Curfew Times, On the Streets All Week Long, #blacklivesmatter, #HoldThemAccountable #justicefortony

savitrid.nyc

"Glad to be out of “jail” for violating “curfew” - what a stupid dangerous concept, like being put in timeout by an army of weaponized and extremely violent 13 year old boys. Maybe a hundred people are still standing in the rain being processed in Queens, some of them are bleeding. We were trapped and arrested- an entire march on a residential street lined with support - trapped from two sides and then brutally picked off one by one. #blacklivesmatter"

Tim Murphy writes "Thanks Jason Rosenberg and others for recounting to me what happened in the Village on Tuesday night. This would be outrageous and unacceptable if it were an isolated incident but it's not—NYPD and PDs have been enacting violence on peaceful protesters in cities nationwide."

Nathan Shearn "Sigh. More outrageous behavior from law enforcement.

Earlier today, a 75-year old man in Buffalo, NY was shoved to the ground by police officers, cracking his head open on the pavement. The victim is currently in "stable but serious condition" at a local hospital. The two implicated officers have been suspended without pay and are currently under investigation. See the video below, but be warned: it is graphic.

And in other deeply disturbing news, my friend and comrade Jason Rosenberg from ACT UP New York (pictured below) was viciously attacked by NYPD officers earlier this week while attending a PEACEFUL protest in NYC. Police repeatedly battered him with kicks and batons. After a broken humerus and nine staples in the head, Jason is fortunately on the path to a speedy recovery.

To say that I'm shocked by law enforcement's use of disproportionate force would be a lie. I'm not...at all. But this violence needs to stop NOW. Police brutality is thriving, and anyone still attempting to justify it is waging war on our (very fragile) democracy. Remember Tiananmen Square?

Keep sharing stories. #HoldThemAccountable."

Kelly Higgins 

"See the female officer horrified at her colleague shooting a man in a wheelchair in the head with a rubber bullet? She should have killed her colleague right there. Should have shot him dead in defense of a third person, a helpless man in a wheelchair. See how she is sickened by the blood spilling from the handicapped man's head? She should have used that revulsion to shoot her colleague in the head with a firearm. I don't expect the others to kill the man who shot a handicapped man in the head as he rolled his wheelchair along. They are not sickened by it. For them, it's fine. Yeah we shoot unarmed handicapped people right in the head. Obviously. But the woman seems to have human emotions about shooting an unarmed handicapped man in the head as he rolls his wheelchair along. No update, but how can he not have died? See that blood? See any one coming to help? Can you guess what these police would do to anyone trying to help the unarmed handicapped man who has been shot in the head by a police officer? My guess is that they would shoot you in the head, and then maybe beat you with their batons. Some day you will get a jury summons. Get on the jury by shutting your fucking mouth. Don't say shit. Then when some cop is telling you how some kid resisted arrest, remember this photo. Remember all the photos. Every single person you've seen abused by police in the last week was resisting arrest. To resist arrest means that you have been beaten by police and now they need an excuse because your injuries are visible. So I want you to get on juries with the knowledge you now have of what the police are. You haven't seen them lie like I have, but you've seen what it is they lie about. So just don't believe a fucking word they say. It's your choice on a jury to simple look at that cop and decide he is a lying ass cop who lets his colleagues beat people up."

Erik R. McGregor‎ took this snapshot me on on June 2 · 

Justice For George Floyd Protest

"Activists from the No North Brooklyn Pipeline Coalition organized a bike caravan protest on June 6, 2020 along the entire route (7 miles) of the North Brooklyn fracked gas pipeline, from Brownsville to Greenpoint, to expose National Grid’s pipeline and how it is a clear example of environmental racism, forcing communities of color and low-income neighborhoods to bear the burden of the pollution and cost of this unnecessary fossil fuel expansion. (Photo and caption by Erik McGregor) — with Benjamin Heim Shepard at Brooklyn, New York."

In between it all, the little one and I are reading War and Peace.

She’s been researching the parallels between the emancipation of serfs in Russia and slaves in the US, the flawed legacies of both actions.

The Jim Crow system left a mess we’re still unpacking.

The emancipation of the serfs left a cycle of dept.

Desperation and conflict, revolution and civil war, lynching and terror followed.

Tolstoy’s text offers an image of a world in flux, not unlike our own, streets with looters and police, protests and recriminations.

