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Thousands protest against police shootings
10
July, 2016
Protests
against the shootings of two black men by police officers shut down
main arteries in a number of US cities on Saturday (local time),
leading to numerous arrests, but remained mostly peaceful, except for
scuffles with riot police in Baton Rouge.
Undeterred
by heightened concerns about safety at protests after Micah Johnson
killed five police officers in Dallas on Thursday night, organisers
went ahead with marches in the biggest metropolis, New York City, and
Washington D.C, the nation's capital, among other cities.
A
woman holds a banner during a protest in support of the Black lives
matter movement in New York.Photo: AFP
It
was the third straight day of widespread protests after the fatal
shooting of Alton Sterling, 37, by police in Baton Rouge on Tuesday
and the death of Philando Castile, 32, on Wednesday night in a St.
Paul, Minnesota suburb.
The
most recent shooting deaths by police come after several years of
contentious killings by law enforcement officers, including that of
Michael Brown, a teenager whose death in the summer of 2014 caused
riots and weeks of protests in the St Louis suburb of Ferguson.
Early
on Saturday evening, hundreds of protesters shut down I-94, a major
thoroughfare linking the Twin Cities, snarling traffic for about two
hours.
Despite
warnings to disperse, St Paul police said protesters threw objects,
injuring one officer. The police then began making arrests and used
smoke bombs to scatter the crowd.
After
a short standoff later in the evening, riot police made multiple
arrests.
Protests
also took place Saturday in Nashville, where protesters briefly
blocked a road, and in Indianapolis.
A
rally in San Francisco also briefly blocked a freeway ramp, according
to local media.
Hundreds
of protesters marched from City Hall to Union Square in New York. The
crowd swelled to around a thousand people, closing down Fifth Avenue.
Some
in the crowd chanted "No racist police, no justice, no peace"
as rain fell in New York.
"I'm
feeling very haunted, very sad," said Lorena Ambrosio, 27, a
Peruvian American and freelance artist, "and just angry that
black bodies just keep piling and piling up."
New
York police said separately they arrested about a dozen protesters
for shutting down a major city highway.
Dallas police respond to threat
Dallas
police have given the all clear, hours after security levels were
raised at their headquarters in the city following an anonymous
threat.
Dallas
police stand watch near the scene where four Dallas police officers
were shot and killed on July 7, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. Photo: AFP
They
said they had received an anonymous threat.
A
nearby parking lot was searched for a "suspicious person"
but no-one was found. SWAT officers were earlier deployed at the main
building.
Dallas
police said its officers - using dogs - searched the parking lot but
the hunt turned up nothing.
In
a statement earlier on Saturday, police said: "The Dallas Police
Department received an anonymous threat against law enforcement
across the city and has taken precautionary measures to heighten
security."
Johnson,
who was himself killed after the attacks in Dallas, supported black
militant groups who encouraged violence against police.
Dallas
police chief David Brown said Johnson had told a negotiator that he
had wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers,
because he was angry about the recent shootings of black men by
police.
Police
later found bomb-making materials, rifles, ammunition and a combat
journal at Johnson's home.
Police
Chief David Brown speaks at a press conference after the shootings in
Dallas, Texas. Photo:AFP
President stresses unity
US
President Barack Obama says the US is "not as divided as some
have suggested" in the wake of fatal shootings involving
African-Americans.
Mr
Obama said "it was just not true" the US was returning "to
the situation in the 60s".
His
comments, on the side of a Nato summit in Warsaw, echoed those made
earlier by vice-president Joe Biden, who said Americans had a duty to
stand up against injustice, but that people also needed to support
police.
Mr
Obama said Americans of "all races, all backgrounds",
including many of those who were protesting, were outraged by the
Dallas killings.
The
unity shown in the wake of the attack was a strong foundation on
which to build, he said.
"When
you start suggesting that, somehow, there is this enormous
polarisation and we are back to the situation in the 60s, it's just
not true," he said.
