protest

"When Will Solitary End?" by Carlos Marvin Argueta Jr.

Posted by copwatch | Sat, 07/27/2013 - 12:23am story

 

When Will Solitary End?

I sit in solitary confinement,

Monitored and evaluated,

Psychologically tested,

Tortured in more ways than I care

To remember or burden you with,

With hopes I’d crack and beg,

Beg to be let out of this torturous place

And crack, losing the bit of sanity I have left

Like so many others before me and so many others

Yet to fall, fall prey to the prison’s administrators,

To the countless tactical torturous games they play.

 

I am but one of a few hundred who still stand strong,

Fighting to survive, accumulating deep embedded scars

With each passing day, learning to be resilient to all

That’s thrown and piled up against me

In such a difficult, miserable place.

 

Lonely and deprived of so much, I sit here

Beyond desperate for a helping hand, for something,

Someone, for a movement, for human rights lawyers

And all the advocates out there to put an end

To this heinous practice of solitary confinement

And take me away from this place with my dignity intact.

I hope it’s soon, before many more fall prey

And lose themselves in this dungeon of hell and misery

That’s been in place for far too long.

_____

 

My actions will soon come

Hoping that they’ll draw the attention needed

To end this heinous practice

Once and for all.

SAT Nov 10th: Bay Area Families March Against Police Brutality & Racial Profiling

Posted by copwatch | Fri, 11/09/2012 - 11:42pm event

http://justice4alanblueford.org/

Alan Blueford, an 18-year-old African American student from Skyline High School, was  shot and  killed by Oakland Police Officer Miguel Masso on May 6, 2012. The Blueford family and JAB coalition strongly condemn the DA’s report and reject all attempts to cover up their son's murder.  We demand Masso be fired and prosecuted, and all racial profiling practices, including stop and frisk, be stopped immediately!

END RACIAL PROFILING! 

Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition       www.justice4alanblueford.org

The Blueford Family and the Justice 4 Alan Blueford Coalition wish to extend a special invitation to all families who have been victimized or lost a loved one to police brutality.  Please march together with the Bluefords and our communities to show our resistance and to say NO to this illegal and reprehensible violence from law enforcement. 

This march will occur on Saturday, November 10, at Noon, starting at 14th & Broadway, Oscar Grant Plaza,  in downtown Oakland (12th/14th St BART).   We will rally and march including a brief stop at the Oakland Police Department Headquarters, returning back to  Oscar Grant Plaza for a gathering (~ 1.5 mi).

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS & HOW TO EXERCISE THEM (pg4 Days of Action 2012 booklet)

Posted by copwatch | Sun, 10/28/2012 - 3:30pm story

 

Stand up for your rights.      We are all leaders.    Stay present.

We are here as community to be aware of each other and take care of one another.

The system that criminalizes one of us has the potential to criminalize us all.

KNOW YOUR RIGHTS & HOW TO EXERCISE THEM

Each of us has the right to free speech, to travel and to assemble (1st Amendment to the Constitution). Nevertheless, the police or Sheriff may give people a hard time. Do not ask cops for legal advice. Officers are allowed to LIE, and they do. Even if you are on parole or probation, you never have to speak to a cop.

You never have to speak to or answer an officer, so don't!
It is always a better idea to continue chanting with everyone else.

►If a cop approaches, ask “Am I free to go?” If they don't tell you that you must stay or that you're detained, calmly walk away. Even if you are being detained, do not answer questions.

►If an officer questions, threatens, detains, or arrests you at any time, you can say the magic words: “I choose to remain silent. I want to see a lawyer.” Then remain silent. These words and the refusal to talk to any law officer is protected by the 5th Amendment. Officers are not supposed to ask you questions once you have said you want to see a lawyer.* They will often try to intimidate you into talking. The safest words are the magic words.

►Remaining silent. If you do speak to the officers, follow it up with the magic words and nothing else. *After you have said you want to see a lawyer, officers are only permitted to ask your name and address. You can continue to remain silent. If an officer tries to search you or your property, clearly say “I do not consent to a search.” Stay calm, even if the cop searches anyway. Say the magic words.

