#Black Lives Matter

emily84
progressivefriends

“At least 90 percent of charges against Black Lives Matter protesters in a dozen jurisdictions have been dropped, dismissed or not filed, according to an analysis by The Guardian. Such a high percentage suggests that the police may have been arresting people simply to suppress dissent.

In Houston and Los Angeles, The Guardian found, 93 percent of charges were either dropped or never filed; in some cities like Dallas and Philadelphia, that number rose to 95 percent of charges dropped or never prosecuted. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, 100 percent of 127 cases related to peaceful protesting were dropped.”

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emily84
chismosite

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8.12.20, Los Angeles

Another BLM organizer has been “swatted” this week. Dr. Melina Abdullah is targeted for co-founding Black Lives Matter organizing in LA. Someone reported a false kidnapping at her address in order to bring a police swat team to her home. No official release yet of the call, but Dr. Abdullah believes there was no call and this was a fear tactic by LAPD. The LA Times has reported on the call but without audio.

black lives matterswattingus politics
emily84

What have the protests accomplished?

eowyntheavenger

5/26 4 officers fired for murdering George Floyd
5/27 Charges dropped for Kenneth Walker (Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, who police accused of killing her)
5/28 University of Minnesota cancels contract with police
5/28 3rd precinct police station neutralized by protesters
5/28 Minneapolis transit union refuses to bring police officers to protests or transport arrested protesters
5/29 Activists commandeer Minneapolis hotel to provide shelter to homeless
5/29 Former officer Chauvin arrested and charged with murder
5/29 Louisville Mayor suspends “no-knock” warrants
5/30 US Embassies across Africa condemn police murder of George Floyd
5/30 Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison takes over prosecution of the murdering officer
5/30 Transport Workers Union refuses to help NYPD transport arrests protesters
5/30 Maryland lawmakers forming work group on police reform, accountability
5/31 2 abusive officers fired for pulling a couple out of their car and tasing them - Atlanta, GA
6/1 Minneapolis public schools end contract with police
6/1 Confederate monument removed after being toppled by protesters - Birmingham, AL
6/1 CA prosecutors launch campaign to stop DAs from accepting police union money
6/1 Tulsa Mayor agrees to not renew Live PD contract
6/1 Louisville police chief fired after shooting of David Mcatee
6/1 Congress begins bipartisan push to cut off police access to military gear
6/1 Atlanta announces plans to create a task force and public database to track police brutality in metro Atlanta area
6/2 Minneapolis AFL-CIO calls for resignation of police union president Bob Kroll, a vocal white supremest
6/2 Pittsburgh transit union announces refusal to transport police officers or arrest protesters
6/2 Racist ex-mayor Frank Rizzo statue removed in Philadelphia
6/2 6 abusive officers charged for violence against residents and protesters - Atlanta, GA
6/2 Civil rights investigation of Minneapolis Police Dept launched
6/2 San Francisco resolution to prevent law enforcement from hiring officers with history of misconduct
6/2 Survey indicates that 64% of those polled are sympathetic to protesters, 47% disapprove of police handling of the protests, and 54% think the burning down of the Minneapolis police precinct was fully or partially justified
6/2 Trenton NJ announces policing reforms
6/2 Minneapolis City Council members consider disbanding the police
6/2 Confederate statue removed from Alexandria, VA
6/3 Officer fired for tweets promoting violence against protesters - Denver, CO
6/3 Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art cut ties with the MPD
6/3 Chauvin charges upgraded to second degree murder, remaining 3 officers also charged and taken into custody
6/3 Richmond VA Mayor Stoney announces RPD reform measures: establish “Marcus” alert for folks experiencing mental health crises, establish independent Citizen Review Board, an ordinance to remove Confederate monuments, and implement racial equity study
6/3 County commissioners deny proposal for $23 million expansion of Fulton County jail
6/3 Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board unanimously votes to sever ties with MPD
6/3 Seattle withdraws request to end federal oversight/consent decree of police department
6/3 Breonna Taylor’s case reopened