"You
are not seeing riots and you are not seeing police going after people
who are protesting peacefully.
US
President Barack Obama was at Nato talks in Warsaw when police were
attacked in Dallas. Photo:AFP
"We
have seen almost uniformly peaceful protests and we have seen,
uniformly, police handling those protests with professionalism.
"And
so, as tough, as hard, as depressing as the loss of life this week,
we have got a foundation to build on. We just have to have confidence
that we can build on those better angels of our nature."
-
BBC / Reuters
‘Police
Purge’: FBI Warns of Plots to Hunt Down and Kill All
The American people look on in horror as the nation’s long undealt with history of police violence against minority communities threatens to evolve into calls for domestic terrorism against cops.
9
July, 2016
In
the wake of the worst attack on police in America
since September 11 in Dallas that left five officers dead
and at least seven other officers wounded when a lone gunmen
took aim at the cops in retaliation for the shooting
deaths of unarmed black men — Alton Sterling in Louisiana
and Philando Castile in Minnesota — a group that can be
described as nothing short of domestic terrorists are
calling for a "police purge" in Baton Rouge and
various cities across the country.
What
was initially dismissed as a hoax leaves the nation’s top cops
in a state of panic issuing warnings to police
in Baton Rouge and throughout the country to be
on high alert and asked the public to keep a watchful,
vigilant eye on developments in order to keep the
nation’s law enforcement community safe.
The
purge, whether real or fictitious, is planned to be carried
out on July 9 and the early hours of July 10 with the
originator of the threat, Facebook user Timothy James Turner,
saying that the only “rule” is that they "kill every
police."
The
idea is borrowed from the cult-film titled "The Purge"
where, surprisingly enough, police go completely off duty for 24
hours allowing every sort of crime to be committed
with impunity. Many social media users suggested that if
protesters don’t disavow and counter the push to engage
in violent struggle against the police, a real life purge
could result when officers decide to go on strike.
Apart
from these terrorist-style threats with images of a
police officer being decapitated by an individual dressed
like Daesh’s "Jihadi John" but with American
flag suspenders, police have come under fire in Georgia,
Missouri, and Tennessee.
In
Ballwin, Missouri, Antonio Taylor ambushed a police officer
from behind during a traffic stop shotting the cop three
times in the neck. The officer remains in critical
but stable condition.
Near
Atlanta, 21-year-old suspect Alonzo Majia Nunez faces prosecution
for shooting at cops from a passing vehicle just a few
hours after the Dallas massacre, but the officer was
unwounded.
Also
in Georgia, a police officer was lured to the home
of suspect Stephen Paul Beck who had called 9-1-1 only to have
an opportunity to take aim at a cop. However, Georgia
Bureau of Investigation spokesman Scott Dutton warns that the
incident may be unrelated to the recent shootings.
Finally,
a black army veteran began indiscriminately shooting at passing
cars with white motorists and police officers telling
investigators that he was troubled by the growing police
violence against the African-American community and had decided
to take matters into his own hands – one woman was killed
while several others were injured.
The
Violence is Indiscriminate, but the Concern is Legitimate
As
politicians like former Congressman Joe Walsh declare war
on Obama over the spate of police shootings and
with threats of violence against cops soaring it would
be easy to forget that the protests against police
brutality are firmly rooted in the reality of an America
fractured by racial divisions and disproportionate, if not
openly discriminatory, treatment of minorities.
The
world looked on in horror as they saw two unarmed black men
shot down by police at point-blank range with next
to no apparent reason based on the available video
evidence. The killing of Alton Sterling happened on Tuesday
as he was held down by cops and shot directly in the
chest several times and then on Wednesday the country watched
on the last breaths of a man, Philando Castile, on a
livestream video recorded by his girlfriend while the couple’s
four year old daughter sat in the back seat.
Other
incidents have cropped up around the country since then
including the mysterious hanging of a man in Atlanta
yesterday, in the Peachtree area of the city, sparking a
mass protest onto the city’s freeway shutting down all
business in the metropolitan area for the day.
