Executions.

         How much longer will we tolerate our lives being shackled to the rigid dictates of a state. Dictates formulated by the rich and powerful to protect their wealth and privileges. Dictates enforced by the state's paid thugs, who see killing as part and parcel of their remit, sanctioned by the state and upheld by its hand pick judiciary. Death at the hands of the police is not a rare event but happens in country after country and with a sickening regularity. It is a very rare event if one of these state funded thugs involved in the killing of a citizen is ever brought to face the consequences of their callous savagery.
       Greece like other countries is no stranger to public executions by the police and once again its citizens are witness to another killing on their streets by the paid thugs of the state. 
The following from Enough is Enough:

 

 

NOT ONE MORE STATE MURDER
        In a neighbourhood like Perama, which for decades has known the murder of workers in the sweatshops of the N / E shipowners, state bullets, the killing of an unarmed child, we have brought the war to outside the courtyards of the houses of the Neoktista (Newly built district), a stone’s throw from the cauldrons of death.
       On the night of Friday, October 22, after a chase that started in Thebes and was to end in Perama, the cops killed a 20-year-old Roma man and seriously wounded a 16-year-old boy, after firing shots in bursts. The sheriffs of each Theodorikakos ( minister of citizen protection) did not hesitate to empty their guns among the courtyards and it was purely a matter of luck that the families of the surrounding houses did not receive bullets.
        This cold-blooded execution is not a sudden event, but it is part of a series of escalating incidents of state violence against anyone who does not comply with the dictates of the doctrine that determines who is “delinquent” and who is not. The current line of “zero tolerance” in persecution is not an isolated part of the overall repression by the state, but faces society at a time when everything that goes beyond control and surveillance is declared illegal, from demonstrations and strikes, to movement in public space and the self-determination of our bodies.
       The ever-increasing “criminalization” of our lives and the legitimization of state murders will not stop anywhere but will continue in every aspect of social life, if we do not stop it. Here, we have to say that the prosecution authorities and judicial mechanisms are “notorious”, together with their accomplices of the media who cover up hired killers. A state that launders paedophiles is the same state that kills and eliminates the childhood of life and, ultimately, life itself.
       But life is reborn and finds its way where there is resistance through solidarity and rebellion, whatever shatters the dystopia of state and capital. We oppose our will for struggle and freedom, overcoming all social divisions. We are in conflict with democratic illusions and the murderous state.

LIFE – FREEDOM

ANARCHISTS FROM PERAMA AREA

And from Act For Freedom Now:

         The answer to every state assassination and state repression should be fire.
         As an initial reaction we chose to reflexively attack the peaceful aristocrats of the northern suburbs because the repression is class and so are state assassinations.
ANGER
FIRE
REVENGE
ANARCHISTS
via: athens.indymedia

Visit ann arky's home at https://spiritofrevolt.info    

Assassination?

          Did President Trump order the assassination of an American citizen on American soil? That's the question some people are asking after the killing of activist and antifascist Michael Reinoehl.

It's Going Down reports on the incident:

        A look at the evidence surrounding the State killing of Portland-area protester Michael Reinoehl – which begs the question, just who directed what seems to be – his execution?
By John Teufel
        That Michael Reinoehl was murdered is hardly in doubt. Whether he was assassinated remains an open question.
         We know the events of September 3rd with some certainty. Five days earlier, Reinoehl had killed a man named Aaron Danielson in downtown Portland. Local police had already publicly named him as a suspect – Reinoehl was a fugitive, and feared that his own death was imminent. Now, Reinoehl was trying to hide at an apartment in Lacey, Washington, a suburb of Olympia. At this, he was failing, as FBI agents watched silently outside.
Murder
       At approximately 6:45 PM, Reinoehl finished a phone call with a friend and left the apartment, walking toward his car parked outside. As he did so, a contingent of U.S. marshals and local police in SUVs approached him at rapid speed. Reinoehl had a cell phone against his ear, and popped a gummy worm into his mouth. He opened his car door and started to get inside. The SUVs reached Reinoehl and, before coming to a complete stop, federal agents and cops descended with weapons drawn. No commands were issued. Within seconds, law enforcement opened fire. Reinoehl tried to duck for cover behind his vehicle, but the barrage of shots – 37 rounds in total – was relentless.
       Medical aid was half-heartedly administered (chest compressions, with the officer still standing) eight minutes after Reinoehl had been pumped with bullets. It wouldn’t have made a difference even if done right. Reinoehl died fast – likely in seconds, according to the coroner.
        Of the 22 civilian witnesses present at Reinoehl’s death, 21 stated that police never issued any commands or announced themselves before opening fire. Five eyewitnesses stated that the gunfire began as soon as the vehicles arrived on the scene. None saw Reinoehl with a gun. One witness initially assumed he was watching a drug-related gang hit, until he noticed the bulletproof vests worn by the shooters.

