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When will James Earl Rivera Jr. get justice?
August 31, 2012
Just one day before his 17th birthday, on July 22, 2010, James Earl Rivera Jr. died in a hail of 48 rounds fired by three Stockton, Calif., police officers after they forced the car he was driving to crash. Nearly two years later, a report by the district attorney found James’ death “justified.”
Community protests OPD murder of Alan Blueford, 18
May 12, 2012
A vigil for Alan Blueford, 18, murdered by OPD on May 6, drew a passionate crowd, including Hammer, on Friday, May 11, 5 p.m., at Oakland Police Department headquarters, 455 Seventh St. On Saturday, May 12, 3 p.m., protesters marched from 9200 Birch St., where OPD left Alan to bleed to death for four hours, to the Eastmont Mall Police Sub-Station, chanting “Jail killer cops!” and “No justice, no peace, no racist police!” All who demand justice for Alan Blueford will Occupy the Oakland City Council in City Hall, Oscar Grant Plaza, 14th & Broadway, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 15.
Pow! You’re dead: Police murders enrage New Orleans
May 2, 2012
The ink was barely dry on the convictions and plea bargains of 10 members of the New Orleans Police Department in the Danziger Bridge murders and coverup, when NOPD police gunned down Justin Sipp and unarmed Wendell Allen. Hundreds marched in protest of ongoing police murders of Black youth. The African American community is beginning to fight back.
The other 1 percent
November 27, 2011
The last 30 years have led to an unprecedented concentration of wealth and power in the hands of the 1 percent – as well as the creation of another 1 percent: the 1 in 100 people currently locked in U.S. prisons and jails. Can we imagine what it would look like for imprisoned people to participate in General Assemblies?
Threats or payback?
October 20, 2011
Pack the courtroom — Dept. 12 at 850 Bryant — at 1:30pm today for the arraignment on bogus charges of DeBray Carpenter, better known as Fly Benzo, resistance leader in Bayview Hunters Point. Public Defender Jeff Adachi has assured he will be well represented, but he needs and deserves a crowd of supporters too. Fly is the keynote speaker Saturday at the October 22nd rally to stop police brutality. The mayor is in charge of the police department. Hold Mayor Ed Lee accountable for this attempt to silence a community leader. Call him at (415) 554-6141. Free Fly Benzo!
Unnamed young Black man killed by Oakland police
October 6, 2011
According to neighborhood witnesses, white Oakland police officers chased an African American man appearing to be about 20 years old from the corner, up 99th and south on Cherry Street toward 100th Avenue. Before he reached the corner house, he tossed a bag and put his hands in the air. Once his hands were in the air, the police shot and killed him.
Criminalizing our youth to excuse police murder
August 23, 2011
After the London riots in August, the theorist Paul Gilroy made a rousing yet frighteningly honest speech to a crowd of community leaders and activists in Tottenham, North London. In his speech, Gilroy argued that Black and poor youth had been subjected to what he called “processes of criminalization,” re-creating them in an image they did not choose.
What part of ‘killed_unarmed_Black_man = murder’ doesn’t OPD understand?
November 10, 2010
Another unarmed Black brother, Derrick Jones, 37, barbershop owner and father of an infant girl, met a violent death on Monday night, shot and killed by two Oakland police officers while “fleeing.” March for justice Thursday 3 p.m. from Bancroft & Seminary.
The coming Mehserle sentencing: Redrawing the line on ‘outside agitators’
November 1, 2010
With the upcoming sentencing of Johannes Mehserle on Nov. 5, the rebellions of January 2009 that brought about his arrest could very well be set off once more. And once again we expect to hear the mantra blaming “outside agitators.”
Detroit mourns Aiyana Jones, 7, killed by police
June 8, 2010
Mertilla Jones, 46, and her grandaughter, Aiyana Jones, 7, were asleep on a couch in their lower flat’s front room at about 12:30 a.m. when police tossed an incendiary stun grenade through the window directly above the couch. Aiyana was severely burned and then shot in the head and neck by an unidentified police officer standing on the porch.
Three perspectives: Police terror kills 7-year-old girl
May 19, 2010
“Damn Detroit Police Department! You burned, shot and killed Aiyana Jones, a little 7-year-old girl. You threw a stun grenade through the front window and lit the little girl’s blanket on fire! And then you shot off a bullet that landed in her neck!” – Read this account by Kimora Lee Simmons, another by a 12-year-old girl and the full story by veteran Detroit journalist Abayomi Azikiwe.
Hearing for killer cop Mehserle: Justice for Oscar Grant!
May 26, 2009
On New Year’s morning BART police officer Johannes Mehserle fired his gun at point blank range into Oscar Grant’s back, killing him as he lay face down on the train platform, hands behind him. A preliminary hearing is now underway to determine whether Mehserle will be charged with murder or whether the charges against him will be lowered.
The cold-blooded murder of Oscar Grant: What happened the night of Jan. 1, 2009
March 18, 2009
Early New Year’s morning phones in Hayward and Oakland were ringing: “Wake up, wake up. Something’s happened to the boys.” Calls were going back and forth between the families of 22-year-old Oscar Grant and his friends – families so close all the women were called “aunties.”
Condemn the New Orleans police murder of Adolph Grimes III
January 7, 2009
The New Orleans police have murdered another African American youth. Around 3 a.m. New Year’s Day, an elite squad of un-named plainclothes officers shot and killed 22-year-old Adolph Grimes III.