6/3 Louisville police department (Breonna Taylor’s murderers) will now be under review from an outside agency, which will include review on training, bias-free policing and accountability
6/3 Colorado lawmakers introduce a police reform bill that includes body cam laws, repealing the “fleeing felon” statute, and banning chokeholds
6/3 Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announces plans to reduce funding to police department by $150M and instead invest in minority communities
6/4 Virginia governor announces plans to remove Robert E. Lee statue from Richmond
6/4 Portland schools superintendent discontinues presence of armed police officers in schools
6/4 MBTA (Metro Boston) board orders that buses wont transport police to protests, or protesters to police
6/4 King County Labor Federation issues ultimatum to police unions: admit to and address racism in Seattle PD, or be removed
6/5 City of Minneapolis bans all chokeholds by police
6/5 Racist ex-mayor Hubbard statue removed - Dearborn, MI
6/5 NFL condemns racism and admits it should have listened to players’ protests
6/5 California Governor Gavin Newsom calls for statewide use-of-force standard made along with community leaders and ban on carotid holds
6/5 2 Buffalo officers suspended within a day of pushing 75 year old protester to the ground, and lying about it
6/5 2 NYPD officers suspended after videos of violence to protesters
6/5 The US Marines bans display of the Confederate flag
6/5 Dallas adopts a “duty to intervene” rule that requires officers to stop other cops who are engaging in excessive use of force
6/5 Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax releases an 11-point action plan for immediate police reforms
6/6 Statue of Confederate general Williams Carter Wickham torn down - Richmond, VA
6/6 2 Buffalo officers charged with second-degree assault for shoving elderly man
6/6 San Francisco Mayor London Breed announces effort to defund police and redirect funds to Black community
6/7 Frank Rizzo mural removed, to be replaced with new artwork - Philadelphia, PA
6/7 Minneapolis City Council members announce intent to disband the police department, invest in proven community-led public safety
6/7 Protesters in Bristol topple statue of slave trader Edward Colston, throw it in the river
6/7 NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio vows for the first time to cut funding for NYPD, redirect to social services
6/7 A Virginia police officer faces charges after using a stun gun on a black man
6/8 NY State Assembly passes the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act
6/8 Democrats in Congress unveil a bill to rein in bias and excessive force in policing
6/8 Black lawmakers block a legislative session in Pennsylvania to demand action on police reform
6/8 France bans police use of chokeholds
6/8 Seattle council members join calls to defund police department
6/8 Boston reevaluates how it funds police department
6/8 Honolulu Police Commission nominees voice support for more transparency, reforms
6/8 Rights groups and Floyd’s family call for a UN inquiry into American policing and help with systemic police reform

No, it’s not enough, but this is only the beginning. Keep fighting!!!

(I adapted this list from this blog post and added sources and new entries. Please reblog with additions.)

blmblack lives matterprotestsus politics
wilwheaton

What Defunding Police Actually Means

wilwheaton

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/06/07/defund-police-heres-what-that-really-means/

Defunding and abolition probably mean something different from what you are thinking. For most proponents, “defunding the police” does not mean zeroing out budgets for public safety, and police abolition does not mean that police will disappear overnight — or perhaps ever. Defunding the police means shrinking the scope of police responsibilities and shifting most of what government does to keep us safe to entities that are better equipped to meet that need. It means investing more in mental-health care and housing, and expanding the use of community mediation and violence interruption programs.

Police abolition means reducing, with the vision of eventually eliminating, our reliance on policing to secure our public safety. It means recognizing that criminalizing addiction and poverty, making 10 million arrests per year and mass incarceration have not provided the public safety we want and never will. The “abolition” language is important because it reminds us that policing has been the primary vehicle for using violence to perpetuate the unjustified white control over the bodies and lives of black people that has been with us since slavery. That aspect of policing must be literally abolished.

Bolding is mine.

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