Read the full article HERE

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk   

Familiar?

 

        As the lock-down continues, frustration will mount and tensions will grow. It is a tinder box and it will only take one incident of heavy handed police activity to light the fuse. There has been sporadic outbursts of anger here and there, the latest in Belgium. Though different circumstances, it does ring familiar with the riots that erupted in Greece, December, 2008, after the police shooting of 15 year old Alexandros Griroropoulos. 

 This from 325:

Belgium:
   Riot in Anderlecht area of Brussels after 19 year old killed by cops

      Enraged youth from the Anderlecht area of the capital city Brussels, Belgium rioted yesterday, attacking cop vehicles and hurled missiles at the cops, injuring one and beating up another. The riot was triggered when a cop patrol pursued a 19 year old on a scooter because he refused to stop for a curfew check. He hit an oncoming cop vehicle head on and died on the spot. Hundreds of angry youth from the local area instantly took to the street after a callout on social media attacking the cops who had arrived to reinforce those involved in the killing. Several cop vehicles were set on fire, one youth liberated a gun from a vehicle, shooting it in the air as he ran off.
       The local youth has been named as Adil and already the media is doing the state’s dirty work by sending out its appeal for calm, using his family as a weapon to suppress the anger of a local youth’s murder and against the curfew. The cops have further reinforced the area today (Sunday), even with water cannon because they fear that the area will breakout in further rioting. Belgium has been in a four-week curfew in an attempt to stem the spread of the coronavirus epidemic.
       This is a clear sign of the riots and insurrection to come that has now arrived in fortress Europe, after other outbreaks of rebellion in other parts of the world, we are even aware of scum media clearly attempting along with the authorities to suppress any outbreaks of rebellion against the coronavirus curfews*. It is only a moment of time before the global backlash erupts.
     First Wuhan, Now Brussels, Insurrection Everywhere!

    *Riots have erupted in Bristol, China & Palestine, even telephone towers burnt around prison island UK, along with reported raids on supermarkets in the South of Italy in response to ‘lockdown measures’ (curfew!)

Visit ann arky's home at https://radicalglasgow.me.uk

Death At The Hands Of The Police.

          I suppose there are some naive people out there who still believe that the police are there to protect us from "bad guys", to make sure you don't steal something from your neighbour, or become drunk and disorderly. This is the wonderful illusion created by the propaganda spewed out from our babbling brook of bullshit, the mainstream media. Make no mistake, the police are there to protect the established order of power and wealth, the main line of defence before the army takes to the streets, if need be. Yes they lock up the odd abuser, and rapist, but this is a spin-off not their main purpose. Killings by law enforcement officers in the UK from 1920 to 2000 is listed as 27, but that number rockets after the year 2000, from 2000 to March 2017 there are listed 42 such deaths. They act with impunity, and literally, "get away with murder".
       We now have another killing by those who pose as the protectors of the public, to add to those horrifying statistics, this report from Libcom, the details speak for themselves.

 

 

         Twenty five year old Edir Frederico Da Costa, known as Edson, died yesterday having sustained multiple injuries during a police stop in Beckton, East London. Update 23rd June - there will be a #JusticeForEdson demonstration this Sunday at Forest Gate station at 2pm.
       [content note: police violence, description of injuries]
        Edson was one of three people in a vehicle stopped by police in Beckton around 10pm on June 16th. Police used force to arrest him and pepper sprayed him at the scene, he had a heart attack and was pronounced dead. Edson was revived by paramedics on scene who put him into an induced coma, but he was brain dead. After being kept on life support, this was turned off Tuesday.
       The Newham Recorder reported that a post mortem has concluded there were no injuries to suggest severe force was used on Edson.
       In a statement on Facebook however, a family member wrote that his injuries included a fractured skull, fallen voice box and ruptured bladder amongst other injuries.
        A friend of the family on twitter mentioned that Edson's vertebrae had been snapped, and that while he was foaming at the mouth police had said he was 'OK'.
       Family have not been told the name of the officer involved. The case has parallels to the police killing of Freddie Gray in a police van in Baltimore in 2015, leading to mass protests over his death. Prosecutions of the officers involved in Freddie Gray's death did not result in convictions.
       Julian Cole was left in a vegetative state after being carried to a police car in Bedford in 2013. The CPS announced it would not be charging the police involved in Julian Cole's arrest earlier this year.
        Police brutality is a regular occurrence in the UK as well as in the US. The IPCC and CPS rarely prosecute police officers and there has been no conviction for a death in custody since 1969. This requires mass protests and organisation in order to gain even basic accountability of the police, but in the end the only accountable police force may be no police force. Movements towards complete police abolition are gaining pace as the limits of reform become increasingly stark.

