Many of you have been asking for this, so following is info related to: 1. Killing of Akai Gurley and action planned 2. Actions planned to respond to the Ferguson grand jury decision, which many expect to be announced tmrw/Sun 3. Brutal beating of Donovan Lawson in Bushwick (happened same day as killing of Akai Gurley) 4. Eric Garner, and action being planned for day after announcement of grand jury decision re whether to indict anyone for the killing of Eric Garner If any of your organizations are planning relevant actions, pls let Priscilla/Manny/me know. Well try to keep some coordinated info going out. Advance apologies bc some parts are long. Thanks to all of you for the work you do everyday, and take good care. joo-hyun ------- 1. TONITE/SAT 11/22, 7pm - JUSTICE FOR AKAI GURLEY At Pink Houses, 2724 Linden Blvd, BROOKLYN Many of you have been asking about actions being planned. As of now, we hear that some different folks/forces are mobilizing for a rally and march tonite, incl folks in the neighborhood, Assemblymember Charles Barron, and other forces. Some of the newsclips re killing of Akai Gurley Ystrdays Daily News piece - This article has been updated several times since first put out, incl this morning. 1 of the better initial pieces IMO, clearly stating that officers didnt identify themselves, that Melissa Butler (Akais girlfriend) stated that officers didnt even check on Akai after shooting/she had to bang on a neighbors door to make sure an ambulance got called. John Suricos VICE piece - puts the killing of Akai in some historical context, referencing the killing of Timothy Stansbury in BedStuy and connecting the dots some w-Eric Garner & the fact that race needs to be acknowledged. Not mentioned, but important to keep in mind to remember the long history of lack of appropriate/timely accountability when NYPD kills/brutalizes: When unarmed 19 year old Timothy Stansbury was shot & killed in 2004 on rooftop of a BedStuy housing project, Bloomberg/Kelly uncharacteristically publicly stated that it seemed to be an unjustified shooting. After less than a month, the grand jury voted not to indict Officer Richard Neri (who testified that he discharged accidentally. It took til 2006 for the NYPD disciplinary process to respond inadequately: took Neris gun; 30-day unpaid suspension; reassignment. Last many of us heard, Neri was still being paid on the force. When unarmed 13 year old Nicholas Naquan Heyward, Jr was shot & killed in 1994 in the stairwell of Gowanus Houses, he was playing cops and robbers in the stairwell with friends. When cops came, Nicholas dropped his toy gun (w/bright orange handle and tip, clearly a toy), saying Were only playing, were only playing but officer George shot Nicholas in the stomach. Brooklyn DA Hynes didnt even convene a grand jury - his story was that the shooting was an accident and didnt violate NYPD departmental rules on use of deadly force since Officer Brian George claimed he feared for his life. Nicholas Heyward, Sr and others have long criticized the practice of officers carrying unholstered guns in public housing vertical patrols. The Davis lawsuit brought by NAACP LDF and Legal Aid Society thats still in process raises core issues of what has long been problematic about vertical patrols, unlawful stops and unjustified trespass arrests in public housing. There have unfortunately been other cases of unjustified NYPD killings in public housing besides 13 year old Nicholas and 19 year old Timothy. Sharing this to give us some context - the killing of Akai Gurley by Officer Peter Liang is not an isolated incident. There are systemic issues that must be changed, including the need for appropriate/timely officer discipline in all cases of brutality and excessive force. If we allow the Mayor, Commissioner and others to treat these simply as isolated incidents, I fear that we participate in enabling more killings and more incidents. ----------- 2. AFTER FERGUSON GRAND JURY DECISION ANNOUNCEMENT RE WHETHER if Officer Darren Wilson will be indicted for killing Michael Brown - Many believe the Ferguson grand jury announcement will be tomorrow/Sunday, and that there will be no indictment. There are actions around the country being planned (see fergusonaction). LIST OF NYC EVENTS POST-GRAND JURY IN FERGUSON - NOTE: Some of these are day of announcement, some are also day after. DAY OF/AFTER 5pm: Peoples Power Assemblies If the grand jury decision is announced late in the evening or at night, the response protest will be the following day, 5pm same location https://facebook/events/367725876729641/ DAY OF/AFTER 6pm: Union Square, Organized by Public Space Party & Bike Bloc NYC Bike Block for Justice for Eric Garner & Michael Brown: https://facebook/events/617954564993301/ DAY OF: Brooklyn Federal Courthouse, organized by National Action Network 225 Cadman Plaza E Brooklyn nationalactionnetwork.