Police violence
Chicago mayor locks down business district after police shooting sparks looting
By Kristina Betinis, 11 August 2020
Democratic officials responded by deploying more police, threatening more aggressive prosecutions and cutting off nighttime access to the Loop.
Chad Wolf testifies before Senate committee
US Homeland Security chief defends police-state crackdown, announces federal paramilitaries to remain in Portland
By Barry Grey, 7 August 2020
Wolf specifically defended the chilling practice carried out in Portland of seizing protesters blocks away from the federal courthouse, trundling them into unmarked vehicles and taking them to secret locations to be interrogated.
Violent, secretive fascistic networks operating inside California police stations
By Tom Carter, 7 August 2020
Alongside rampant brutality, a secretive police culture has emerged featuring tattoos, occult rituals and symbols, codes of silence, and barbecues to celebrate murder.
Leaked bodycam footage shows George Floyd’s arrest and murder
By Kevin Martinez, 5 August 2020
The harrowing footage, not meant for public distribution, was leaked to the Daily Mail this week.
New prosecutor refuses to press charges against cop that killed Michael Brown
By Isaac Finn, 1 August 2020
St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell has announced that no charges would be filed against Darren Wilson, the former Ferguson, Missouri, police officer who shot Brown in 2014.
US Park Police chief defends unconstitutional June 1 assault on protesters outside the White House
By Jacob Crosse, 29 July 2020
Monahan denied that police used “excessive” force to clear out protesters from Lafayette Square despite testimony, video evidence and eyewitness accounts.
As demonstrations erupt against Trump’s use of federal paramilitary police in Portland
Protester shot and killed in Austin, Texas
By Jacob Crosse, 27 July 2020
Nationwide protests against police violence, which had receded in recent days, reignited in dozens of US cities over the weekend.
Stop Trump’s coup d’état! Mobilize the working class against authoritarianism and dictatorship!
Statement of the Socialist Equality Party, 27 July 2020
The Trump administration’s deployment of paramilitary forces throughout the United States is a major escalation of the attempt to organize a coup d’état in advance of the November presidential elections.
Phoenix, Arizona police release incomplete footage of July 4 shooting
By Chase Lawrence, 25 July 2020
James Garcia, 28, was sitting alone in his car and under no suspicion of any crime when he was killed by police.
As paramilitary police tear gas Portland mayor and protesters
Trump orders federal police to more cities
By Barry Grey, 24 July 2020
The Trump administration is stepping up its unconstitutional moves toward dictatorial rule, tear gassing the mayor of Portland, Oregon and announcing the deployment of federal police to additional cities.
Trump’s plan to send paramilitary police throughout the US: The ruling class prepares for civil war
By Patrick Martin, 22 July 2020
The Trump administration’s plans to deploy federal paramilitary forces in major American cities is a sharp escalation of the assault on democratic rights and the establishment of police state forms of rule.
Trump’s police-state attack in Portland, Oregon
By Patrick Martin, 20 July 2020
The crackdown on demonstrators by Trump’s fascistic border agents is the latest move in his administration’s years-long assault on democratic rights in the United States.
Police body camera footage of George Floyd murder released
By Kevin Martinez, 17 July 2020
New videos showing Floyd’s death at the hand of Minneapolis police were unsealed by a judge on Wednesday, but were only viewable in the courthouse and could not be published by news organizations.
Oklahoma cops tased Jared Lakey over 50 times before he died, video shows
By Jacob Crosse, 17 July 2020
Jared Lakey died last year less than 48 hours after suffering a heart attack after being electrocuted and choked by police officers in Wilson, Oklahoma.
Federal agents in Portland, Oregon shoot and critically injure protester
By Hector Cordon and Julio Patron, 16 July 2020
Portland is being used by the Trump administration as a test case for the deployment of heavily armed federal agents to suppress popular protests against police brutality.
Lawsuit claims Washington, DC police participated in June raid on Lafayette Square protest
By Ray Coleman, 16 July 2020
The latest amendments to the lawsuit filed by the ACLU implicate the Democratic administration of DC Mayor Bowser in the June 1 assault ordered by President Trump.