Requiem For A Journey Of No Return.

       In Athens on December 6th. 2008, young 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulos was shot dead in the street by a cop, dying in the arms of his young friend of the same age, Nikos Romanos, who is now in a Greek prison.

    This event sparked some of the largest and most widespread riots seen in Greece, 

     Nikos has never spoken publicly about that night and the death of his friend, until now. 

      His public article, "Requiem for a Journey of No Return" can be read on Contra Info.
This is a small extract from that public letter written from prison:

  ------The most ridiculous part of it all is the fact that the propaganda mechanisms of domination attempt to portray murders committed by cops as isolated incidents caused by deranged personalities, as accidents that always occur due to negligence.
     Police murders are neither isolated incidents, nor a Greek phenomenon. They are an extreme manifestation of the democratic imposition upon social margins, poor-devils, delinquents, insubordinates, migrants. Furthermore, police murders confirm that the liberatory war exists, whenever they target insurgents who arm themselves and fight domination with the flame of freedom burning in their hearts.
     These killings are a logical consequence of cops’ perceptions of their role, perceptions with which these individuals are indoctrinated to staff the repressive machines that shield the social machine’s orderly functioning.
     Police firearms do not go off with murderous intentions only in Greece; they murder 15-year-olds in Turkey because they participated in anti-government demonstrations, they murder 16-year-olds in Italy because they didn’t pull over at a police traffic stop, they murder mothers and children in Palestine, they murder dozens of African Americans in the US on purely racist motives, they murder migrants in Sweden’s suburbs, they murder youth in England’s poorest hoods; they murder repeatedly and serially in all corners of the planet to impose social peace.
      And if the examples I’ve brought are known to many, because they have been linked with small-scale and large-scale uprisings in response to statist murders, they do not cease to be a mere drop in the ocean compared to the storm of murderous crackdowns launched by security corps in defence of capitalist domination.
     If we close our eyes and ears to the ceaseless flow of dominant propaganda, we’ll be able to listen to the thousands of anonymous deaths in police stations, terrestrial and maritime border areas, concentration camps, psychiatric institutions and prisons, war zones across the Middle East, and sweatshops that exterminate contemporary slaves. Anyone can hear the cries of people who are being tortured in police cells, who commit suicide in a confinement facility out of desperation, who are sunk by coast guard cops and drowned in the cold waters of the Mediterranean Sea, who are crippling their bodies over multinationals’ production machines in third world countries, who are buried under rubble after blind aerial bombardments conducted by capitalist empires.--------

Read his full account HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk
 

US Police Kill 234 Black People In 6 Months.

          An appeal from Color Of Change, an an organisation fighting police racism and brutality in the US. The figures speak for themselves, 234 Black individuals kill by the police in six months. What country can tolerate such blatant racial brutality, no way can a country be called civilizied that tolerates such racial brutality.

    My name is Scott Roberts, and this is my third day as Criminal Justice Director at ColorOfChange. For months, I have admired the hard work of ColorOfChange members like you and I am honored to be joining this critical community of people committed to achieving Black liberation — especially at a time like this.
   In the past 6 months, police have killed at least 234 Black people nationwide — an average of more than 1 person a day. 1

