On Nov. 30, over 50 protesters gathered on the steps of Hendricks Chapel on the Syracuse University quad to denounce police brutality and stand in solidarity with the Occupy movement and people of color who face police violence on a regular basis. The event was organized by SU students and the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). It was supported by Occupy Syracuse.
The event was organized to stand in solidarity with the brutal police attack on UC Davis students that took place Nov. 18. Braving Syracuse’s notoriously cold weather, supporters chanted “Money for books and education, not for cops and corporations!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, police brutality has got to go!”
Adrienne Garcia, ANSWER member and rally organizer, introduced numerous speakers, including students, professors and members of the community. The common theme of the speakers was an important one: The police work for the 1 percent in protecting capitalism, an irrational system that continues to fail millions of Americans.
While the heinous acts of repression committed by police officers around the country against the Occupy movement should be vocally denounced, it is important to recognize that police violence is commonplace for the working class, especially in communities of color. Risa C’DeBaca, a student and organizer in Syracuse remarked about police violence: “For someone who grew up in a poor urban community, this isn’t new to me … this was an everyday occurrence.”
She denounced the fact that JP Morgan Chase, one of the bastions of American capitalism, donated the largest amount of money in its history to the New York Police Department in order to preserve its interests and repress the increasingly vocal 99 percent of Americans. SU has a close relationship with JP Morgan Chase.
ANSWER organizer Derek Ford spoke next. Ford rejected the notion that police brutality is the result of a few out-of-control cops, the line of the corporate media when they are forced to shed light on the issue: “This is not a case of a few rotten apples … the entire force is rotten!” The police, as an institution, are doing exactly what they are paid to do: protect the interests of capital. Police intimidation and violence are common practice to repress the working class and exacerbate racist, sexist and homophobic hierarchies that keep capitalism in place.
As Josh Cook, a student who spoke at the open mic portion of the rally remarked: “The world does not have to be like this.” A heavily armed police force that protects the interests of the 1 percent will not be needed when working people seize state power and run society on their own. When the working class controls the state, a community-directed police force will only repress the now dispossessed capitalists, their cronies and their advocates.
Only under socialism are working people able to live free from police terror.
