After learning that a rally would be held at the Capitol in support of law enforcement, Sacramento organizers took up the task of a counter rally that would represent the voices of the victims of police terror and demand justice for decades of murder.
As protesters turned the corner and went down Capital plaza, they took the street and continued the march to the Capitol building. Shortly after this, we began to see squad cars circling the block. Two of them rode up behind the crowd of around 40 and issued commands that nobody could understand. After another block, the cars pull in next to the crowd and demand we get into the street. Ignoring the fact that at this point nearly all of the protesters had moved to the sidewalk and traffic (which was minimal to begin with) was in no way blocked, the police proceeded to grab people at random.
The ripping of people’s clothes and pulling of them by their arms that followed were meant to discourage protesters from continuing on to the Capitol to show their opposition to the pro-cop rally taking place. Several people were grabbed and would have been taken had there not been such a high level of solidarity within the group.
However, as more police arrived, one protester who had just been helping others get onto the sidewalk and was himself walking to the sidewalk, was snatched by the arm without warning. As they tried to illegally arrest him, they slammed his head to the ground with his neck whipping back against the pavement. They proceeded to further brutalize him as they forced his hands behind his back and arrest him. The entire incident was caught on camera and went viral shortly afterwards. This act of pure aggression by the Sacramento Police Department is just one example of the harassment faced by those who dare to question the validity of a system based on racism.
After expressing their outrage at the blatant injustice they had all just witnessed, the people resolved to continue their march. Followed by enough cops for a march five times our size, we arrived at the entrance to the park that leads to the Capitol’s west steps where the pro killer cop rally was taking place.
The crowd was blocked from this public area by police who insisted that we needed to have a permit in order to enter. This was the first time that anyone in the crowd had heard that a permit was needed in order to freely exercise their first amendment rights on property owned by the public. This denial of access was met with various attempts at reason, and chants of
“Whose Capitol? Our Capitol!”
The people then marched around the corner to another entrance of the Capitol. Again, we were blocked from entering. Despite being told that we needed a permit, several people unsympathetic to our demonstration were allowed to freely move back and forth. As they did so, they often looked back and shouted expletives.
One woman, who was allowed the freedom of movement denied to us because of our demands for justice, expressed solidarity with us and was struggling to understand how it was possible in the United States that freedom of speech and equality before the law were actually illusions. Members of the ANSWER Coalition and Party for Socialism and Liberation reminded her that the numerous law enforcement officers present were not for our protection, but to discourage the masses from organizing and demanding an end to white supremacy. They are the ones exercising the force necessary to keep this
racist system in place.
After rallying for about an hour, the march continued through the streets downtown and into Old Sacramento, which is frequented by tourists. The march gained the attention of all present. ANSWER and PSL helped to distribute information to onlookers and many were found to be receptive to the message on the cover reading, “Racism is the disease, Revolution is the cure.” The march then continued back to its starting point at Crocker Park, still followed by a caravan of cops both in cars and on bikes.
Throughout the day, our message was clear: the police do not belong in a place of honor as long as they are responsible for inflicting suffering and death on Black, Brown, and working class communities across the nation in the name of capitalist exploitation.
