Ongoing U.S Police Brutality and Corruption Discussion Thread

He’s a rapper who is talking a lot. It generally seems active and cheerful in pictures from twitter.

not enough info to say what is or isn't happening, but I wonder if people would be calling him a "warlord" on social media if he were a scrawny white dude

https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/06/11/28529187/an-exceedingly-chill-day-at-chaz-seattles-capitol-hill-autonomous-zone

saw this on FB fwiw, posted yesterday

**About the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone" or CHAZ, which is currently occupied by protesters**

Misinformation has always been an issue on these platforms. But I am seeing an insane amount of it flying around right now, even from “credible” local news sources.
Like a lot of non-Black people, I’ve been trying to filter what I say and share, knowing that my perspective is not one that needs to be amplified at this time. That said, as someone who lives in Capitol Hill, heard the war zone sounds from my own apartment night after night, had friends feel flash bang shrapnel bounce off of their bodies, heard screams of protesters running *from* the police and relentless coughing from chemical warfare, I feel it is important to share my account of things here to dispel some of this widely spread misinformation that could be dangerous to protesters on the ground.

Today in a press conference. The Assistant Chief of Seattle Police Department made *wildly irresponsible and unfounded* claims that armed guards are requiring IDs for people to walk through the area of the East Precinct (which was abandoned by SPD on Monday and taken over by protesters) and requiring business owners in the area to pay a "fee" to enter. She provided zero evidence to support this claim, which was subsequently reported as fact in KIRO 7 News and King 5 news. It is SHOCKING that an official this high up in SPD would make such an unfounded claim, and just adds to the reasons of why the public here can no longer trust the police.

I walked through this area (Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, CHAZ) for about an hour today. Here is what I saw:
(1) Zero armed humans. on the contrary —anti-gun signs. While I have heard that there are one or two people in the entire area that have guns... it is not the case that this is a fortress being protected around the clock by armed citizens patrolling its borders.
(2) Zero people asking me to identify myself�
(3) Many people smiling and asking how I was doing
�(4) People organizing and working together in a respectful and collaborative way
(5) Art everywhere�(6) Free educational books written by Black and indigenous authors
�(7) Hand sanitizer duct taped to street poles
(8) Posters raising awareness about their demands
(9) A hot dog stand�
(10) Poems written and taped on the sides of buildings
(11) Tables with free snacks and water�
(12) Some graffiti messages that might hurt the feelings of some police officers

The fact that this information was published in major local news outlets is irresponsible and dangerous. I honestly felt extremely safe and inspired walking around and talking to people. There is a spirit of kindness, care, and collaboration that feels palpable. It is a colorful, artful, inspiring, healing space that has grown in the very place where people were brutalized by the police. It is a beautiful thing happening... and anyone in the media portraying it as otherwise hasn't spent enough time on the ground talking to people here.

Also for the record. Let’s not forget how and why this territory became occupied. A militarized police force with officers wearing up to $900 per person of equipment were facing off against thousands of protesters for over a week. Citizens equipped with little else beyond umbrellas and water bottles were met with tear gas, pepper spray, flash bang grenades, and rubber bullets. People were seriously injured and in at least one case almost died after SPD targeted a civilian volunteer medical tent. Describing the current scene on Capitol Hill as "chaotic," "violent," "scary," or "insane," is just flat out false and missing the point. What was insane was our own police force (who supposedly is responsible for protecting civilians) assaulting us indiscriminately. What is "scary" and "violent" is a racist police institution that continues to kill Black people.

I live ten minutes away from the zone, but I haven't visited since the cops left. I'm making some masks and figure I'll go over there and drop them off when I have enough to make it worth while. It's a very small zone: a little circle around a park, its adjoining streets (most of them small), and two intersections.

Two of my housemates went on the march to City Hall where Kshama Sawant let everyone in with her key. Another housemate walks through the zone every day on her way to her art studio. None of them have seen any guns or anyone being stopped; it seems like a peaceful protest site.

