Is this news everywhere else? It's pretty big here. There's been an occupation in front of the 4th Precinct on the northside for a couple of days. Cops tried to evict it yesterday but were pushed back. Protesters also blocked one of the main highways. I'll post more updates when I have time.
"Police" is missing from the
"Police" is missing from the thread title.
I have not seen any mention
I have not seen any mention of this in UK or Irish media. Doesn't mean it isn't hidden in there somewhere, but not obvious. It's still wall-to-wall Paris, Mali, jihadis and the "Migrant Menace" around this mediasphere.
Ah, there you go. It is there
Ah, there you go. It is there if you look for it.
BBC: Minneapolis man shot dead by police 'not handcuffed'
Quote: The shooting has led
"Against each other"?
Oh, and the image on the handkerchief in this picture from the BBC looks awfully familiar...
Haven't had time to get to a
Haven't had time to get to a computer and post more info. But today city council meeting was disrupted. One of the cops who killed Jamar turns out almost killed an unarmed man when he was with the San Diego police. The IWW here put out background information on the local loudmouth police union head, who has been linked to a groups that has white nationalist links. I think a couple high schools walked out today and went to the 4th Precinct.
Um, the other night, when cops tried to evict the occupation and some of the protesters fought back, local liberal nonprofit "leaders" started snitchjacketing people during the protest and on social media. One longtime ARA person had their image circulated online by one of these people, saying that he was a fed. These leaders I guess also pointed out "troublemakers" to police. A new term has come out of this..."crackerjacketing" which is when people try to characterize radical multiracial groups or crews as white. This is almost as common, and usually intertwined with, the use of "outside agitator". That term is now being used by the police chief. She had a press conference yesterday in which she held a big chunk of concrete which she said had been thrown by anarchists.
Went to the occupation last night. There were about 350-400 there. Street in front of the encampment was blocked off, with protesters directing traffic. Seems most of the police were in the back of the property, a fenced in area with a lot of floodlights directed outwards. Reminded me of a foreign embassy in a hostile country or something. The mayor showed up, talked to protesters for a little bit before people got sick of her answers and heckled and shouted at her. She was whisked away pretty quick.
The encampment reminds me of a more organized Occupy. Numerous fire pits (it was 30F last night with 25mph winds). Tents, hot coffee and stacks of free pizza. It was pretty calm. Reverands, Rep. Keith Ellison and various BLM people spoke. 2 people were arrested later that night for spraying "fuck the police" on the precinct's walls.
Police chief and police union head argued with each other on radio today over how to handle protests. Good cop/bad cop shit...
Here's an account of
Here's an account of Wednesday night from First of May Anarchist Alliance
Statement from Twin Cities
Statement from Twin Cities IWW African People's Caucus
thanks for the updates, it is
thanks for the updates, it is interesting reading about this in baltimore
Larger NAACP march today and
Larger NAACP march today and vigil.
Cops said they found molotovs "near" 4th Precinct. Missed hearing about this but I guess some were thrown at the station the other night.
Racist 4chan "gun rights" board posters has been spamming the #justice4jamar hastag on Twitter and two of them showed up last night armed and videotaping protesters. More of them are supposed to show up. BLM organizers and antifa working together to watch out for them.
No problem, gram. Hoping
No problem, gram. Hoping these posts are useful
Just got back a little while
Just got back a little while ago. Pretty calm tonight. As it got late, crowd whittled down. Kinda feels like a waiting game. Cops rarely showed themselves except peaking over the wall on a scissor lift. Walls are way more tagged up since last night, with stuff like RIP Jamar, fuck the police, acab etc.
There was a church group that came out and led a large prayer. I think some of the black churches in the city have been making trips to the occupation.
Lot of support from neighborhood. People driving buy, honking, raising fists, yelling fuck the police. People have donated food and warm clothes for people. There's even people stopping bu with cars and telling people to jump in to get warm for a bit. Never would have thought anout that but its a small, practical thing someone can do to support whats going on. Plus on Wednesday when the cops were pretty aggressive with tear gas, pepper spray and marker rounds and snatch squads, the neighborhood sheltered a lot of protesters by letting them into their homes.
Heard there's a split in the city council. Some of them have been coming to the occupation while others have publicly questioned thosr councilmembers doing so.