“The stores are empty, the roads impassable. The Orthodox begin looting and in a way of which our last campaign gave you no idea.  Half the regiments form bands and scour the countryside and put everything to fire and sword. The inhabitants are totally ruined, the hospitals overflow with sick and famine everywhere… commander and chief has to ask for a battalion to disperse them.  …  The Emperor proposes to give all the commanders of the divisions the right to shoot the marauders, but I much feel this will oblige one half of the army to shoot the other.”

This could be the US, our leader playing with twitter, asking the armies shoot if they loot..

We’ve had a curfew all week long in New York, which seems to be a license for the police to abuse with little regard, to crackdown on those speaking out about civil liberties.

In Manhattan, they broke my friend Barbara’s foot as she tried to ride away:

“A cop ran up to me, grabbed my bicycle causing me to fall hard on the ground as I biked past her (I’m fine). She was trying to arrest me for biking after curfew as traffic continued to flow. Didn’t see any drivers arrested or pulled over. They exempt?”

They broke Jason’s humerus when he attended an anti-trans action.

Posting photos of his bloodied head after he got out of jail,

Jason Rosenberg wrote:

“We finally made it home. Luckily the ER was wrong in saying I need surgery. A broken humerus with a brace, 9 staples, and some scrapes. Let’s start the healing and keep protesting from home. And just so everyone’s aware...we were peaceful. We linked our arms in civil disobedience, not resisting arrest. We were beaten. Fuck anyone who tries to say otherwise. Tony McDade you were not murdered in cold blood by the police in vein. #justicefortony.”

savitrid.nyc had a similar experience:

“Glad to be out of “jail” for violating “curfew” - what a stupid dangerous concept, like being put in timeout by an army of weaponized and extremely violent 13 year old boys. Maybe a hundred people are still standing in the rain being processed in Queens, some of them are bleeding. We were trapped and arrested- an entire march on a residential street lined with support - trapped from two sides and then brutally picked off one by one. #blacklivesmatter”

We’re getting caught in a vicious cycle.

Protesters out screaming about civil rights and abuses by police who complain they are being attacked so they fight lash out, hurt more people. Arrest more people.

More people oppose them.

Its always a choice to use force, says Jamie Bauer.

There is never an excuse for the police to use violence.

They are trained not to.

When they choose not to they are choosing.

Always a choice.

Why the batons, I asked in Union Square,
Why the batons?

I said to a few police at Union Square. We are all from the community, it doesn't look like you are here to protect the community at all...that’s how we got in this mess. Have any ties to our physical communities. mostly long island. many with no ties to the communities where they work. this is the failure of community policing here. police are not from the communities in which they work. they are not required to be here. So they look like a colonizing army. They are not so interested in actual dialogue. They certainly are not helping.

Friday, we all saw footage of a 75 year old man the police attacked in Buffalo, cracking his skull and walking away  

Ryan Persinger followed:

  I said a lot more I was like you remember that time you all killed Eric Garner. And then I was like you remember that time y'all did stop and frisk and ruined a lot of people's lives? Or then I said you remember that one time when y'all thought y'all could get away with it but we started recording That's when they walked away I was like yeah that's what I thought

