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Indybay Feature

Drop the charges against the Black Friday 14!

by Color of Change
A new petition has already reached nearly 1000 signatures. Add your name to demand justice for the Black Friday 14.
oaklandfergusonsolidarity_20141128_01_byjuliacarriewong.jpg
The Black Friday 14 just started a petition to Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley stating:

District Attorney O'Malley, as someone who believes that Black Lives Matter, I strongly urge you to drop all charges against the #BlackFriday14, and end the discriminatory prosecution of the fourteen Black community activists who, on November 28, 2014, participated in civil disobedience at the West Oakland BART station as part of nationwide protests to demand dignity and respect for all Black lives.

In response to the non-indictment of Officer Darren Wilson and the ongoing war on Black lives, these 14 Black activists locked themselves together and blocked the BART train for several hours, disrupting economic business as usual. Instead of citing and releasing protestors, or charging them with the same minor infractions applied to the thousands of multiracial allies who had successfully blocked traffic, busses, and trains -- the District Attorney's office has filed criminal charges and attempted to extort restitution in the amount of $70,000-- a far harsher penalty.

This penalty represents the same discriminatory penal system that the Black Friday 14 were originally protesting against. DA Nancy O'Malley, you have already received tens of thousands of petitions calling for you to drop the charges. Now, even labor and faith leaders across the Bay Area have joined in that call. The time for you to drop the charges, and get on the right side of justice, is now. Drop the charges against the #BlackFriday14.

Sign Now!!

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Here's why this is important:

The 2014 action was in solidarity with Ferguson’s national call for no business as usual on Black Friday, to draw attention to the countless cases of shooting deaths of unarmed Black men, women and children, and the failure to prosecute the police officers responsible. Hundreds of thousands of people participated.

“Every 28 hours a Black person is killed by a police officer, vigilante, or security guard.” — Malcolm X Grassroots Movement Operation Ghetto Storm Report

The Movement for Black Lives has sparked a new upsurge in activism for racial justice, and the activists of the Black Lives Matter Network have been at the forefront of challenging the human rights violations and state violence against Black communities nationwide. They have engaged in courageous acts of civil disobedience in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Cesar Chavez, and the thousands of people who, throughout this nation’s history, have protested unjust laws and policies.

“While Dr. King and others were in fact jailed for their acts of civil disobedience, the prosecutors and sheriffs who jailed them were part and parcel of the racist power structure. Demanding incarceration and criminal convictions for the brave Black Friday 14, whose nonviolent direct action was in the greatest tradition of peaceful disruption to draw attention to injustice, is not the answer.“ — Attorney Eva Paterson and the Equal Justice Society

In case after case, we’ve seen prosecutors and grand juries fail to file charges against police who have shot and killed unarmed Black men, women and children. It is a national crisis of epidemic proportions - eleven year old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, John Crawford while shopping in a Walmart, Sandra Bland after a traffic stop in Texas, Eric Garner on the streets of Staten Island, Rekia Boyd killed by an off-duty Chicago police detective. The list goes on and on.

Closer to home, we can point to the killings of Oscar Grant by a BART policeman, Kayla Moore, a transgender Black woman murdered by Berkeley police; Yuvette Henderson, gunned down by Emeryville police; Alan Blueford killed by police in Oakland. This lists goes on and on too. In general, District Attorneys across the U.S. have refused to hold police accountable for these murders. Alameda County DA Nancy O’Malley is no exception.

How it will be delivered

We will deliver the petitions in person, and likely stage a press conference.


Click here to tell DA O'Malley to drop the charges against the Black Friday 14

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Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by Register Peace & Freedom or Green
Whenever the Democrat-Republicans do something outrageously reactionary, we ask, what are they running for? In the case of a district attorney, it can be for attorney general, and that is certainly the case of Democrat district attorney of Alameda County Nancy O'Malley. If the current Democrat AG wins her race for US Senate, O'Malley hopes to be appointed by Democrat (and viciously reactionary) Gov Jerry Brown, and then she will be able to run practically unopposed as a Democrat in a state with overwhelming Democrat registration in 2018 for state attorney general. See http://www.ebcitizen.com/2015/03/alameda-county-da-nancy-omalley-eyeing.html

The Democrats always need the black vote to win since the black vote is the largest block vote and a 100% American citizen vote for the Democrats voting nationally for president 90% for the Democrats, and receiving absolutely nothing at any level of office. The Democrats have always catered to the fascist vote, especially in the "sending poor people to jail" district attorney and attorney general races because they know the black community will vote for any Democrat. THAT MUST CHANGE if anything is to get better.

Everyone who supports Black Lives Matter must change their registration to Peace & Freedom or Green and never ever vote for any Democrat or Republican at any level of office. On foreign policy, the Democrats & Republicans proudly support the same blood for oil warmongering agenda and at home, they both proudly support more money and guns for the police. WE CANNOT HAVE GUNS AND BUTTER. The Democrat-Republican support for war and fascism is to maximize the profits of their patrons, the large corporations also known as the capitalist class, the primary goal of this bankrupt society being maximization of profit. Only Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party oppose war and fascism and sincerely support Black Lives Matter.
You can register online at:
https://covr.sos.ca.gov/?language=en-US
For more information, see
http://www.peaceandfreedom.org/home
and
http://www.cagreens.org/



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