It’s a painfully familiar story:
        Police — driven by explicit or implicit anti-Black racism — brutalize or kill a Black person who is doing nothing more than shopping at the grocery store, driving home from work, playing in the park or reaching out for help;2,3,4,5 Law enforcement and police associations then criminalize the victim, often lying, filing false police reports or planting evidence to cover up the truth.6 The media jumps on board, but within just a few days or weeks journalists stop covering the story; the community and family are left broken hearted, fighting a near impossible fight for justice, which is almost always denied.7
      We must stop this vicious cycle. As we know from past experiences, police cannot police themselves. Prosecutors rely greatly on police for help with their cases, which makes it far less likely they will risk the political fallout that comes with holding abusive and discriminatory officers accountable. If we want justice, we need to be ready to take matters into our own hands.
       Will you donate $5 a month to our Rapid Response Private Investigator Fund? If enough people contribute, we can put independent investigators on the ground following police violence targeting Black people to help expose the truth and build momentum for justice.
     Following Sandra Bland’s tragic death in Waller County, TX you and more than 3,000 ColorOfChange members donated to hire a private investigator. It was clear from day one that Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis and Sheriff Glenn Smith would likely fail to properly investigate Sandra's death. If her family hadn't raised their voices, the public would've never seen the video of Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia racially profiling and violently arresting Sandra — DA Mathis was ready to wash his hands and rule Sandra's death a suicide, no questions asked.
      Part 1 of our investigation was released last week, and the results are deeply disturbing. Attorney Paul Looney, who was appointed by the Sheriff to lead an investigation into the Sheriff Department, has confirmed that the investigation is a sham: "We're not trying to do an exposé...[Sheriff Glenn Smith] can read it or not read it...if he wants to throw the whole thing in the trash can, he can.’"8
      This is exactly the type of information we need to help secure justice for Sandra. Following cases of police violence, local officials often wait for the media attention to fade away before denying justice to Black families suffering one of the worst injustices this world has to offer. But we can't let that happen. A Rapid Response Private Investigator Fund will allow us to uncover the truth, keep the media attention alive and expose the different forms of anti-Black racism in an area in order to plan campaigns for systemic change.
     Tragically, police will kill hundreds more Black people in the coming months and we must be ready to act quickly. This fall marks 10 years that ColorOfChange members have taken action to strengthen and amplify Black political power in America. In the coming days, you will receive a number of different fundraisers asking you to support the critical work of our community in the years ahead. We depend on you. Your donations — the hard-earned dollars you give because you believe in justice — are what sustain our work.
      Private investigators cost on average $5,000. If just 3,000 ColorOfChange members gave $5 a month for at least 6 months we could afford to hire at least 15 private investigators. Click here to donate.

Onward,
— Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Lyla and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
September 30th, 2015
References
1. "National Police Violence Map," We the Protesters, updated 9/21/2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5370?t=4&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

2. "No Charges in Ohio Police Killing of John Crawford as Wal-Mart Video Contradicts 911 Caller Account," Democracy Now! 9-25-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4477?t=6&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

3. "‘I will light you up!': Texas officer threatened Sandra Bland with Taser during traffic stop," Washington Post 7-22-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5045?t=8&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

4. "As investigation enters fifth month, Tamir Rice’s mother has moved into a homeless shelter," Washington Post 05-04-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5371?t=10&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

5. "'Black women unnamed': how Tanisha Anderson's bad day turned into her last," The Guardian 06-05-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5372?t=12&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

6. "Walter Scott, Michael Slager, Taser planted?" Slate 04-07-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5373?t=14&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

7. "Thousands dead, few prosecuted," Washington Post 04-11-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/4861?t=16&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

8. "The Sandra Bland Investigation Is In Trouble," Huffington Post 9-24-2015
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/5349?t=18&akid=4859.2196388.7p1tH2

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

1,000 Deaths A Year At The Hands Of The Police!!!

       In the UK there are killings by the police, and rightfully, there is an outcry of anger when ever they occur, one, is one too many. However, the figures of police killings here in the UK, look almost saint like when compared to those in that land of the free, the Good ol' US of A. This giant that stomps about the world bombing people into democracy, sees more of its citizens killed by its law enforcement officers than any other country in the developed world. Here in the UK, from 1920 to 2014, 46 people have died at the hands of the police. Shocking and unacceptable. 

      However, in America the average appears to be 1,000 a year, killed by its law enforcements officers, I wonder how this compares with its hoopin' and howlrin' days of the Wild West? How can that be acceptable in a so called civilised country. Looking at the out break of violent protests over the most recent US police killing, and then considering these figures, I'm surprised that there is any peace on the streets of America, any day of the week. The US government ranks up the fear of terrorism, yet Since 9/11, foreign-inspired terrorism has claimed about two dozen lives in the United States. Compare that to 1,000 a year by the US police forces. Obviously the government is looking in the wrong places if it claims to be protecting the American people. There is something rotten at the heart of America.

This from Hartford Courant:

      It turns out that record keeping on this subject tends to be a bit makeshift but that 1,000 deaths-by-police is not a crazy number.
1,000. In a year. I can’t get my mind to ingest that number.
     In Great Britain, the usual number, per year, seems to be zero.  Give or take one?
     Germany reported 8 deaths by police service weapons in a two-year period.
      In Canada, well, I read a  bunch of reports like this one, but I never got a hard number. I think if you said a dozen a year, you wouldn’t get much argument.
1,000.
     I’m in shock. We really have to look at this. To pretend that calling attention to it amounts to some kind of verbal war against police is ridiculous.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

Every 28 Hours!!!