ACT UP Statement

Sean Reed’s life mattered. George Floyd’s life mattered. Tony McDade’s life mattered. David McAtee’s life mattered. Breonna Taylor’s life mattered. It’s a simple fact: Black Lives Matter. As ACT UP/NY, we are here to say that enough is enough. We are tired of seeing members of the Black community senselessly murdered by police. We have always condemned racism in all its forms, and we always will. We cannot let George Floyd’s death, and the deaths of so many other innocent Black individuals, be in vain. We also want to make sure that our Black trans and gender non-conforming siblings are being centered in their pain when confronting their murders in the hands of law enforcement. Eric Garner was murdered by the police in our city in 2014. Six years later, our mayor still rarely speaks about police violence. According to the NY Daily News, the 2019 NYPD budget was 5.6 billion dollars, which was more than the budgets allocated towards housing, health, and youth and community services combined. Much of that $5.6 billion went to paying officers to work overtime, even as crime in New York City fell to historic lows. And this is not a unique case, in cities across America, police unions have been allowed to negotiate higher salaries and greater immunity than any other type of public employee. The result is that police are paid more and scrutinized less than teachers, postal workers, or EMTs -- all of whom are essential for our society. In fact, ACT UP/NY protested de Blasio’s funding cuts to HIV/STI testing back in 2015 along with the closing of the Chelsea clinic. We continue to fight Cuomo’s consistent Medicaid cuts during a public health crisis. If both of these administrations actually cared about protecting communities most affected by HIV and COVID, we would see a divestment in the NYPD and NYS police and an investment in healthcare, housing, and economic programs. We know the importance of acting up and fighting back. We understand that protesting is both a fundamental right and a moral imperative, which is why we condemn any police abuse during the protests. Furthermore, we acknowledge that the struggle for racial justice is inseparable from the fight against HIV criminalization. Whether it was the blatant police mistreatment of AIDS activists at the height of the epidemic, or whether it is existing HIV criminalization laws, we know how policing disproportionately affects people living with HIV. With that said, we demand greater accountability and the demilitarization of all law enforcement officials. Together, we stand in solidarity with the courageous folks who are speaking out and showing up. Moving forward, ACT UP will be using our social media accounts to amplify protests, demonstrations, and vigils, as well as other ways you can support this vital work. We will also be distributing limited protective protest kits starting on June 4th, so please message us for more information. ACT UP. FIGHT BACK.

The Movement for Black Lives notes:

The time for action is now, people are taking to the streets, flooding social media, calling local officials and demanding justice for those who have been killed by the police all over the county and now is the time to join them.

With all actions, there are a variety of risks and roles. All roles are important, and this moment is no different. In the last three months, 100,000 people in the United States have died of COVID-19, and Black people are dying disproportionately. As we move into collective and community action, we have to learn the risks involved, and how to keep ourselves and our communities safe. There is no one right way to take action. Do what you can from where you can. Power building takes many shapes. Thanks for joining us.

The Movement For Black Lives, and organizers mobilizing across the country, invite you to take part in a week of action June 1st to 7th in defense of Black lives. This is an opportunity to uplift and fight alongside those turning up in the streets and online.

By Friday, after a week of taking action together, we will have flexed our collective muscle and built power nationwide.

Each day, I have been out, riding to Barclays center, Grand Army Plaza, Union Square, to Bed Stuy, Ft Greene, wherever the protests are, chatting with folks, trying to make sense of where we are at.

You can’t walk through the streets without seeing people.

Monday, I joined thousands in Bed Stuy.

No more black blood in these streets, we chanted, solidarity expanding.

Whose streets, our streets!

Sarah Schulman wrote,

“11 pm Curfew in New York City is- I fear- an excuse to hurt people. De Blasio keeps escalating, but how can that possibly work? Where is the responsibility, the offering, the recognition that people need? Where is the people's bail out? Where is the financial, health and emotional support that Americans crave? Where is the material change?”

All over police carry batons.

When police wonder why people don’t like them, I think of the batons.

Penetrate, one screamed Sunday night. Penetrate!

The next night, I rode to Barclay’s center for curfew.

Police everywhere.

Arriving there were more police.

I guess the batons are for aesthetic reasons.

Democracy is up to all of us to defend. This is contested space.

One woman carried a sign declaring:

“I am legally expressing my first amendment rights.”

Oh yea, there still is a constitution, I thought.

As the clock struck eleven, activists kneeled with their hands up, with a

Brooklyn message for the cops at Barclays at curfew, George Floyd say his name, walking the streets.

Others kneel chanting, hands up, don’t shoot!

The president said he would deploy the military if governors do not stop the activists from meeting in the streets.

I guess we can be fairly confident he has never heard of the Possee Comitatus act?

What’s looting, the police have been looting black peoples’ bodies for centuries, saya Trevor Noah.

Tuesday, we delivered food throughout the city, driving through Manhattan Streets,

past people carrying sights,

boarded up stores.

There are protests on every corner, every park, everywhere. One simple message, it has to stop.

People were converged in Far Rockaway, talking about what was going on, families meeting, kids carrying signs, asking for a future.

Good people hoping for something better.

“I shouldn’t be afraid of the police,” noted one man’s sign.

“We won’t be silenced,” noted another.

Make no mistake, that’s what the curfew is all about.

By 8 PM, the alarms started to sound about curfew.

Completely jarring.

In Manhattan, Jason was being beaten by the police.