The blinding of Gustavo Gatica and the return to unrestrained police state violence in Chile
By Mauricio Saavedra, 15 July 2020
The Chilean security forces enjoy a level of immunity not seen since the 17-year military dictatorship, when thousands were arrested, tortured, killed and disappeared.
Protests erupt after Detroit, Michigan police shoot and kill 21-year-old man
By Stephen Fuller, 11 July 2020
Tensions are high in the city after weeks of protests against police brutality in which hundreds have been arrested and police have rammed into protesters with their vehicles.
Phoenix, Arizona, police shoot man dead in his car, sparking protests
By Chase Lawrence, 9 July 2020
James Garcia died Saturday after being shot multiple times as he was parked in the driveway of a friend’s house.
Chicago mayor uses rise in social distress, violent crime to advance “law and order” policing
By Kristina Betinis, 8 July 2020
The spurt in violent crime, coinciding with the ongoing protests against police violence, is being used to justify a heightening of police repression.
US Border Patrol deployed against anti-police violence protestors
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 8 July 2020
Federal law enforcement agencies under the direction of the Trump administration are currently working with the Portland Police Bureau to suppress peaceful protests.
Residents of Sheboygan, Wisconsin protest police murder of man with mental illness history
By Jacob Crosse, 4 July 2020
Over 100 protesters took to the streets Thursday evening after Kevan Ruffin, 32, was shot multiple times by an unnamed Sheboygan police deputy earlier in the day.
Teen shot in back by Louisiana police, charged with resisting arrest
By Aaron Murch, 2 July 2020
Tre’mall McGee’s mother has been demanding answers from the sheriff’s office for three months to no avail, while the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office until recently has been concealing that there was a shooting at all.
City of Chicago announces plan for mass arrest and detention of youth over holiday weekend
By Andy Thompson, 2 July 2020
The plan for arrest and jailing of teenagers comes as the Lightfoot administration has stepped up policing in wake of recent protests and as President Trump urges Democratic leaders in Illinois to take “decisive action” against gun violence.
Germany: Police powers stepped up after “Stuttgart’s Night of Violence”
By Jan Ritter, 30 June 2020
The violence does not emanate from the population, but from the police against the population—especially against workers and young people.
Aurora, Colorado, police attack protesters after investigation reopened into 2019 death of Elijah McClain
By Matthew MacEgan, 30 June 2020
Aurora police fired pepper spray and smoke grenades on a vigil for McClain, which was attended by families and children a day after the governor announced a reopening of the state.
Newly released body camera footage shows Baltimore police shooting man in the back
By Dominic Gustavo, 30 June 2020
Police body camera footage showed 29-year-old Robert Johnson, Jr. seeking to run from the scene as an officer opened fire while pursuing him. Innocent bystanders were hit by gunfire in the incident.
Detroit Police SUV plows through protesters, several injured
By Stephen Fuller, 30 June 2020
This incident is the latest in a series of vehicular attacks on protesters by police and right-wing individuals.
One person killed in attack on anti-police violence protest in Louisville, Kentucky
By Warren Duzak, 29 June 2020
The suspected shooter, Steven Lopez, had been arrested by police earlier this month and was known to be in possession of a handgun and ammunition.
New York City police commissioner defends vehicular assault on protesters
By Erik Schreiber, 27 June 2020
Secure in the knowledge that city and state officials will support him, Commissioner Dermot Shea testified that officers who drove into a crowd of protesters last month did not violate department policy on the use of force.
Ahmaud Arbery’s killers indicted on murder charges in Georgia
By Matthew MacEgan, 26 June 2020
A Georgia grand jury indicted all three men with nine counts each, including malice murder and four counts of felony murder.
San Diego city council approves $27 million increase in police budget, pledges millions for an Office of Race and Equity
By Linda Rios, 26 June 2020
The San Diego City Council’s budget for FY 2020-21 includes a $27 million increase in the funding of the Police Department and $3 million devoted to the creation of an “Office of Race and Equity.”
New Zealand Police brutally attack young man in Auckland
By Tom Peters, 26 June 2020
The attack on an unarmed Maori man in Auckland follows mass protests against police violence and the arming of officers.