This
morning there are reports that another man, Alva Braziel, was
reportedly shot ten times by two police officers including three
shots to the head after refusing to lower a weapon he
was waving around according to initial reports. This latter
incident has exploded on social media although, based on early
findings, it does not appear to be an abuse of force.
America
now finds itself at a perilous juncture where another attack
on police or against a unarmed black person could result
in a calamitous race war already being drummed up by Fox
News who has blasted non-violent Black Lives Matter protesters
as being part of what they have called a "war
on cops."
The
country also finds itself at a moment where tragedy may not be
left in vein, but rather become the stimulus to a
proactive set of proposals to ensure the equal treatment
and safety of black communities and ensuring the safety
of police officers everywhere.
Even
Donald Trump knows which of those two realities we should
embrace putting out a shockingly coherent and galvanizing
message that acknowledges wrongs against the black community
calling the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling
"senseless" while asking the American people to unite.
When
the reality television star turned Republican standard-bearer is the
better angel in the discussion, the instability of the
moment becomes all too obvious, but hope remains that the
country will not descend into a new, more egregious round of
violence.
The Bahamas Just Issued A Travel Warning To The United States
CREDIT:
AP PHOTO/ANDRES KUDACKI
Police
officers stand guard as they watch protesters in the Brooklyn borough
of New York, Friday, July 8, 2016.
ThinlProgress,
9
July, 2016
The
Bahamas issued a travel warning to the United States on Friday,
cautioning its citizens about police violence in the country.
“The
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration has taken a note of the
recent tensions in some American cities over shootings of young black
males by police officers,” the statement read.
“We wish to advise all Bahamians traveling to the US but especially
to the affected cities to exercise appropriate caution generally. In
particular young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in
affected cities in their interactions with the police. Do not be
confrontational and cooperate.”
The
statement follows the tragic deaths of Philando
Castile and Alton
Sterling at
the hands of police earlier this week, as well as five
officers in Dallas in
a sniper attack on Thursday.
The
statement also warned citizens Bahamian citizens to “not get
involved in political or other demonstrations under any circumstances
and [to] avoid crowds.”
Protests
and demonstrations against police brutality took place across the
United States after the deaths of Castile and Sterling. The shooting
in Dallas, Texas on Thursday occurred during one such demonstration.
The gunman, who officers said acted
alone out of a desire “to kill white officers,” shot and killed
five Dallas police officers. Seven other officers and two civilians
were also injuredduring
the demonstration.
On
Friday, police used
pepper spray and fired bean bags at
a demonstration in Phoenix, Arizona, after the demonstrators tried to
block the freeway. According to The Arizona Republic, police
officials said three
protesters were arrested for throwing rocks at officers and at least
six people were injured.
The
travel warning was posted on Facebook by the Bahamian Ministry
of Environment and Housing and
the Bahamas’s
Consulate General in New York.
The
Bahamas’ travel warning can be read in full below:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration Issues Travel Advisory for Bahamians traveling to United States of America
For Immediate Release
8 July 2016
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration has taken a note of the recent tensions in some American cities over shootings of young black males by police officers.
At the commencement of the Independence holiday weekend, many Bahamians will no doubt use the opportunity to travel, in particular to destinations in the United States.
We wish to advise all Bahamians traveling to the US but especially to the affected cities to exercise appropriate caution generally. In particular young males are asked to exercise extreme caution in affected cities in their interactions with the police. Do not be confrontational and cooperate.
If there is any issue please allow consular offices for The Bahamas to deal with the issues. Do not get involved in political or other demonstrations under any circumstances and avoid crowds.
The Bahamas has consular offices in New York, Washington, Miami and Atlanta and honorary consuls in Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago and Houston.
Their addresses are on the Ministry’s website – mofa.gov.bs
Pay attention to the public notices and news announcements in the city that you are visiting.
Be safe, enjoy the holiday weekend and be sensible.
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