The next day, I rode to Ocean Parkway to join another protest.

People were clapping when I arrived.

“Shut down the school to prison pipeline,” noted one sign.

A woman my age declared:

"This is the best thing ever. I'm here with my grandson. I want him to live. Trump is an embarrassment. He’s bad for all of us. He needs to resign. He’s bad for all of us."

“Say her name, Breonna Taylor,” we chant as the march began, referring to

the 26-year-old African-American woman, who was murdered by Louisville Metro Police Department officers on March 13, 2020.

The next day, I ride to Grand Army Plaza where I run into Zanthe, whose daughters go to school with my kids.

They hold signs:

“Racism is a pandemic.”

“All lives don’t matter until Black Lives do.”

Another sign:

“Defund the police”

Vote now. Get out and vote. Black Lives Matter. We will be seen. Change will be seen. March to the street, to the voting booths!

From there,

I ride over to Manhattan where my friend Jamie Bauer, from ACT UP and Rise and Resist was standing, holding a banner.

Regarding members of actup being beaten at recent protests, Jamie explains:

“I think there is never an excuse for the police to use violence during an arrest.

Police are trained to do it safely.

When they choose not to, they are choosing.

And its their choice.

And I’m sure that Jason was not doing anything that warranted that.

We have to remember that Stonewall was a riot.

And that police violence against queer people is nothing new.”

“What do you think when you see the police with their batons out here?”

“I think they are just wackin’ off with their dicks.

And that it’s a dangerous masturbatory exercise.”

Remember Harvey Milk was killed by a cop.

Later I run into my friends Catherine and Jill.

I was missing my friends. That's part of this.

Each day, more demos.

Friday, I ride to Barclays and Grand Army Plaza and later to Sunset Park,

Where a young woman holds a sign declaring:

“We must unite to dismantle racist injustice.”

And we make our way to the MDC detention center for a rally.

All day,  the streets are teeming with people. This scene is repeated over and over throughout the city. Ideas and conversations overlapping. Something is in the air. I'm not sure what. But something.

Saturday, we join Monica, for the Ride Against the NBK Pipeline.

Monica explains:

Hey everyone

I hope you are all safe, healthy and free.

We have been organizing against institutionalized racism in the police force all week and we will continue to until we defund them and create a just society.

We also are working against environmental racism and are running out of time to fight National Grid's egregious fracked gas pipeline running straight through low income and communities of color from Brownsville to Greenpoint.

Tomorrow we ride the entire North Brooklyn

Pipeline route, visiting and hearing from community members along the way and growing our resistance!

Please check out the info below.

WE KEEP US SAFE

*Please abide by safe physical distancing practices, wear a mask, keep 6 feet between you and the other riders and if you are speaking with the megaphone, use the alcohol-soaked cloths to wipe in between.

Also, Jessica Roff will be police liaising if we need any assistance to keep all participants as safe as possible.  It's unlikely we will get a lot of police presence on this ride but since things are so escalated, we can't be sure.  Let's look out for one another.

Saturday June 6th at 2pm

INFO ON ROUTE:

*It is a 7 mile ride and we will make multiple short stops so it is better if you can join from the beginning but we will update the FB page about where we are.

Meet at 2pm at Linden Blvd and Powell Street in the park
We will decorate bikes and prep.
Speakers start at 2:15pm. You don’t want to miss this!
Miss Justice Jester will Emcee
2:30pm we leave, hard start
Left on Powell Street
Stop at Powell Street Community Garden
Left on Liberty Ave
Right on Christopher Ave.
Left on E. New York Ave.
Right on Bergen Street
right on Thomas Boyland St
Left on Fulton
Stop at Bscah Urban Farm at Saratoga and Fulton (ETA 3:10pm)

Etc….

Monica and several riders had had run ins with the police over the week,

Concussions and hours in jail for protesting.

Others were still losing friends to COVID, the duel crises overlapping.

A gorgeous day, at one point, the sky opened up and poured on us all.

Leaving us drenched.

I got as far as the Bscah Urban Farm before the teenager called wanting to ride.

So I join her.

Passing waves of protests on the way home.

You cant turn a corner without hitting a protest in Brooklyn. #blacklivesmatter is changing everything.

All night I heard more and more reports about the actions throughout the city.

A cyclist beaten by cops.

