International Call-Out for Oakland Support and Solidarity
dirty...@riseup.net
Greetings from California, Comrades!
As many have heard, a relentless anti-police movement has grown from
the tragedy of Oscar Grant's murder on January 1, 2009 by former officer
Johannes Mehserle.* Recently, Mehserle was convicted of the deplorable
charge of involuntary manslaughter, a weak charge which carries a
sentence of probation to four years in prison.
When the news
of Mehserle's verdict reached the people of the bay area on July 8, the
streets heated up in a style reminiscent of the anti-police riots a year
and a half ago. Downtown Oakland swelled immediately after the release
of the verdict. For hours after the verdict was released, people milled
about, yelling at police, and listening to angry speeches. As the sun
went down, the police moved in to end the spontaneous demonstration,
threatening arrest of anyone who stayed on the streets. The sky was
littered with helicopters and planes. Every police force in the region
had gathered in downtown. Despite these threats, in the hours that
followed, blocks and blocks of Oakland were wrecked, bank windows
smashed, stores looted, and trash cans set on fire by people outraged by
the state and society's sickening disregard for Oscar Grant's life, and
by extension, those who are always the victims of police violence in
the state's constant war against people of color, women, and the
poor.
The night of July 8th, and long after the riots had ended, the
Oakland Police Department as well as other Bay Area police departments,
snatched at least 78 people from the streets.
Twelve of those
comrades are still in jail. Seven of them are being held without bail
for parole violations. The five others face various felonies including
burglary, rioting, and arson. They have bails ranging between $60,000
and $70,000, with one man being held for $525,000. With a bail bondsman
we can free them by posting around 10% of the bail. We are hopeful that
some of these people will get their bail reduced in the coming weeks
after their pre-trial. Regardless, raising funds now is imperative.
Defendants will be held in jail until the conclusion of their trial if
we do not bail them out. (During the last Oscar Grant riots in January
2009 one man was charged with arson. His trial dragged on a whole year
before the city dropped the charges due to lack of evidence. This
scenario is destined to repeat itself at the expense of those arrested
on the 8th.)
We, the anarchists and autonomists of the Bay
Area of California, lovers of rebellions, and haters of cops for their
ceaseless violence against us, do humbly request for solidarity to help
free these brave rebels. If your collective, scene, squat, movement has
the capacity to throw a benefit, or otherwise come into money, for this
legal defense fund. we couldn't need it more in order to keep our
movement against the murderous police fierce and alive!
Thank you.
In Solidarity,
The Oakland 100 Support Committee
To make an online contribution use oakland100 [at] gmail.com via paypal.com
For more information on the status of the cases see
http://supporttheoakland100.wordpress.com/ or email us at oakland100 [at]
gmail.com
For ongoing coverage of the Justice for Oscar Grant Movement see
http://www.indybay.org
Please feel free to repost and forward this widely and translate into
other languages!
*For those unfamiliar with the case: Oscar Grant, a Black man, was
pulled off a train in Oakland New Years Eve by a gang of police. He was
laying face down on the ground when shot point blank in the back by
Mehserle, a white cop. The murder was filmed by many train passengers
and viewed by hundreds of thousands of people on youtube. A week after
the murder herds of people from Oakland, California erupted in riots.
http://supporttheoakland100.wordpress.com/
