On May 20, Detroit activists held a press conference to discuss the police brutality and arrests faced by pro-Palestine protesters on Sunday, May 19 during President Joe Biden’s visit to Detroit to attend the NAACPs annual dinner. Organizations that were present included Detroit Will Breathe (DWB), along with representatives from Project 1948, Party for Socialism and Liberation, Detroit Justice Center, US Palestinian Community Network, and other activists. While the protest was wrapping up, police harassed, followed, brutalized, beat and targeted several protesters for arrest. This led to four activists facing misdemeanors and two potentially facing felony charges.
This repression that activists have been facing for protesting against a U.S. funded genocide in Gaza has ramped up in recent months. Recently in New York City, police assaulted protesters during the Nakba Day march.
The May 20 press conference started with DWB co-founder Nakia Wallace reading aloud the joint statement that condemned the attacks on protestors, including the tasering of a handcuffed person of color by the police. This happened with the consent and backing of the Democratic Party in not only the blackest city of the nation, but a city that has historically been the epicenter for the movements of the oppressed. The statement further elaborates on how the police being an integral part of capitalist stability cannot be reformed — nor can the political forces that support this system. Wallace’s statement concluded with the demands of dropping all charges against the protestors, and the firing of those police officers who brutalized those protestors. Community leaders and labor unions must come out in condemnation of the repression that the movement for Palestine has faced, and stand in solidarity with the movement.
It is worth noting prior to the press conference, the Detroit Police Department held its own press conference, having realized the PR disaster that occurred. In the press conference, the officers lied about the handling of those arrested. In addition, they commented on the tasering of the protester where they denied that the device even made contact with victims skin despite video evidence showing the contrary.
Next activists from various organizations testified what they experienced that Sunday, including DWB members Matt Hollerbach and Lloyd Simpson, who is also a member of PSL. Both are potentially facing felony charges and the latter was brutally tasered by the police. Additionally, Lexi Zeidan, whose viral clip of the police officer Lt. Brandon Cole telling them to “go back to Mexico,” spoke at the press conference along with others that were brutalized and injured that day. The activists collectively described being harassed by the police. For example, a police officer admitted during the protest that they stalk the activists’ social media profiles to keep track of their whereabouts.
The irony of the situation is that Biden was attending a dinner at the NAACP, an organization founded on the principles of advocating for equality and civil rights. The president highlighted his administration’s successes in advancing the conditions of Black and Brown people. All the while outside, protesters were brutalized for protesting for civil rights of Palestinians, by the very same institutions of the state that brutalized the Civil Rights movement and the uprisings in 2020 against police brutality.
The events in Detroit demonstrate the need to unite the movement to combat against its repression. As the speakers at the press conference explained, Democratic Party won’t save us. Only the forces of the working class alongside the movement for Palestine have the political power necessary and required to drop the charges against the protesters and bring the movement back into the streets.
Originally Published: 2024-05-23 18:42:23
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