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/HANDS-UP-JUSTICE-RALLY-FLIER-26.pdf DAY OF 7pm: Stop Mass Incarceration Network, Union Square https://facebook/events/771676306203415/ DAY AFTER 7pm: Union Sq., Organized by Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee Turn Up for Mike Brown – 7 pm Union Square; 14 St & Broadwayhttps://facebook/events/450074491800495/ CPR members who are in/planning to be in Ferguson to support on the ground there include: NAACP LDF (Lumumba Akinwole-Bandele and others); CCR (Vince Warren & others); Bronx Defenders (incl Kumar Rao) + others (sorry for who Im forgetting!) ColorOfChange has been leading some work on national policy change needed in this moment by President Obama and the Dept of Justice. See message from Matt/ColorOfChange: As we move through this critical moment and work to ramp up pressure on Pres. Obama and the Department of Justice, we recommend a few ways we think can help optimize a powerful and unified response: Help to push out the campaign demands/content. Below are the two action pages we will be pointing our members to depending on the grand jury decision: No indictment: act.colorofchange.org/sign/justicemikebrownforward/ (will be JusticeForMikeBrown.org once the decision comes down) Strong/Full indictment: act.colorofchange.org/sign/honormikebrown/ (will be StopPoliceViolence.org once the decision comes down) Please point people to our landing page if you can, or create your own with a similar language and asks so that we can combine numbers and coordinate future escalations. If you create your own, please mention ColorOfChange so that folks can continue to be plugged in to this ongoing work. Here is a link to our join us page: act.colorofchange.org/signup/signup/?source=justiceformikebrown Please share the attached graphics with your networks as you push out the campaign ask. [PLEASE email ColorOfChange or Manny or your CPR SM team rep for the graphics, not including here] And, as you may know, weve been pushing out a series of federal demands that post-decision there will be a good opportunity to continue amplifying as we pressure the federal government to do more and be better at ending discriminatory police violence. We look forward to collaborating with you on them further: NationalPolicingReforms.org --------- 3. Brutal, bloody beating of 20 year old Donovan Lawson On the same day that Akai Gurley was killed by NYPD (Thursday this past week), 20 year old Donovan Lawson was maced and brutally beaten in the head w/a baton by an NYPD officer in Bushwick, bloodying him up -- for alleged farebeating. This hyper-aggressive and brutal enforcement of minor infractions is part of why so many around the city are saying that NYPD must stop its discriminatory and abusive #BrokenWindows practices. If you havent yet seen the video, see the PIX11 report that broke the story here. Make sure to view the 2nd uncut video if you can. It is horrendous. Bystanders were sprayed with blood from the baton slamming his Donovans head. In addition to the killing of unarmed 28yo Akai Gurley last night, PIX11 report that a 20 yo was maced/hit in head w/baton by NYPD, I think in Bushwick last nite for alleged farebeating. Watch the 2nd vid in the article - the uncut version. Donovan Lawson was bloodied up. Horrendous. This DN article states that as of last night, the officer involved had not been suspended or even put on modified duty yet, and officers name has not been released. BUT the unfortunately usual tactics of criminalizing the victim are in play, with reports of Donovans prior criminal justice system contact reported on in the article. An action is in planning stages on this in Bushwick, well let you know when its firmed up. -------- 4. ERIC GARNER ACTION - DAY AFTER GRAND JURY ANNOUNCES A DECISION on whether to indict Daniel Pantaleo (NYPD officer who put Eric in banned NYPD chokehold) or ANY of the officers who stood by and did nothing while Eric said multiple times: I cant breathe It has been more than 4 months since Eric was killed. Many of you know that different folks across the city are planning to gather in Foley Square the day-after SI District Attorney Donovan announces grand jury decision of whether to indict ANY of the officers involved in killing of Eric Garner. The action is being called #ThisStopsToday, honoring some of Erics words when he was first approached in the unjustified stop by officers. THE #THISSTOPSTODAY ACTION will be at Foley Square at 5:30pm if the verdict is announced Mon-Thursday; and at 1pm the following day if announced on Friday or Saturday. Facebook event page: https://facebook/events/832643866757953/ Twitter: @ThisStopsToday To Have Your Organization Endorse, see the demands & requests of endorsers below - if you agree, email your organizational endorsement to: thisstopstodaynyc@gmail Re the killing of Eric Garner - Keep in mind that witnesses have said that Eric was breaking up a fight, not selling loosies when he was approached by NYPD - we should not continue to uplift the NYPD and media version that Eric was killed for breaking the law and selling loosies. Many of us view the killing of Eric Garner as an unlawful stop, that escalated with an unjustified #BrokenWindows arrest with fatal consequences. Lets not participate in the criminalization of Eric. #ThisStopsToday Demands 1) Full accountability for all officers responsible for Eric’s death, and all officers who brutalize and abuse their power in our communities 2) An end to NYPDs discriminatory broken windows policing 3) A Department of Justice Investigation into the use of force policies and practices of the NYPD and full investigation into the killing of Eric Garner. 4) Governor Cuomo should veto Law S7801/A9853, so the police are not the only ones responsible for policing themselves. What does it mean to endorse? Endorsing means that you agree with the call/demands and your organization can be listed on public materials related to the action. Other ways endorsing organizations can support: -Mobilize your members -Get the word out through email and social media. -Do street outreach the day of the verdict and the morning the day after at Foley Square, the Staten Island Ferry (Manhattan side) and in your community/neighborhood. -Reach out to organizations in your network to ask them to endorse.
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 21:53:47 +0000
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