►The magic words protect you from police questions & conversation. Police are trained to get you to talk and give up your rights.

►You are not required to “keep moving”; only to make sure people can get by (that you’re not blocking their passage)


If ARRESTED, say the Magic Words:

 
“I choose to remain silent. I want to see a lawyer.”

Youth Justice Coalition Oct. 10, 2012 STATEMENT TO THE STREETS & ALL YOUTH LOCK-UPS

Posted by copwatch | Wed, 10/17/2012 - 1:45am story

Statement to the Streets and All Youth Lock-ups

Last summer, people held in the SHU - Security Housing Unit - at Pelican Bay State Prison declared a hunger strike to protest the cruel and inhumane conditions inside. The hunger strikespread to more than 7,000 people locked up in California prisons. People from all "sides" - blacks,whites, Asians, Surenos and Nortenos put all politics behind and came together to demand their human rights.

On this day, October 10, 2012, the men in the Security Housing Unit at Pelican Bay are againleading all of us. They have called for "an end to all hostilities" within our state's prisons and jails. After doing so much time, the men in the Pelican Bay SHU have realized that they are being recycled over and over through the same dead-end system. For all of us, there must be a cut off point - a time at which we stop participating in our own destruction.

As young people who have experienced bloodshed on the streets of Los Angeles, and the violence and humiliation within juvenile halls, Probation camps and Division of Juvenile Justice Youth Prisons, we are also calling for an end to the war between the youth.

Vallejo Police Murdered Mario Romero; They Opened Fire On Him In His Car Sunday Morning

Posted by copwatch | Mon, 09/03/2012 - 9:52pm story
Rev. Floyd D. Harris Jr National President of The National Network In Action, a civil and human rights organization, will be holding a Press Conference and a March in front of the Vallejo Police Department. In regards to the recent brutal murder of Mr. Mario Romero by the Vallejo Police Department early Sunday morning [Sept 2, 2012].
There were two young men whom police confronted. Witnesses reported that Mr. Romero never got out of his car when officers opened fire, shooting 30 times into the car reported by witness.  There were no reports of Mr. Romero shooting at the Vallejo Police. The minority community is taking a stand for justice against the ROGUE COPS of the Vallejo Police. There has been 7 officer-involved shootings and 5 of the shootings have been fatal. The Vallejo Police don’t have the right to be the JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER.

Oaklanders March in Solidarity with Anaheim

Posted by copwatch | Fri, 07/27/2012 - 9:50pm story

800_anaheimprotest.jpeg original image (2048x1536)
by Samara Steele, Friday Jul 27th, 2012 9:47 PM

Over a hundred people marched in Oakland on Friday evening in solidarity with the people of Anaheim after two members of the Anaheim community were shot to death by police officers last weekend.

OUR DOG NAMED "DUDE" KILLED IN PEOPLE'S PARK ON 7/21/12; JUSTICE FOR DUDE!!

Posted by copwatch | Tue, 07/24/2012 - 10:10am story

His name was "Dude". He was a dog. He was owned by Wesley Simmons, a summer traveler in Berkeley. Dude was a beloved member of the People's Park community. 

 

     On July 21, 2012 at 12:30 a.m. Dude was chained to the water spigot on the west end of People's Park near his owner, Wesley Simmons. Uniformed UC Berkely officer Kevin Doughty came into the park near Wesley and Dude barked. Officer Doughty pulled his gun and shot Dude twice killing him instantly.

 

     People in the Park feel this is ONE MORE ACT OF INTIMIDATION OF PEOPLE IN THE PARK LETTING THEM KNOW THEIR PETS CAN BE KILLED IN THE PARK WITH NO ACCOUNTABILITY AND IS ONE MORE STEP TO KILLING ONE OF THEM. Every person we talked to said the UC Berkeley Police has been even more aggressive than usual trying to intimidate the people in the park. This is an on-going problem and is perpetuated by UC Berkeley Police as well as Devon, the director of the People's Park.

 

      Witnesses Richard Knowles and others have confirmed that Dude was chained up when he was killed and there was no reason to kill Dude other than the fact Officer Doughty could do it.

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