Raz Simone does sound pretty bad. Seems like he's collecting funds for a private police force, and encouraging ppl to carry weapons, neither of which is good at all. But as far as I know he's not actually in charge, just one of several prominent voices in the protest movement. (The local BLM has stayed out of the protests, citing COVID concerns, which has unfortunately left a leadership gap.) As far as I can tell from Twitter and what my housemates have seen, there were some armed people at the barricades the first night because the police were planting rumors (via scanner) of an armed Proud Boy group headed to the park. That's very worrying but I can't see any indication that it's been repeated.

Obviously a lot of this is hearsay and just what I can gather. All I can say for sure is that everything has been more peaceful since the cops left, and I can finally sleep at night without being woken up by helicopters and explosions.

If this was already covered, then my ctrl-f's missed it:

Newly released body camera footage from an arrest in Oklahoma City last year shows a suspect saying “I can’t breathe” before he died at a hospital.

In the May 20, 2019 footage, released this week by the Oklahoma City Police Department, three officers are seen restraining the man, Derrick Scott, 42, who can be heard asking repeatedly for his medicine and saying that he can’t breathe.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/i-can-t-breathe-oklahoma-man-tells-police-dying-i-n1229586

Correction: I didn't mean to say my housemates had seen armed people at the barricades. They weren't there the first night; all my info on that comes from Twitter so I can't confirm anything. Nobody I know has seen any armed protesters.

It's been very surreal to see the level of disinformation at work just in the few days since the police vacated the area: first police claimed a "credible threat" that protesters would burn down the precinct building, then they used scanners to plant false rumors of a Proud Boy militia about to attack, and now they're claiming that the zone has armed people checking IDs at the barricades and that protesters are extorting money from local businesses. None of their lies have been adequately debunked in the press, with the result that a lot of people who don't live here think that an armed militia of protesters has seized half of Seattle and seceded from the Union.

thanks for the local perspective Lily

yes, thank you

i hope chaz develops some kind of democratic committee to effectively, and safely govern the area

I wandered through the zone the other night, it was pretty chill, no one stopped me and I didn’t see any aggressive behavior, though there’s a public speaking area that got mildly contentious but was peaceful. Lots of art, memorials, free food and supplies available, I venmoed some money to a few of the people providing them.

Also realized that I had gone to a screening of Stalker at a theater inside the Zone.

they've been having town meetings treesh. Really tho it's by and large a protest with distributed leadership settling in to an occupation with "defund the police" as the top line demand and (probably) not like, suddenly morphed into a self-contained anarchist project.

I live in a town that's about about 70% white and old. I went on nextdoor.com today. I'm sad now.

why did you do that

know yr enemy

A few people from the facebook groups* for our majority white neighborhood got together and hosted a protest march in support of Black Lives Matter last weekend. I'm really proud of them, and several dozen people turned out. However, in planning for a second march this weekend, their posts began to attract comments from bootlickers, and the ensuing confrontations managed to get the original posts, comments, and in some cases original posters banned from the group. As a response to this, the people who led the march created a 3rd FB group, called Edgewater for Change, which is planning the next protest and sharing general anti-racist information. Some people slipped into Edgewater for Change with nefarious purposes and were banned. This in turn has led to the creation of a 4th neighborhood group titled All Lives Matter (how original), which is centered on "free speech".

*(there were two - one for the general town and one for our specific neighborhood)

Also realized that I had gone to a screening of Stalker at a theater inside the Zone.

that's amazing

Raz's music is good, check him out!

Chicago Cops Burglarized U.S. Rep’s Office as Protest Raged. They Made Popcorn, Drank Coffee, Napped.

https://news.yahoo.com/chicago-cops-broke-u-rep-191648031.html

I mean, small potatoes and insignificant compared to the brutality we've seen from them during the protests, but jesus that takes some very secure knowledge that you are way above accountability when you break into a congressperson's office like that.

That's insane. What was the quote? If this is what they're doing during rioting and looting, what are they doing on an average day?

this is some Super Troopers shit

I'm sure we'll get the "our hardworking officers deserved a break, blah blah, taxpayers paid for the office anyway so it's fine, blah blah" excuse any minute now.

