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Police
protesters turn backs on NYPD, copying cops' message to mayor
IMAGE: @LNONBLONDE
29
December, 2014
As
thousands gathered in New York Saturday to remember a New York Police
Department officer who was murdered
execution-style with
his partner on Dec. 20, police brutality protesters continued to
rally in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
Protesters
who gathered at the NYPD's 75th precinct office to condemn the
November shooting death of Akai
Gurley,
an unarmed black men who was killed by a rookie NYPD officer in a
dark public housing stairwell, turned their backs on officers
standing behind a metal barricade, symbolizing a lack of trust.
Police
at the funeral of Officer Rafael Ramos made
the same symbolic movewhen
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio arrived. The NYPD has
beentargeting
de Blasio for
some time, with many on blue criticizing him for not supporting the
department. A de Blasio spokesman called for unity after the cops'
action.
After
Ramos and his partner, Wenjian Liu were assassinated by a 28-year-old
with disdain for police, de Blasio asked for a temporary
halt to
protests until the officers were buried. But demonstrators have
carried on, noting that being silent would be the wrong move.
While
recent protests against excessive police force have focused on
Michael Brown, the unarmed black 18-year-old shot by a white police
officer in Ferguson, Missouri in August, and Eric Garner, the
43-year-old black man choked to death by a white police officer in
Staten Island in July, Gurley's name has also been mentioned, but to
a lesser degree.
Authorities have said that Gurley's death was an accident, but demonstrators Saturday did not believe that clim.
Los Angeles
Meanwhile
in Los Angeles, activists gathered for a so-called "Millions
March LA" to raise awareness of a cause that has swept the
nation. They carried signs that said "Black Lives Matter"
and "Unite Against Racism" and chanted for justice. Both
the white police officers that killed Brown and Garner were not
indicted, which upset demonstrators.
Marchers
also repeated slogans popularized since the early days of Ferguson
protests on Brown's behalf, such as "No Justice! No Peace! No
Racist Police!" and "This is what democracy looks like!"
At
a similarly named rally, "Millions
March NYC," tens
of thousands crowded streets and bridges earlier this month.
Chicago
Former
Milwaukee officer Christopher Manney shot Dontre
Hamilton 14
times in a downtown park. Manney was fired in October for ignoring
department policy, but the county district attorney announced Monday
that he would
not file charges because
he said Manney acted in self-defense.
6:15 AM - 28 Dec 2014 Chicago, IL, United States
Hamilton's
family members, who attended the rally, have said the 31-year-old
suffered from schizophrenia. Jackson told the crowd, "We cannot
stand by and let this happen without saying something." Federal
investigators have said they'll look into the shooting.
Cleveland
The
mood was different, however, in downtown Cleveland, where several
thousand walked silently, wearing blue to honor police officers.
Cleveland
has seen a number of anti-police protests recently, some prompted by
the Nov. 21 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was holding
a pellet gun when a police car responded to a report of a man with a
gun.
But
on Saturday a "Sea of Blue" demonstration walked from
Public Square to a police memorial park to honor Ramos. More than 200
people gathered in downtown Denver to support police officers
Saturday, too. The day before, 50 people turned out for a "Blue
Lives Matter Too" rally in Dubuque, Iowa, and another 200
gathered in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The
pro-police gatherings were mostly peaceful, unlike a Dec. 19 rally
for police officers in New York City that stoked tensions with police
brutality protesters. The rival demonstrators yelled at each other
and police had to increase the distance between the two groups by
moving back metal barricades.
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