Probably gonna head down tomorrow too
These reports are great
These reports are great
First video to hit the
First video to hit the internet has surfaced of the aftermath of the shooting.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1011158522261274&id=838424259534702
City has begun moving concrete barriers, cranes etc around 4th Precinct. Rumors of raid at 7:30am, which is in 2.5 hours
They are trying to end the
So they didn't end up forcing
So they didn't end up forcing people out, but they blockaded the street along the side gate entrance with concrete barriers, which, as I understand it, was one of the hot spots where protesters fought off the advancing police on Wednesday night and also where an SUV supposedly tried to ram through the gate some other day.
Today, a few hundred members of AFL-CIO unions showed up at the occupation.
Thanks for the updates Juan.
Thanks for the updates Juan.
RIP Jamar Clark.
Im hearing that 2 people were
Im hearing that 2 people were shot at the protest, possibly by white supremacists, although I don't know what they're basing that on.
EDIT: Now hearing 3-5 were shot.
This article seems fairly
This article seems fairly confident the shots came from a group of racists who've been showing up nightly to harass folks.
What the actual fuck. Juan,
What the actual fuck. Juan, please send fullest solidarity to all the folks in Minneapolis.
There's so many rumors and
There's so many rumors and misinformation going around but it seems that 2-4 white men and possibly one Asian man or woman came to the occupation. They were across the closed off street from most of the protesters, masked up and filming them. They were asked to unmask and refused. This escalated to a physical fight and the group was chased out, down the block where they opened fire and then fled, possibly in a SUV.
Police took their time responding and then ended up pepper spraying people at the scene and making comments such as "this is what you wanted".
Last week in /k/ in 4chan, there was an effort to get racists to the protests. At least 2 of them showed up. There were claims that poisoned food was donated. A video later posted online by these two people showed them making racist comments and displaying a handgun. Also, 4chan racists flooded the #justice4jamar hashtag, making it almost useless. It was filled with misinformation and some people were taking that stuff as real. Anyway, some people are saying the 2 people from last week were part of the group that opened fire last night but again there's so much rumors going around, who knows.
There's a couple school walkouts happening today and a march to the precinct. The family of Jamar has asked that the occupation end for safety reasons, but don't think that's going to happen.
A 23 year old man was just
A 23 year old man was just arrested in the suburb I work in. Seems he's connected to the shooting somehow
32 year old Hispanic male
32 year old Hispanic male also arrested. I remember seeing that one of the two racists from last week's video were doxxed and it was a former Latino soldier. Wonder if that dox was accurate then...
Thanks for the updates,
Thanks for the updates, Juan.
I've recently heard two more people have turned themselves in and that the Hispanic guy is apparently not connected according to the cops.
What does this mean?
4chan is a website, k is the
4chan is a website, k is the 'weapons' section.
3 people arrested. Their names have been put out. Hispanic wasn't at the shooting but is one of the guys in the video. He flashes the weapon.
http://m.startribune.com/social-media-offer-clues-into-shooting-suspects-motives/353411111/
Some of the people who were shot last night have been released. At least 2 of them showed up to the march today on crutches.
The march today was 1,000-2,000 strong and went from the 4th Precinct to City Hall and back.
Jamar Clark shooting being
Jamar Clark shooting being handed over to grand jury, which bring charges against cops something like 3% of the time. Department of Justice officials were in town, met with Jamar's family and BLM people. Local city officials have been pretty silent since last night's shooting. The mayor released a video on Facebook condemning the shooting.
Didn't make it back up to the northside after the march, but hearing the police snatched one person out of the crowd, while BLM people on the mic said it was his own fault. Smh.
Barricades have been set up on both ends of the street by them occupation and there's a security detail of anarchos and people from the neighborhood I'm hearing.
One of the protesters shot
One of the protesters shot last night, at the march today
Pictures from today's march
Picture I took at the
Picture I took at the occupation on Friday night. This is right in front of the 4th Precinct
Also last Friday, NAACP vigil
Scene from last Wednesday, when protesters and police clashed
Some of the kids who did a walkout last Friday
Police chief and mayor
Police chief and mayor talking about boogeyman anarchists last Thursday
Various pix from the last week
Thanks Juan, keep those
Thanks Juan, keep those updates coming man!