US police received over $760 million of military gear in the past two years
By Trévon Austin, 24 June 2020
In the last three decades, over $5 billion worth of military equipment has been doled out to police departments across the country by the Department of Defense.
Australian police assault Aboriginal man with taser
By Oscar Grenfell, 24 June 2020
The victim of the unprovoked assault has been charged with intimidating the police while the officers involved have not even been stood down.
Nationwide protests against police violence continue as LA County sheriffs kill two more
By Jacob Crosse, 22 June 2020
Thousands marched to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office Sunday demanding justice for slain 18-year-old Andres Guardado
US school districts posture as opponents of militarized schools
By Alexander Fangmann, 22 June 2020
The measures to remove police from schools are intended to deflect the anger of students and youth, and will in no way reduce the repressive presence of the state in schools.
“It’s bigger than black and white, it’s a problem with the whole way of life”
Rapper Lil Baby’s new single begins to address “The Bigger Picture”
By Elliott Murtagh and J. L’Heureau, 22 June 2020
Atlanta rapper Lil Baby has released a new song about the ongoing protests against racism and police brutality.
Global outrage over violent police arrest of 50-year-old French nurse Farida
By Will Morrow, 20 June 2020
The response of the French ruling class to health care workers’ demands for increased resources to combat the pandemic in decent and safe conditions is naked repression.
Millions across the US mark twenty-fifth day of mass demonstrations against police violence
By Kevin Reed, 20 June 2020
Ongoing demonstrations against police violence merged with celebrations of Juneteenth across the country on Friday as the Democratic Party attempts to adapt itself to the movement and inject racial identity politics.
Richmond, Virginia police chief ousted following days of violent attacks on protesters
By Ray Coleman, 20 June 2020
Top-level changes at US police departments are bound to continue as public opinion increasingly turns against repressive state measures against peaceful demonstrators.
Canada’s political establishment inject racialist narrative into protests against police violence
By Roger Jordan, 20 June 2020
Prime Minister Trudeau and NDP leader Jagmeet Singh are working to divert the mass anger over police brutality and racism along reactionary racialist lines.
Johnson government mounts offensive against mass opposition to police violence and racism
By Thomas Scripps, 20 June 2020
Home Secretary Priti Patel is linked with a Facebook group providing a platform for the far-right thugs who attacked Black Lives Matter protesters.
Mass protests against police violence expand in advance of Juneteenth rallies across the US
By Kevin Reed, 19 June 2020
Demonstrations have taken place in 1,670 US towns and cities in response to the killing of George Floyd, other murderous acts of violence by police and the repression of protesters.
Hundreds rally outside sheriff’s office demanding justice for Missouri woman killed by police
By Jacob Crosse, 19 June 2020
Friends, family and supporters turned out Thursday night in front of the Pettis County Sheriff’s Office in rural Sedalia, Missouri, demanding justice for 25-year-old Hannah Fizer.
Socialist Alternative’s Kshama Sawant promotes local police reform, Democratic Party politics
By Julio Patron and Kayla Costa, 19 June 2020
Insisting that the police can be drastically reformed within the framework of capitalism, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant conceals the fundamental character of the police as an arm of the capitalist state.
Atlanta cop who killed Rayshard Brooks charged with felony murder, could face death penalty
By Matthew MacEgan, 18 June 2020
The charge is one of eleven made against Officer Garrett Rolfe and may be the first time in more than a century that a police officer in the US has been threatened with the death penalty for an active duty killing.
Far-right US Air Force sergeant charged in slaying of federal officer and local police
By Jacob Crosse, 18 June 2020
Contrary to the claims of the Trump administration, far-right groups and state agents, not “far-left terrorists,” have been the source of homicidal violence throughout the anti-police brutality protests.
Police violence and class rule
By Niles Niemuth and Joseph Kishore, 17 June 2020
What is absent from all of the media commentary on police violence, let alone the statements from bourgeois politicians, is any examination of what the police are and their relationship to capitalist society.
Washington Post op-ed calls for news media to censor videos of police brutality
By Nick Barrickman, 17 June 2020
ESPN journalist and University of Maryland Professor Kevin Blackistone has called for the removal of videos of police killings on the grounds that they “dehumanize” black men.
