Author: Local 8751

Andre Francois, PRES. OF LOCAL 8751, SPEAKING AT GROVE HALL RALLY PRECEDING 1/18/21 MAAPB MARTIN LUTHER KING BOSTON MARCH FOR JUSTICE Monday, Martin Luther King Day, 1/18/21, hundreds of protesters organized by Mass Action Against Police Brutality and families impacted by police violence , families of Burrell Ramsey-White, Ross Batista, Usaamah Rahim, Terrence Coleman, Juston Root, Chris Divens, activists from the Black community and allies, assembled and rallied at the Grove Hall Library in Dorchester at 1pm, followed by a MARCH FOR JUSTICE through the streets of Boston’s Black community in Nubian Square in Roxbury to our final destination rally at Bivins Court Park in the South End to demand justice in the ongoing pandemic of police brutality and racism; and to denounce the cop-infested Washington D.C. January 6 white supremacist Trump instigated violent riot and storming of Congress that was in the process of presidential electoral vote counting in a coup attempt that met little or no resistance. The treatment of the Trump organized rioters contrasted sharply with the treatment of protesters opposing police brutality and police murders of peoples of color over the summer months. Part of the reason for the difference in treatment is that the Trump supporter armed rioters were aided by some of the Capitol police who were captured on social media videos moving barricades allowing the mob through and taking selfies with them. The mob was riddled with right-wing militias including cops, cop backers, a number of highly trained ex-military, and staunch opponents of the movement against police brutality and racism. While Biden and his cabinet dismay and call for the restoration of order and democracy, families impacted by police violence have been campaigning for basic democratic rights to be respected in red and blue states and municipalities across the country, highlighted most recently by the government's refusal to charge the officer that shot and paralyzed Jacob Blake of Kenosha, WI, shooting him 7 times in the back. “It is the mass movement sparked in response to police brutality and racism that is the moral compass of the country and the true defender of democracy," said Brock Satter, one of the Mass Action Against Police Brutality organizers. The Biden Administration tipped its hand by picking Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as his labor secretary. Recently released body camera footage shows a slew of violent yet unsurprising behavior from Boston Police officers that is further evidence of the Boston Police Department’s culture of abusive, belligerent policing. In the clips, BPD officers seem to relish pepper spraying peaceful protestors, shoving people down with batons, or running people down in police vehicles. Mass Action Against Police Brutality calls for the prosecution and firing of all involved officers, whether they participated in the violence on the ground or were neglectful and complicit in the coverup of the abuse afterwards. All officers, sergeants, lieutenants, captains, and superintendents who partook and/or oversaw police abuse must be held accountable. Similarly, politicians who stand idly by are complicit in this abuse are demonstrating their inability to represent their constituents and must be removed from office. Predictably, Mayor Walsh, who regularly gives a blind eye or downplays brutal acts of police, refused to sign the city ordinances restricting police weapons. Walsh should be condemned and the country notified. BPD officers can not be trusted with batons or cop cars, let alone rubber bullets, tear gas, or pepper spray. Mass Action Against Police Brutality is calling on all prosecutors to immediately drop charges on any protestors arrested during these and other protests against police brutality and racial injustice. Anyone remaining in police custody from these protests should be released. Demands raised in the rally & march: 1. Jail Killer Cops! Reopen All Past Cases of Police Brutality! 2. Exonerate and Free All Wrongfully Convicted! 3. Fire and Prosecute Police Guilty of Assaulting Protesters and Ban All Use of Rubber Bullets and Chemical Weapons on Protesters! 4. Drop All Charges Against Protesters! 5. End Forced Separation of Families by I.C.E. and Prosecute All Officials Responsible for Violating I.C.E. Detainee’s Human Rights! 6. Raise the Minimum Wage to a Livable Wage Now! For Immediate Pandemic Relief, Temporary Ban on Evictions, and Immediate Aid to All Struggling Families and Small Businesses! 7. Rename Faneuil Hall! Rename Peters Park to Terrance Coleman Park! Remove Mulligan Plaque! www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=Howie.Rotman&set=a.10208626943548260