"Leaked emails" apparently
"Leaked emails" apparently show the suspects plotting to attack and making racist motives clear: https://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/emails-reveal-racists-plotted-confrontation-with-black-lives-matters-activists-days-before-shooting/
And surprising no-one, the suspects are fans of guns, militias, and the Confederacy: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/11/revealed-accused-minneapolis-shooters-fascinated-with-guns-militia-groups-and-the-confederacy/#.VlX0wzqTqpw.twitter
MN student walkout video from
MN student walkout video from FB:
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https://www.facebook.com/tea.rozmanclark/videos/472156539639425/
Reporter pepper sprayed last
Reporter pepper sprayed last week
One of the snatch squads constantly around the occupation
I saw a video about the
I saw a video about the shootings, and thought Minneapolis sounded familiar, are there any updates on the conditions of the other shooting victims?
Also really impressed with the dedication your all showing to this*.
*Trying to say this in a way that didn't come across as patronising or flippant about the extreme dangers and its the best I've got.
Left town for Thanksgiving so
Left town for Thanksgiving so not in the loop as much right now.
NY and Philly (others?) had Minneapolis solidarity marches that blocked streets etc.
You really have to question
You really have to question what all these police killings are doing to the consciousness of the American worker. I heard a Black UC professor speaking about what's going on in Chicago, she called it "traumatizing". Regardless of it's intent, the broader movement protesting these killings aren't doing much other than highlighting how confused and disunified the American working class is today. We're so defeated that the bourgeoisie is just openly slaughtering us in the streets and we can't even form an appropriate class response. The best political reaction is almost completely tied into democracy, the state and legalism.
What's happening on the inside of these movements isn't great either. Privilege checking and race baiting basically.
So, back in Minneapolis.
So, back in Minneapolis. Thought I'd go over what's happened since my last post.
There were solidarity marches in different cities on November 25.
NY Solidarity march
Philly solidarity march blocking intersection
On Thanksgiving, the occupation at the 4th Precinct had 'Blacksgiving'
BLM Minneapolis put out some rules for the occupation
It just came to light, that one of the officers involved in Jamar Clark's killing was sued for excessive force 10 days prior to the incident.
The mayor, Rep. Ellison, the Urban League and others held a press conference today calling for the occupation to end.
The 4 people arrested in connection with shooting protesters were finally charged today.
Juan Conatz wrote: 15. White
Juan Conatz
:lol:
Glad we've got Jamal here
Glad we've got Jamal here steadfastly beating on that pet gripe of his.
On Thursday, there's an IWW
On Thursday, there's an IWW organized picket of the police union's headquarters in St. Paul. The head of the union has been pretty scathing in the media and has a history of brutality and racism.
As for the white people speaking to media thing, I'm assuming that's because the media looks for white faces to talk to and represent the occupation to the public, at the exclusion of the many black organizers involved.
(No subject)
The right-wing narrative on
The right-wing narrative on the racist shooting at the occupation is 'self-defense' now.
Saw this Facebook post from Mel Reeves, a long-time local activist. Although we probably disagree politically, he has consistinly spoke against lining up with the city government and complaining about vandalism and "violence" in the BLM movment.
An interfaith group of clergy did an action at City Hall
Was surprised to see the
Was surprised to see the editorial board of a newspaper in St. Cloud (medium sized city a couple hours outside Minneapolis) question calls for the occupation to end.
There has been some pushback to the backlash that pops up here and there in the media. This counterpoint to a ridiculous editorial in the StarTribune (Minneapolis' main newspaper) is decent.
Probably one of the biggest things in the local news right now is the claim that police response times to high priority calls (emergency in progress) have increased by one minute since the 4th Precinct Occupation has been going on. This is a favorite anti-BLM thing, you heard it with the highway marches and blockades. Any disruption of a political nature is going to hear this kind of stuff. Of course, no one brings these things up when disruption is of a non-political nature (such as sports events, Black Friday, weather, other factors, etc.)
The City Council meeting today had some people who live in the neighborhood the occupation is in complaining that it needs to come to an end. However, this 'public comment' section of the Council's meeting was not on the agenda beforehand, and at least some of these residents were contacted by a councilmember who has not been supportive of BLM's efforts. I think there is a mixture of opinions in the broad neighborhood, and the city council meeting didn't relfect that in any way.
The Fox affiliate here got their hands on a tape of an incident involving one of the officers that killed Jamar Clark. The incident resulted in that officer being sued for excessive force.
