Seattle Police Target People Righteously Resisting Police Murder and Brutality
December 19, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
From a reader:
Hundreds in Seattle are protesting in marches and rallies at least several times a week, sometimes several times a day! They have united with others nationwide to demand justice for Eric Garner, Mike Brown, and an end to this deadly war against Black people. The Seattle police (SPD) are targeting this movement of righteous resistance, as police are now doing in other cities.
At least 22 people have been arrested here in recent weeks of protests. People have been charged with trumped-up felonies. They have been injured by chemical sprays and grenades flung by cops. Undercover cops are taking pictures of people and tailing people. This "undercover" work is often made obvious, as an intentional form of threat and intimidation. Undercover cops are participating in arrests. Police are specifically targeting people leading marches and speaking out against the police. People in possession of bullhorns are being watched.
One person targeted for being outspoken and then snatched from the sidewalk when alone, Andrea Lister, has now been in jail for two weeks without a trial. She is being held on $25,000 bail on an alleged misdemeanor! Activist Emma Kaplan was also targeted, then snatched after a protest and jailed. Cops then said it was "mistaken identity" and used the opportunity to post pictures and video of other people they accuse of trying to free another protester from the claws of the SPD. This posting of peoples’ pictures is another way to intimidate and punish.
In a December 11 letter addressed to Seattle Mayor Murray and Seattle City Council members, the Seattle chapter of the National Lawyers Guild said: "…we urge you to investigate in a public fashion the emerging pattern of police misconduct directed toward non-violent protesters. In a coordinated fashion, our police force has been regularly intimidating non-violent protesters, showing up to every protest with dozens of heavily armed officers who follow, box in, spy on, and harass people who criticize police violence. In a blatant exercise of content-based discrimination, officers have illegally, without authority of law and without civilian oversight, blocked public access routes to downtown, including sidewalks, to people exercising their First Amendment rights, while explicitly giving preference to shoppers. Officers have also used chemical weapons and concussion grenades on protesters to enforce their orders to suppress speech in downtown, and have selected protest organizers to arrest (recently arresting one organizer and then admitting they had made a “mistake”)."
In Seattle and around the country, we demand the arrest of killer cops, NOT people protesting police murder!
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