Atlanta police killing of Rayshard Brooks ruled a homicide as Democrats posture as reformers
By Matthew MacEgan, 16 June 2020
Brooks’ killing has fueled the mass protests against police violence and racism that have taken place in all 50 states and dozens of cities internationally.
Family demands answers after Missouri cop kills 25-year-old convenience store worker
By Jacob Crosse, 16 June 2020
Hannah Fizer was shot to death by a Pettis County deputy during a traffic stop Saturday night in Sedalia, Missouri.
Australian police allegedly threatened Sydney protesters with sound weapon
By Oscar Grenfell, 16 June 2020
Despite police denials, footage clearly indicates that NSW police were in possession of an LRAD device known for its use against demonstrations in the US.
Protests erupt in Atlanta, Georgia after police fatally shoot fleeing man
By Matthew MacEgan, 15 June 2020
The Atlanta police chief resigned after officers killed Rayshard Brooks in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant Friday night.
Residents protest after woman dies in police custody in Harper Woods, Michigan
By Kathleen Martin, 15 June 2020
Priscilla Slater was found unresponsive in a holding cell in Harper Woods on the east side of Detroit this week amid international protests against police brutality.
Washington, DC’s Democratic mayor renames city street “Black Lives Matter Plaza”
By Dmitri Church and Nick Barrickman, 15 June 2020
Mayor Muriel Bowser’s co-option of the slogan as protests surge throughout the US and internationally is an attempt to cover up the record of the Democratic Party.
Germany’s Social Democrats, Greens and Left Party organise police violence against peaceful demonstrators
By Gregor Link, 15 June 2020
The police attacks are part of an effort to criminalise anti-capitalist tendencies.
As nationwide protests continue
Trump steps up provocations and threats of military force
By Jacob Crosse, 13 June 2020
In a Fox News interview Thursday night, Trump labeled Seattle protesters “terrorists” and threatened to call out the military.
Teacher arrested during protests speaks on social conditions in New York City
By Tim Avery, 13 June 2020
A video interview of Brigette Brantley at a demonstration against police violence recently went viral on social media, accumulating over seven million views on Twitter.
Claiming sympathy for protesters, US tech giants aid police militarization and surveillance
By Kevin Reed, 13 June 2020
Verizon and AT&T are funding a group dedicated to militarizing local police and working with the security state to expand secret warrantless surveillance of the public.
In response to protests over police violence
Sanders opposes “defunding” police, calls for increased pay for cops
By Genevieve Leigh, 13 June 2020
Sanders’ position boils down to an absolute defense of the police, which are an instrument of class rule.
National Guard fired the shot that killed David McAtee in Louisville during protest against police violence
By Kevin Reed, 12 June 2020
Laboratory tests have determined that McAtee was shot and killed by a member of the Kentucky National Guard during an assault on protesters last week.
UK: Police refer decision not to prosecute over death of Belly Mujinga to Crown Prosecution Service
By Michael Barnes, 12 June 2020
No trust can be placed in the Crown Prosecution Service. Justice depends on the independent intervention of the working class.
New Zealand Police ends armed units after widespread opposition
By Tom Peters, 12 June 2020
Faced with overwhelming opposition to armed officers, the Labour Party-led government and the police have temporarily withdrawn a push to introduce Armed Response Teams.
More cases of US police brutality emerge as protests continue against murder of George Floyd
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 11 June 2020
In recent days, Albuquerque police shot and critically injured a man in his mid-20s, New Jersey authorities released video of the fatal shooting last month of Maurice Gordon and Austin police released video of the 2019 murder of Javier Ambler.
Police shoot dead mentally ill man in Melbourne, Australia
By Karen Maxwell, 11 June 2020
The man’s death marks another incident where police have killed someone suffering a mental health crisis.
A timeline of abuse by the New York Police Department
By Sam Dalton, 11 June 2020
A peaceful protester arrested in New York City tells the WSWS about her experience
Forced disappearances of protesters against police violence in Guadalajara
By Andrea Lobo, 10 June 2020
The disappearances happened in the context of demonstrations centered on the police killings of George Floyd in the US and Giovanni López in Mexico.