       In America, every 28 hours, a "black" man is killed by a "white" cop, this is routine, this is totally unacceptable to any civilised mind. A recent, Wednesday 8th October, killing in St Louis, has again brought people on to the streets, how long will this go on before it really explodes. There is something rotten at the heart of any society where these kind of figures are accepted.

 This from Anarchist News:

     Just after dusk on Wednesday night in St. Louis, a cop killed 18 year-old Vonderitt “Drew” Myers. This is the third incident of cops killing black men in two months – sadly this is not above average. What is above average, though, is people's response to it. Like Mike Brown, there has been debate about whether he was fighting back, whether he was armed, whether stealing cigars or shooting at police is something you should be killed for. To us, this doesn't matter. We are against the police and all that they do.
     What has happened the last two nights in many ways is a continuation of Ferguson, but also something more. Here in St. Louis, the response to police killing people is now to take to the streets in retaliation. Though there is overlap between those who have been in the streets in Ferguson and in south St. Louis, there are other elements in play. The shooting happened in the Shaw neighborhood, near Tower Grove Park. The neighborhood calls itself “mixed-income” and “diverse” as a bragging right, but the class and racial tensions are very prevalent.
      The officer who killed Myers was off duty but working for a private security company, GCI Security, hired by the middle- and upper-class residents. The marches were still very much focused on race and police, but also on class, explicitly targeting the upper-class as the source of their oppression. Compared to rowdy stuff in Ferguson, this group (also quite rowdy) was way more racially mixed. The following is a collection of reports from the last two nights.

Read the full article HERE:

Visit ann arky's home at www.radicalglasgow.me.uk

GUNNED DOWN FOR ASKING FOR BETTER CONDITIONS.

        As workers' struggle intensifies, so the state repression brutalises, and no where is that brutal repression more open than the recent attack on striking miners in South Africa, where the police opened fire and killed an estimated 40 demonstrators.

This is from an article in The New York Times: 

MARIKANA, South Africa — The police fired on machete-wielding workers engaged in a wildcat strike at a platinum mine here on Thursday, leaving a field strewed with bodies and a deepening fault line between the governing African National Congress and a nation that, 18 years after the end of apartheid, is increasingly impatient with deep poverty, rampant unemployment and yawning inequality.

Continue READING:

ann arky's home.

WORLD WIDE EPIDEMIC.

          It just goes on and on like a world wide epidemic, across the world we get the picture that the police can kill with impunity, a government issued gun kills and it is law and order, protest the killing and it is violence to be crushed. This from Democracy Now:

            Police in the California city of Anaheim are facing allegations of murder and brutality after fatally shooting two Latino men over the weekend and firing rubber bullets at crowds of protesters. On Saturday, Anaheim police shot and killed 24-year-old Manuel Diaz after he reportedly ran away from a group of officers who confronted him in the street. Diaz was unarmed. Hours after his death, a chaotic scene broke out when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a crowd of local residents protesting the shooting. Another Latino resident, Joel Acevedo, was shot dead by police the following day. Police say Acevedo was suspected in a car robbery, but the circumstances around his death remain unconfirmed. From Theresa Smith, who has worked with families to call for police accountability in Anaheim since 2009, when officers shot and killed her son, Cesar Cruz, a 35-year-old father of five. "Given the fact that this is the eighth officer-involved shooting within one year in the city of Anaheim ... the community is going to be very upset," Arellano says. "There’s a lot of angry residents, and rightfully so."

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DEATH AT THE HANDS OF THE POLICE.

      In a recent post, UK armed police,  I mentioned the death of Mark Duggan, by armed police, and the three deaths at the hands of the police since that event. I referred to this as a recent spate, as it should be noted that death at the hands of the police goes away back in our history.
       We can start with Blair Peach, killed at an anti-racist protest in April 1979. In spite of the fact that 14 witnesses stated that they had seen Blair Peach being hit by members of the Metropolitan Police Special Patrol Group, (SPG), nobody was ever charged with his murder. Prior to the Mark Duggan killing the previous high profile death at the hands of the police was Ian Tomlison. Ian was hit from behind and pushed to the ground by a police officer, he died shortly afterwards. This was April 2009 at the London G20 protest, Ian, however, was not at the protest, he was merely trying to find his way home through the protest, after work. He was walking with his hands in his pockets and his back to the police when he was brutally assaulted by the officer.
      There never seems to be much coverage in the media of the number of deaths at the hands of the police, but the numbers are considerable. From 1997 until 2007, in England and Wales, 530 people have died in police custody. Not one single officer has been convicted in connection with these deaths. During the period, 1990 until 2011, armed police have killed 53 people, 21 of these were by the London Metropolitan Police. A lot of deaths, no convictions, it doesn't seem to add up.

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