Note from the PSL: We are deeply appreciative of the many solidarity statements we have received from around the country and the world. If your organization would like to offer a statement, please send it to [email protected]. We will be collecting and posting more statements soon. Individuals can also sign the petition demanding freedom for the arrested organizers here and make a donation to provide support for their case here.
Revolutionaire Eenheid fully supports the four anti-racist organizers who have been arrested in Denver Area, and joins the call to drop the charges. All four organizers – Russell Ruch, Lilian House, Joel Northam, and Eliza Lucero – are leaders of the mass anti-racist protest movement demanding justice for Elijah McClain and other victims of police brutality, and are members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL).
United States police forces arrested four anti-racist organizers in Denver Area, United States, on Thursday 17 September. Russell Ruch, Lilian House, Joel Northam, and Eliza Lucero were taken with heavy show of force. Lilian was surrounded by five police cars, while Joel was taken by S.W.A.T. teams.
All four are heavily involved with the current anti-racist mass movement in Denver area, part of the huge movement now surging in the US. They are strong advocates for justice for Elijah McClain and other victims of police brutality. As we know, the United States is a settler-colonial state and the number one imperialist power in the world. The images of US police killing black people are known to all peoples of the world and this is what the arrested comrades are struggling against.
These arrests are a clear political attack on the growing anti-racist movement. The authorities want to charge the organizers with bizarre bogus charges, such as kidnapping and serious felonies. This is part of a nation-wide attempt to criminalize people who stand up against oppression and injustice. It is trying to scare of anyone to fight for the liberation of the people.
In the Netherlands, we are all too familiar with these kinds of attacks. During the protest movement demanding justice for Mitch Henriquez, who was killed by the police in The Hague in June 2015, hundreds of protestors and organizers were arrested from the streets and from their houses. More recently, we have seen Akwasi be put on trial as part of a fascist and state attack on the anti-racist movement.
We emphasize that any attack against the people’s movements only instils us with more motivation to struggle for justice and liberation. Just as the imperialist powers of the Unites States and the Netherlands collaborate in exploiting and oppressing the people, so are the people uniting in their freedom struggle.
We declare our full solidarity with the anti-racist movement in the Unites States, challenging the imperialist power’s hegemony from the belly of the beast. We join the call to demand the charges against Russell Ruch, Lilian House, Joel Northam, and Eliza Lucero to be dropped, and demand justice for all victims of police brutality and state violence.
As we know Joel Northam personally, we attach a personal testimony of one of our members:
“A year ago, I got to know Joel online because of his activism and love for the people. After engaging and talking about Mao, Lenin, US imperialism and all the other forms of (western) oppression, I invited him over to come to Amsterdam and show him around. Even though he has never been here before, the first thing he told me was that he wanted to visit the places where the working class lived and where the organizing and activism happened. His passion and love for the people was not a part-time thing that he could just turn off the minute he wanted to relax or be on vacation. I brought him to an RE meeting where he got to know a few other members and talk more with us about all the messed up things happening in the US. One of them was police enforcement and the attacks on (anti-racist) activists, the exact things he is experiencing now.”
Revolutionaire Eenheid sends our full solidarity to the arrested anti-racist organizers and PSL members in the United States, and we demand all charges against them to be dropped!
We urge everyone to express their solidarity and join the demand to drop the charges. Please sign the petition and, if you can, make a donation to support their case.
