Category Archives: news

news

Christopher Alder killed by police – 20 years on and the fight for justice continues

Nearly 200 packed into the meeting to commemorate Christopher and support the courage of his sister Janet’s fight for Justice.

Christopher, a former British army paratrooper was killed by police in Hull 20 years ago.  He died on the floor of the police station, handcuffed as officers made monkey noises and stood around laughing as he expired, with no attempt today to help him.

Adding insult to injury, when the family thought Christopher had been buried after many years of delay, it turned out that the authorities had buried the wrong person.

The police have also been accused of spying on the family for having the audacity to stand up to them and fight for justice.

Fantastic support for the march and rally in Hull today came from York, Scarborough, Rotherham , Sheffield and Manchester as well as local Unions like Unite, the University branch of UCU and the loan of the room by City Unison and local organisations like Hull Afro Caribbean Association, Truth Juice and Stand up to Racism.

Today’s events were organised by the Justice for Christopher Alder Campaign and also included supporters from Lancashire No Justice No Peace.

news, US

After Charlottesville Nazi terror, Trump shows his inner racism

Trump is in an alliance with Nazi terrorists. That is the only reasonable conclusion that can be made following the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville on Saturday. The Nazi ‘Unite the Right’ rally which was met by a counter-protest by anti-fascists, saw a motley collection of Nazi organisations come together to defend ‘Southern heritage’ in the shape of a memorial to Confederate traitor to the US, Robert E Lee.

Infamously, Trump refused to call out the Nazis, choosing instead to issue a mealy mouthed statement condemning violence ‘on all sides’. Make no mistake, this moral equivalence is an endorsement not just of racism and fascism but of terrorism.

As the world knows all too well, Trump is a prolific tweeter, but decent people still wait for him to tweet his abhorrence of the racist terror brought to Charlottesville by his supporters. And if anyone is in any doubt that they are his supporters, the fascist marchers themselves made it abundantly clear by chanting ‘Hail Trump’ as they rallied.

Trump is someone who respects loyalty, so we’re told. It’s why he remains loyal to the memory and the politics of his father Fred. Readers will recall that Trump’s father was a member of the Ku Klux Klan. Fred Trump marched with the Klan in New York in 1927 and was arrested for fighting with police. Like father like son is an expression that springs to mind.

Be fair to Agent Orange they say, he’s ‘friends’ with Kanye West so he can’t be a racist.

But discriminatory practices by one of his real estate companies, the revolting campaign to execute the Central Park Five even after they were proved innocent and of course the blatantly racist ‘birther’ campaign against Barack Obama, all are evidence of Trump’s deep-seated racism.

The longer the white supremacist stays in power the more likely it is that he will sow the seeds of America’s next civil war. The lovers of the Confederacy should be able to remember how the first civil war turned out.

By their friends shall ye know them. So let’s take a look at some of his friends – the ones in his cabinet. Steve Bannon – white nationalist millionaire; Jeff Sessions – white supremacist Alabaman and add to that the assorted generals and billionaires, none of whom are known for their promotion of equality and diversity. OK, so he has one black man in his cabinet, but we can safely put that down to tokenism.

After what’s just gone down in Virginia, Americans should demand that those in Trump’s cabinet who claim to abhor white supremacy and anti-Semitism resign immediately. None have so far of their own volition, which tells us all we need to know about the priorities and politics of his appointees.

Sadly, the Nazis are not going to go away. They certainly will not go away if people follow the advice of respectable liberal opinion that thinks if you ignore this filth it will disappear. Intimidation and violence has to be faced own.

The Nazis say they will be back to terrorise Charlottesville. If that is so, then anti-fascist forces will need to mobilise much more widely and deeply. Violence isn’t the key to stopping fascism. It’s a numbers game. We are the many, they are the few. They need to be massively outnumbered and marginalised. In that battle we expect no help from Trump. In fact Trump is part of the problem. In addition, the Republicans in Congress and elsewhere have made it plain by their silence and inaction that they are prepared to go down with the racist White House bully.

Heather Heyer is an American Hero. Let’s honour her by redoubling our efforts to rid the world of fascism. Trump is an American racist and warmonger.

No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA

news, UK

Rashan Charles killing: police now judge, jury and executioner in fake ‘war on drugs’

The mainstream media is going into overdrive to try and justify the police killing of 20-year-old Rashan Charles. The story seems to go like this – he was a drug dealer so what did he expect. We had the same concocted story when the police killed Edson da Costa a few weeks ago. We had the same story when they executed Mark Duggan in August 2011; this year is the sixth anniversary of Mark’s death and it will be marked by a protest in Tottenham on 5th August.

The London Evening Standard is running a story today with a still from CCTV claiming it shows Rashan swallowing a package. But even if this interpretation is accurate, since when did the police in this country get the right to be judge, jury and executioner on our streets?

Rash was much-liked in the community and tonight’s protest will be well attended for that reason. Anger is growing at the police’s callous disregard for the lives of young black men in London. No police officer has as yet been suspended let alone charged. Is the Met police importing the tactics deployed by the militarised police of the US where their ‘war on drugs’ has led to daily killings of black people and a massive increase in the prison population from 300,000 in the 1980s to over two million today, despite there being no significant increase in the crime rate. As in the US, here in the UK drug use is the same across different ethnic groups. In fact it is likely higher among white people. the number of those involved in dealing are similar also. But it is poor black and working class communities that are targeted, not the cocaine users in the City of London or on Wall street.

If Rashan had swallowed something, putting him in a headlock and strangling him is not going to retrieve the alleged package. Neither is the full weight of a policeman kneeling on his back likely to ‘help’, in fact it probably had a direct bearing on his death, as did the strangulation.

