The System is Rotten to the Core.

Categories: Front Page, Open Mic

Occupy Oakland Police De-Militarization Working Group
Michael Wilson electionamend@gmail.com 

On November 18, 2014 the Occupy Oakland De-Militarize the Police Working Group sent a letter to Mayor Quan and Mayor-elect Schaaf.  In that letter we demanded that they speak out, urging the St. Louis County Prosecutor do everything possible to bring about a grand jury indictment of Darren Wilson for the murder of Michael Brown, and call for a Federal investigation.  Both declined to comply with our demands.

The aftermath of the grand jury’s decision is well-known.  Far from abating, the outrage continues to spiral with the added provocation of a decision of no justice for Eric Garner, the police murders of Tamir Rice and Rumain Brisbon, and with protesters’ experience of tear gas, rubber bullets, and crazed undercovers wildly pointing live ammunition weapons at bystanders and the press.

Put simply, Quan and Schaaf should have listened to us. We suggest that their failure to do so   means they are tools of a system of immunity for police officers, are complicit in a strategy to create a stronger police state, and do not believe people of color should have the same rights as whites.

Our conclusion is that the system of law enforcement they run in our city is racist without remorse.

If the Mayor and Mayor elect wished to attempt redress – which they do not – they would immediately

  • Denounce the grand jury verdicts in St. Louis and Staten Island, call for the indictment of Tamir Rice’s and Rumain Brisbon’s murderers, and demand the Federal indictment of Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo.
  • Fire OPD’s killer cops Patrick Gonzales and Robert Roche, and call for the indictment of Miguel Masso (who killed Alan Blueford), Barhin Bhatt (who killed Raheim Brown), Gonzales and Roche.
  • Call on the entire City, including the police chief, the Chamber of Commerce, tech leaders, the small business community and real estate developers to support those who already

1.      denounce our current system of non-justice for black and brown,

2.      demand a complete overhaul of our criminal justice system,

3.      demand an end to the school-to-prison pipeline,

4.      demand that the prison-industrial complex be dismantled,

5.      demand treatment, not imprisonment, for the mentally ill,

6.      demand the repeal of the California Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights, and radically revise law enforcement use-of-force protocols and laws,

7.      implement a system of restorative justice in Alameda County,

8.      support legislation to create an independent, state-wide police violence prosecution agency with no ties to the law-enforcement community, and until such time as such an agency is created demand that the Alameda County DA prosecute all killer cops.

When the Supreme Court can write

The use of deadly force to prevent the escape of all felony suspects, whatever the circumstances, is constitutionally unreasonable. It is not better that all felony suspects die than that they escape.

and yet Michael Brown’s killer walks free…

When the President calls for body cameras, and yet an officer on-camera choking a man to death in violation of the rules of his own department is not indicted…

The system is rotten to the core.

Insofar as our so-called leaders refuse to take action, we call on all segments of Oakland’s community to make these demands of them, especially the business sector.

Business owners decry property destruction, bringing their economically powerful voices before the City Government.  In doing so they facilitate demands for harsh and racist policing. This needs stop. Business owners and the Chamber of Commerce must recognize that it is both in their interests and the moral thing to do to call for justice for all, not just for windows.

A failure to do so has the potential for dire consequences. From more black and brown deaths to a continued increase in the lack of respect for the rule of law; from anger and despair erupting on our streets to the possibility of vigilante “justice.” Those who feel most threatened could decide to carry real weapons – not the non-existent ones that cops use as an excuse for murder – for the sake of defending themselves from abusive and racist police.

Crisis is also opportunity. We can continue the descent or we can attempt to rise above the maelstrom. What will it be?

 – by Mike Wilson and other members of the Occupy Oakland Demilitarize the Police Working Group.

57677

Comments are closed.