Mayor Daley is smiling in hell

just got threatened by an ex-military guy who lives here for calling out his racism when he infiltrated a friend's thread with his racist shit. FB profile is a treasure trove of anti-black protester sentiment, and he went after my friends with sexist barbs.

I immediately called him out on what it was, and he backed off of it ("what threat, we're just talking, you civilian!"). but i'm plenty taking it serious.

reported him to FB - what's the over/under on whether they actually remove his shit and ban him, or if they ban me instead for the names i called him?

― I am a free. I am not man. A number. (Neanderthal), Friday, June 5, 2020 4:20 PM bookmarkflaglink

so he has been calling BLM an "anti-white hate group" and I blocked him a week ago, but he has been harassing and tagging my other friend with lots of photoshopped fake news shit and saying "u support that", and then today made a creepy note that he was making a list, and he should be careful, because "we are watching".

between that, and all of the racist shit on his profile, a bunch of us decided to try and publicly shame dude today. we all contacted his school, reported him to authorities for a cyberthreat, have all been targeting his profile to get it taken down. Then one of my good friends joins the fray and says he knows the dude, that he's a gigantic weiner, and he got him fired from a job years ago for calling him a "kike". and then he keyed the friend's car, so the friend has been looking for him ever since.

calling BLM an "anti-white hate group"

no! no! it's an anti-white-hate group.

Mayor Lightfoot to CPD officers on footage shown lounging, napping, snacking while rioting ravages neighborhood: "We know who you are. You know what you did. Don’t make us come find you. Come in and identify yourself. But we will find you."

further Seattle context here:

https://medium.com/@emilypothast/what-the-f-ck-is-going-on-in-seattle-48efbe6214f8

He also added: “ Sundown you better take care - If I find you been creepin' 'round my back stairs”

Ugh xpost

*cough* "she"

https://gothamist.com/news/nypd-investigating-alleged-police-beating-bronx-teen

The giant fuck you that came in the form of the police report regarding Breonna Taylor’s murder has been received loud and clear. See you in the streets.

— Ron Perlman (@perlmutations) June 11, 2020

Breonna's Law passed unanimously by the Louisville Metro Council, 26-0.

It bans no-knock warrants, which cops used to barge into her home and murder her.

Now arrest the cops who killed her.

— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) June 12, 2020

If it were torn down, how could it be renamed? https://t.co/p2NUNHEDtH

— David Gura (@davidgura) June 12, 2020

Racist Statue Defending Racist Statues.

i for one would be fine with renaming the Washington Monument the OBELISK OF WOKENESS, how is that not cooler?

what if we rename it "Our National Looming White Penis" on weekdays and "OBELISK OF WOKENESS" on the weekends, is that fair Tom?

Yeah, Obelisk of Wokeness sounds absolutely rad

Obelisk of Wokeness is my favorite Krallice album

and the most powerful track on Owen Pallett's Islands imo

I used to have an apartment at the top of a hill in DC that had a perfect view of the national monument. it has these two red lights that look like creepy eyes that are constantly blinking. one night me and friend were having beers and he said it was like we put a big halloween klansman in america's front that says white power every time the eyes blink. haven't seen it as anything other than that since

Here's an alternate suggestion that probably won't be powerful enough to override the klansman imagery, but it's worth a try. Obelisks originated in Africa as a symbol of a powerful African empire and in copying it white Americans have acknowledged their inability to improve on it and placed themselves in creative subservience to the African original.

christo-style kente cloth yarnbomb that fucker

"If we tear down confederate statues, what's next, I'm not allowed to have hands anymore?"

My housemate went to pick up food from a restaurant in the zone last night and had a chat with the guy ringing him up, who had nothing but good things to say about the CHAZ. He (the guy behind the counter) said, "It's been a lot quieter around here since the cops left."

This article on the situation in Vallejo is stunningly horrific:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/13/vallejo-california-police-violence-sean-monterrosa

Public opinion didn’t even shift this fast in support of the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960s. https://t.co/Glt7xckjjI

— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) June 11, 2020