Roy Arezzo

8 hrs

Tonight I witnessed an assault. This video was sent to me from the scene. I do not know the victim's name but he had friend's on the scene so hoping there is follow up. I was up the street from this before curfew in Brooklyn near the bridge. I dismounted and came back but it happened fast and other than this post, I felt helpless yelling for NYPD to stop and asking the officers around him to stand up for victim. They ended with more officers piling on, throwing punches then putting the bloodied cyclist into a police van and whisked away. I am hoping other people have more info, badge numbers and step forward. The NYPD van that the officers were from had a front plate with the number 78341. I wish I could say this was an isolated incident but I have seen too much of this for too long.

UPDATED: THIS IS WHAT'S GOING ON IN NYC:

1) NYPD is enforcing the curfew and not just for protestors. They have arrested essential workers, despite the fact that they are exempt from the curfew.

2) NYPD is also restricting access to some subways. This is incredibly dangerous. It means that it will take people longer to get home even when they are attempting to honor the curfew.

3) NYPD is using a practice called kettling. Kettling means corralling all protestors into a space so they can be arrested. This happened yesterday in Brooklyn and the Bronx resulting in injuries. This is an escalation tactic. The purpose is not to disperse the protesters, it is to arrest them.

4) Habeas Corpus has been suspended at the request of the NYPD by NYC Criminal Court Judge James Burke, allowing the police to detain anyone arrested for any reason for longer than 24 hours. If you go 48 hours without hearing from or about your loved ones, reach out to a legal aid society for help.

5) Curfew violations are now considered a Class B misdemeanor, which can carry maximum penalties of up to three months imprisonment or one year probation.

6) Also, if you go out, write out a small card with your emergency contact numbers and names and put it inside your bra or attach it inside your clothes. If your phone is confiscated, or you are arrested, you will need to be able to access numbers of friends/ family who can make bail or call others to help, and a lawyer.
Make sure you have a PIN or password lock on your phone, as this protects your phone and you cannot be physically forced to open it this way, like with a finger print or facial recognition.

7) Call legal hotline numbers immediately if you receive word a family member is arrested (as opposed to waiting 48 hours). The NLG has set up a hotline to help keep track of those arrested (1-833-3-GOODCALL). There are also borough specific hotlines. The NYPD’s tactic has been to detain people in vans for hours before processing their arrest, essentially kidnapping and ‘losing’ them. Reaching out to hotlines immediately helps the legal support keep track of those arrested to ensure they aren’t lost in the system.

***Please, please don’t order food after 6:30/7:00. You’re putting the delivery personnel at risk.***

Be careful out there. Keep tabs on your people.

*Copy/Pasted*

NO JUSTICE NO PEACE

Haley Hughes notes:

“I have never shouted "the people have the power" and believed it so much even as we are in the darkest hour of democracy. See you tomorrow! To the Streets!!!”

It feels hopeful.

And exciting.

We’re getting to something.

Last summer we were in Hong Kong.

This summer New York, where we seem to be getting somewhere.

The whole country is.

Jimmy Carter, my favorite living president, offered a

 statement on the death of George Floyd, who was killed while in police custody last week.

Read the statement:

Rosalynn and I are pained by the tragic racial injustices and consequent backlash across our nation in recent weeks. Our hearts are with the victims' families and all who feel hopeless in the face of pervasive racial discrimination and outright cruelty. We all must shine a spotlight on the immorality of racial discrimination. But violence, whether spontaneous or consciously incited, is not a solution.

As a white male of the South, I know all too well the impact of segregation and injustice to African Americans. As a politician, I felt a responsibility to bring equity to my state and our country. In my 1971 inaugural address as Georgia's governor, I said: "The time for racial discrimination is over." With great sorrow and disappointment, I repeat those words today, nearly five decades later. Dehumanizing people debases us all; humanity is beautifully and almost infinitely diverse. The bonds of our common humanity must overcome the divisiveness of our fears and prejudices.

Since leaving the White House in 1981, Rosalynn and I have strived to advance human rights in countries around the world. In this quest, we have seen that silence can be as deadly as violence. People of power, privilege, and moral conscience must stand up and say "no more" to a racially discriminatory police and justice system, immoral economic disparities between whites and blacks, and government actions that undermine our unified democracy. We are responsible for creating a world of peace and equality for ourselves and future generations.

We need a government as good as its people, and we are better than this.