Foes want Lee to stop with frisk plans, 
San Francisco Chronicle, July 18, 2012

from the New York chapter of World Can't Wait 

The synergy created by the Fathers Day Silent March against "Stop and Frisk," the Center for Constitutional Rights' class action lawsuit against the NYPD, and advocacy by other groups who challenge the NYPD policy is powerful. Indeed the Bloomberg administration and Ray Kelly have been very much on the political defensive because of all the protest, but so far they've gotten away without changing anything substantial on the policy of "stop and frisk."

No action can substitute for people directly confronting an abuse that is immoral and illegal. The Stop Mass Incarceration Network called for non-violent actions at police precincts in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens where people directly confronted the NYPD. This led to arrests of 83 people who demanded an end to Stop and Frisk policies.

Despite demands to "drop the charges" the trial of activists arrested in Manhattan resulted in a conviction for disorderly conduct but no jail time. Now the prosecutors have upped the ante.  Those arrested in Brownsville and Jamaica  face misdemeanor charges of disorderly conduct and obstruction of governmental administration and possible jail time.

One of the protestors is “Noche” Diaz, who is also a member of the People's Neighborhood Patrol of Harlem (whose aim is to prevent law enforcement from violating the peoples' rights and brutalizing them under the color of authority). Noche has been arrested 5 times and faces 11 charges which prosecutors are attempting to combine into one trial: (charges from the 'Stop & Frisk' protest in October 2011, and an arrest in March 2012, when they arrested Noche during a youth protest around Trayvon Martin;  he also faces charges in the Bronx where he witnessed a police attack on a Black motorist). Clearly Noche has been targeted for his activism and  faces serious jail time if this combination of charges is allowed to stand and charges are not dropped.

See Noche on video here.

WHAT YOU CAN DO to SUPPORT THE RESOLUTION TO DROP THE CHARGES

1. Donate to the Freedom Fighters Defense Fund:  Contributions are tax deductible--indicate Defense Fund
2. Sign the Resolution here as a individual or organization 
3. Ask any groups/organizations you belong to sign on to the Resolution 
4. Forward this e-mail to friends and family and speak to them about signing the Resolution
5. Ask anyone you know who has been stopped and frisked to tell the story at Bear Witness.
6. Join the Defense Committee:  Meetings Mondays at 7 pm every two weeks (July 16 and beyond) at the Riverside Church--enter on Claremont between 120th -121st.

IN THE NEWS:

7/3/12 NYCLU Calls NYPD 'Wanted' Poster of 'Professional Agitators' 'Disgusting' (DNAinfo)

7/2/12 NYPD brands Occupy Wall Street couple as professional agitators and plaster their photos on flyers (NY Daily News)

7/2/12 Harlem Couple Branded 'Professional Agitators' in NYPD 'Wanted' Poster (DNAinfo)

From SMIN activist and social comedian Randy Credico:

by Carl Dix
Stop-and-frisk has been much in the news in New York City. A federal judge ruled a civil suit against it could go forward as a class action suit, saying the city’s arguments “do not withstand the overwhelming evidence that there, in fact, exists a centralized stop-and-frisk program that has led to thousands of unlawful stops.” The New York Times wrote an editorial titled “Reform Stop & Frisk,” which concluded, “the city should be trying to settle this case and working immediately to reform a policy that violates rights and undermines trust in the police.” NYPD chief Ray Kelly announced new measures that center on greater supervision of street cops.

On June 5, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo proposed legislation to reduce the penalty for possessing a small amount of marijuana from a misdemeanor to a violation. More...

It took 45 days of nation-wide protest to get Trayvon Martin’s killer, George Zimmerman, arrested. 

Now, the powers that be and their mouthpieces are creating public opinion to exonerate Zimmerman. NOT AGAIN.  NOT THIS TIME. 

June 5th marked 100 days after Trayvon’s murder.  On that day, activists across the country wore hoodies to let people know that we will not let this case be swept under the rug.  We will win justice for Trayvon.
The fight for justice for Trayvon must be linked to fighting against how the criminal ‘injustice’ system in this country comes down on people. His murder concentrated the outrage so many feel about racially targeted mass incarceration. 2.4 million people in prisons across the U.S., Blacks and Latinos treated like criminals; guilty until proven innocent, if they survive their encounters with cops to prove their innocence; torture-like conditions faced by those in prison and former prisoners forced to wear badges of shame and dishonor after they’ve served their sentences. It is way past time to say NO MORE to all of this.

Until recently George Zimmerman, his murderer, was out on bail—while Marissa Alexander, a Black woman who fired warning shots to chase off an abusive former boyfriend who was threatening to kill her, got 20 years in prison. No stand your ground protection for her.

We are being told it’s time to get out of the streets and let the system work. The system was working when Florida cops found Zimmerman standing over Trayvon’s dead body and let him walk free. It’s working now, as news stories appear backing up Zimmerman’s claim he was defending himself and slandering Trayvon’s name. What are they telling us—that traces of marijuana in your blood is a reason to kill you?

They want us to think our job is done, and now we should step back and let the gears of justice turn. We say no to that! It is only because masses of people poured into the streets that Zimmerman now faces charges. This is part of the workings of a system that continues to quietly grind away warehousing more than 2.4 million mostly Black and Latino people in prison and victimizing millions more with racial profiling.

Now's the time to continue to deliver the message: We are all Trayvon, the whole damn system is guilty!  Here’s what you can do:

1. Wear your hoodies and encourage others to do the same. Take pictures and spread them.

2. Organize speakouts, spread the message We Are All Trayvon Martin, The Whole Damn System is Guilty!

3. Bear Witness: Break the Silence--End the Shame.  Tell your story of abuse by the cops, of suffering in prison or discrimination against former prisoners.  Record your own story (go to www.bearwitnessproject.tumblr.com) or contact us and we’ll record you.  Organize “Bear Witness” days in your school, community center or church.

4. Most importantly, stay connected! Tell us what you did—or are planning to do.

The massive response to the vigilante murder of Trayvon pushed some of the truth about the way this system heaps abuse on Black and Latino youth out there for all to see. Let’s keep on pushing and fight for justice for Trayvon, bring to light all the crimes this system has perpetrated and condoned and through that change the way people look at racial profiling and mass incarceration.