[Sosfbay-discuss] Green Party on New Year's Eve BART shooting...

[Carol Brouillet]

FYI- In response to the issue of the BART Shooting raised at the last 
meeting, this link and article were written by a member of the Green 
Party Media Committee- although it doesn't overtly/vocally stress 
that this is a Green Party/rather than a human/moral response to the event...

http://community.feministing.com/2009/01/update-on-fruitvale-bart-prote.html

Justice for Oscar Grant: Update on Fruitvale BART Protest

reposted from <http://racewire.org>Racewire.org

As I write this there are no less than 6 helicopters circling 
overhead in downtown Oakland. On the first day of the 10th year since 
Amadou Diallo was brutally gunned down by police in New York City, 
Oscar Grant was fatally shot in the back by a BART police officer, 
and the event was caught on video.

As I write this, rumors are flying and media is fanning the riot 
flames - car and trash fires, police in riot gear and tanks, 
restaurant windows being smashed, tear gas and rubber bullets being 
used. We won't know the full picture till the night is over and the 
smoke clears, but the story of the successful nonviolent protest 
earlier this evening has been overshadowed by this angry chaos.

What is absolutely clear is that folks are furious about the murder 
of Oscar Grant, furious that a week has passed with no statement or 
acknowledgment of what happened. What is clear is that we currently 
don't have community accountability over our police here in Oakland. 
In this bubble of progress we are hampered by the same brutal power 
dynamics that plague the rest of the nation. Racially driven policing 
that allows the use of lethal weapons in the pursuit of justice is a 
failed model.

What we need:

- we need police to be accountable when they participate in brutality 
against us. In this situation, BART police should have issued a 
statement acknowledging what we all saw, including an apology from 
Johannes Mehserle, the officer who pulled his gun and shot Grant in 
the back. There also needs to be a transparent process for the 
officers involved to be charged and held accountable for what 
happened. Otherwise, this is just another brick in the wall between 
police and the communities they are paid to protect.

- we need community justice processes that allow us to address 
moments of tension and unrest without the lethal presence of police. 
In Detroit, Ron Scott and others are working actively on Peace Zones, 
where the community comes together to assess community crises and 
mete out restorative steps for the guilty party. They are not the 
only ones piloting this model.

- In addition, if police hope to gain our respect and trust in their 
process, they need to commit to disarming themselves of lethal 
weapons immediately, and learn the skills of negotiation and 
community engagement. There is a BART board meeting TOMORROW 
Thursday, Jan. 8, 9 a.m., at the Kaiser Center, Third Floor - they 
need to hear our voices.

- We need ongoing supported focus on police brutality and 
accountability, even as we develop our own peace zones. It's no 
longer sufficient to get furious when a civilian is killed by police, 
and maintain that fury until the officers are acquitted or resign. 
For the past 10 years it has been nearly impossible to get sustained 
support for this kind of work from the foundation world, so as 
organizers we have to sustain this work in other more community-based 
ways. I definitely want to shout out 
<http://gatheringforjustice.ning.com/>The Gathering , who have picked 
up this unpopular issue as it relates to juvenile justice, with the 
commitment of Harry Belafonte - they are joining the Oakland 
community for actions next week. I have also heard that Uhuru will be 
hosting a meeting tomorrow evening to discuss accountability and healing.

- we need to express our gratitude to groups like 
<http://www.cjny.org/>Community Justice Network for Youth (CJNY) , 
who identified the gaping hole that exists in the non-profit and 
organizing community of Oakland in terms of police accountability 
work. CJNY stepped up in a major way for today's nonviolent action, 
but they can't maintain this effort on their own. Bay Area groups who 
focus their work on young people of color, this political moment needs you.

- And I know I am biased by the perspective of working at 
<http://www.ruckus.org/>The Ruckus Society , but we need to engage in 
the deep training and skill development around pulling off large 
scale strategic direct actions. There are ways to pull together mass 
actions in a short time period that gain media, build the power of 
our positions, and help the community to see and understand the 
situation and how they can get involved. Over the past few months 
organizers from directly impacted communities - Bay Area immigrant 
youth and a multi-racial LGBTQ coalition - have successfully shut 
down the ICE headquarters building and protested Prop 8 in downtown 
San Francisco using affinity groups, action teams, brilliant 
blockading tactics, and police and media liaisons. Those actions were 
planned and pulled off in VERY short amounts of time, and Ruckus is 
definitely not the only group that does this sort of skill building. 
Most importantly, in terms of tonight's events, there are also ways 
to de-escalate situations, even when people who aren't directly 
impacted by oppression start losing their composure.

We know how to do this, and must apply that knowledge, or risk losing 
all credibility in terms of our demands for peace.

At this moment, as Mayor Ron Dellums meets with protesters, and the 
Oakland Police Department hold a long overdue press conference, we 
must not sink to the reactive and chaotic level of Officer Mehserle. 
This is our moment to unite behind a nonviolent call for 
transparency, accountability and justice from Oakland Police 
Department. We must model the community we wish to be.

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