Thanks for the continuous
Thanks for the continuous updates, Juan. Your perspective is much more informative than any of the news outlets available. When you're out there, are you just walking around? Do you have chances to talk to people, possibly getting some revolutionary working class perspectives in there? Or is it basically just walking around angry, camping out and being messed with by the cops?
Police raided and evicted the
Police raided and evicted the occupation at 4 this morning. There were several arrests. I believe everyone has been released as of 8:30 AM.
Just dawned on me how me how
Just dawned on me how me how effing cold it must be, solidarity mate!
I'm at work now, Jamal, so
I'm at work now, Jamal, so I'll have to answer your questions more in depth later.
Yeah, Soapy, it has been about 20-30F most nights and it snowed about 4 inches last week. I haven't to the occupation since November 21st though, when it was a little warmer.
Looks like BLM called a rally today at City Hall at 4PM. Then there's the police "union" picket at 6PM.
The precinct now looks like an American embassy in the Middle East...
Jamal wrote: Thanks for the
Jamal
I only made it to the occupation twice, on November 20th and 21st. There was for sure a lot of milling about, impromptu speeches, conversations around the fire, etc. I'm not sure about revolutionary working class perspective, but I gave my opinion in the couple of conversations I had. Of course, there was a bit of nervousness because of the online racist harassment that ended up with 4 suburban boys coming to the occupation and shooting people the next night, plus a couple of days before I made it there, there was some street fighting between protestors and police.
So, like I mentioned before,
So, like I mentioned before, the 4th Precinct occupation was raided and evicted early this morning. This is what it looks like now.
Later this evening, there were two marches/rallies. The first one was organized by Black Lives Matter and they occupied the inside of city hall for a few hours. Picture reminds me of Madison...
Around the same time, the Twin Cities IWW General Defense Committee1 and the Twin Cities IWW African Peoples Caucus2 launched a smaller march to a bowling alley on the NorthEast side of Minneapolis. The sheriff was having a fundraiser and we were tipped off that Bob Kroll, the head of the Minneapolis police union, was there. Apparantly, about 15 minutes before we got there, the top cops were escorted out, the fundraiser was cancelled, and the doors were locked.
BLM left City Hall and met us outside the bowling alley fundraiser and we blocked off the intersection for another 30 minutes.
We then headed to the Minneapolis police union HQ. They had it on lockdown. They even put a tarp over their sign in either a comical attempt to fool us or to keep their name out of the news.
We took that whole street.
Quote: Apparantly, about 15
Well, that's fucking awesome. Well done!
These reports are the best
These reports are the best source of info I get on this issue, thanks.
It's just great to have the
It's just great to have the photos with the updates too, thanks for the effort.
From what I see on twitter
From what I see on twitter there is a sizable protest in the city of Chicago going on right now demanding Rahm Emanuel resign over the Laquan McDonald case. Former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel's poll numbers show he has the support of a dismal 18% of Chicagoans.
Encouraging that mobilization against police violence has become sustained around the country. The way I could the see the state compromising with BLM while still maintaining the system of white supremacy that characterizes America is by simply reducing the number of police killings while allowing the justice system to function normally otherwise.
Edit for this fantastic photo of prisoners at the jail in downtown Chicago looking down at the protest
Thanks for the updates !!!
Thanks for the updates !!!
Thanks for the detailed
Thanks for the detailed account!
Has the eviction of the occupation managed to quell the unrest?
County attorney refused to
County attorney refused to press charges against the two officers.
http://m.startribune.com/No-charges-against-police-in-Jamar-Clark-shooting-death/373979481/
There's some rallies and marches tonight. People at work talkin about the North Side gonna be burning down but I don't buy it.
One of the major grocery stores on the North Side closed for the day, supposedly because of fears of looting.
The county attorney has
The county attorney has released a ton of evidence related to the Jamar Clark killing in an attempt to be "transparent". Haven't been able to look through any of it yet.
Yesterday, after the county attorney's announcement, people gathered at the spot where Clark was killed.
At some point, people blockaded the 2 streets on that block with park benches and newspaper boxes. Police advanced on the area. Not sure what transpired, but the stuff in the street was removed and the police left.
A little later in the day, two marches, one from the North Side, and one from a park near downtown, happened.
The marches converged at the Government Plaza, downtown.
After that some of the crowd headed to the 4th Precinct, but think they eventually dispersed.