One thing though is crystal clear from Saturday’s police killing: when people in the community see the police arresting someone, intervention is a necessity. It might save someone’s life.

If the police think they can act with impunity because of the cover-ups of the IPCC, then they will continue to do precisely that. Given the mounting death toll, we have no choice but to start to police the police. Tonight’s protest is a start.

If there is no justice for Rash and all the other dead then there will be hell to pay. As Martin Luther King – ‘a riot is the voice of the unheard’.

No justice, no peace. Justice for Rash!

 

news, UK

Hackney police kill young black man Rashan Charles

5 Comments

Twenty-year-old Rashan (Rashman) Charles was killed by police on Kingsland Road, Hackney, in the early hours of Saturday morning. A video posted on Twitter shows Rashan being taken to the ground and held in a headlock by a uniformed officer, followed shortly after by a plain clothed policeman who ‘assists’ his colleague by kneeling on Rashan’s back.

The police as always have got their cover-up story out early, claiming that Rashan was trying to ‘swallow an object’ and that the uniformed policeman was  trying to prevent Rashan ‘from harming himself’.

The killing of Rashan by police follows hot on the heels of the death of Edson da Costa at the hands of police in Newham a month ago. In that case the police also came out with the line that the person they killed was trying to swallow something, although Edson’s family says there is no evidence of this. Likewise, the video of Rashan’s killing shows no package being swallowed and there is no discernible attempt by police to remove the mystery package.

Far from ‘preventing harm’ the police are clearly seen killing Rashan. The police claim that Rashan was ‘taken ill’ during the encounter. Even after Rashan stops moving the police keep him in handcuffs even though he is likely dead at this point. The plain clothes officer continues to kneel on his back even after this point.

Rashan was initially in a car being pursued by police before he ran into the shop.

From Twitter:

This is the video of officers that work for the @metpoliceuk killing a young black man in Hackney and no news have covered it @linkuptv


The police officers involved in the killing must be arrested. At minimum they must be suspended from duty immediately. Instead all we have is the IPCC opening yet another inquiry into racist police killers from which nothing will come – unless we mount a ferocious campaign for justice for Rash, for Edson and all those who have died after coming into contact with police officers.

Justice for Rash!

No justice No peace

Racist police killers off our streets!!

Self-defence is no offence!

One solution, revolution!

 

news

Riot police attack peaceful protesters fighting for justice for Edson Da Costa

Protesters besieged Forest Gate police station in east London yesterday in protest at the killing of Edson Da Costa.

The peaceful protest saw people march to Stratford station where they were greeted by a massive ver reaction by the police who bussed in hundreds of riot police when there was no riot taking place. Later, in response to the police heavy-handedness protesters began to fightback.

A number of small fires were lit but the disturbances were confined to a small area of Romford Road with some kid celebrators getting caught up in the unnecessary and provocative police action.

Edson’s family had been pressured by police to call of the planned protest march. The police were more worried about ‘a riot’ than they were about justice for Edson who died after being stopped inc his car by police.

Edson’s neck was broken in two places and he and multiple head injuries. Witnesses say police were kneeling on his throat.

Incredibly the toothless police watchdog – the IPCC – claims that Edson was not injured but daily and hospital staff tell a different story.

news

Protesters furious with the cops demand justice for Edson Da Costa

From Socialist Worker

Bitter anger against the police burst onto the streets of east London last night, Sunday.

Hundreds of people protested demanding justice for Edir Frederico Da Costa, known as Edson, who died after being arrested on 15 June. “The police killed Edson,” one protester told Socialist Worker.

“They lied about what happened and we will fight until we get the truth.”

People gathered at Forest Gate police station, marched into Stratford shopping centre and then back to the police station. Chanting “Justice for Edson” and “We want justice” they wanted to make sure there cannot be a cover-up.

Protesters held a minute’s silence and then motorcycles revved their engines as people demanded answers from the police. Late into the night people were still outside the police station and fires were lit in the street.

Fabio, who was on the protest, told Socialist Worker, “They beat him, we have evidence that shows the police account is a lie. One of our brothers has been killed—and we want to know those responsible.

He added, “There have been too many cases like this, too many young black men killed by police. 

“This will not be another case where the police lies go unchallenged.”

The police stopped Edson in a car on 15 June. His family said that his neck was broken in two places, and that he had a fractured skull, a fallen voice box and a ruptured bladder.

The toothless Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) complained that this was “unhelpful speculation”, but admitted officers had used force and CS spray during the arrest. The IPCC later denied the injuries alleged by the family.

 

 

Ginario Da Costa, Edson’s father, told a Portuguese news agency that friends said Edson “fell to the ground and a police officer put a knee on his throat”.

Anne, a protester, said, “At Grenfell Tower we saw many, many people killed because the people at the top treat poor people and back people as unworthy. Here they treated Edson as unworthy. It is the same thing!

“You only get change when you fight, when you are a problem for the authorities. Grenfell must be a problem, we must be a problem.”

Protester Marlene added, “We want answers—we are not going away.”

A GoFundMe page was set up to support Edson’s family with funeral and legal expenses. It asks people to help “get justice for the cruel and brutal beating of a father, a son, a brother, cousin, uncle and dear friend”.

“This is a call for justice, not just for Edson but for all young men that are forgotten and unprotected in this reckless system.”

Edson was 25 years old and moved to Britain in 1996. He had a young son and his girlfriend is pregnant with his second child.

more at Socialist Worker. More background to Edson’s death at the hands of the police here