fighter for Justice Faces Outrageous Charges,” revcom.us, October 5, 2020.

 

 

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