UK: Johnson government demands police repression of George Floyd protests
By Robert Stevens, 10 June 2020
Tory MPs as well as Labourites denounced “thuggery” and “violent” protesters, focusing on the tearing down of the statue of a Bristol slave trader Edward Colston.
Democrats announce toothless police reform bill
By Barry Grey, 9 June 2020
The “Justice in Policing” bill, a collection of minor reforms that has no chance of being passed by the Senate and signed by Trump, is aimed at containing and dissipating mounting social protest.
Millions march in cities and towns in every part of the US to oppose racism and police violence
By Kevin Reed, 8 June 2020
The demonstrations over the weekend to protest the police murder of George Floyd, among the biggest nationwide mobilizations of workers and youth in US history, signaled a new stage in the movement of the American working class.
Trump, Barr continue threat to deploy military against nationwide protests
By Barry Grey, 8 June 2020
The political situation in the US remains on a knife edge as Trump’s fascistic cabal continues to plot against the Constitution.
Buffalo, New York mayor protects police in attack on 75-year-old
By Jacob Crosse, 8 June 2020
The Democratic mayor’s comments follow another week of vicious police assaults against peaceful protesters across the country.
Hundreds of thousands join protests against police violence across Europe
By our reporters, 8 June 2020
The size and wide geographical spread of the protests over Floyd’s murder reflect broad-based opposition to racism and police violence around the world.
Tens of thousands continue UK protests against racism and police brutality
By Robert Stevens, 8 June 2020
More than 100,000 people across Britain continued to protest the death of George Floyd over the weekend.
Police killing of Giovanni López sparks protests, political crisis in Mexico
By Evan Winters, 8 June 2020
Protests broke out in Guadalajara and Mexico City after footage surfaced of the brutal arrest of López, who died of his wounds the next day, for not wearing a COVID-19 facemask.
Defying government threats, thousands join Australian protests against police violence
By Oscar Grenfell, 8 June 2020
Over 100,000 people demonstrated across the country, despite threats of large fines and an attempted ban of the Sydney rally.
Australian protesters speak out: “The class systems need to be abolished”
By our reporters, 8 June 2020
The demonstrations were “a great show of people power and it’s a great show of how the world should move forward.”
The global protests and the fight against capitalism
By Statement of the Socialist Equality Party, 8 June 2020
The global wave of demonstrations against police violence is the response to decades of unending war, the destruction of basic democratic rights, and a massive concentration of wealth in the hands of a tiny ruling elite.
Encouraged by Trump, police rampage leaves protesters dead and wounded across the US
By Jacob Crosse, 6 June 2020
Demonstrators have been teargassed, pepper sprayed, shot with rubber bullets and beanbags, and beaten by rampaging police.
“He is trying to be a dictator and he can’t be allowed to be one”
US autoworkers denounce police violence, Trump’s moves to impose military dictatorship
By Jessica Goldstein, 6 June 2020
The multi-ethnic, multi-racial protests against the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis have evoked widespread sympathy among autoworkers.
“I didn’t receive one warning”
Protester explains how he was brutally assaulted by Secret Service officials in Washington, D.C.
By Nick Barrickman, 6 June 2020
The demonstrator explained how federal officials provoked and then assaulted peaceful demonstrators outside the White House last weekend as protests against police brutality swept the country.
Police kill unarmed 22-year-old man in Vallejo, California
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 6 June 2020
Sean Monterrosa was on his knees with his hands held up when police officers shot five bullets into him through the windshield of their unmarked cruiser.
Four Tacoma, Washington police officers put on administrative leave three months after killing Manuel Ellis
By Julio Patron, 6 June 2020
Ellis, a father of two, could be heard on dispatcher radio calling out “I can’t breathe” after being brutally detained and handcuffed by the police.
Workers in Detroit and across Michigan support anti-police violence protests
By Stephen Fuller and Kevin Reed, 6 June 2020
Michigan workers, including 200 health care workers from Ascension Providence Hospital in Southfield, demonstrated against police violence this week.
Brazil’s President Bolsonaro calls demonstrators “terrorists,” threatens military repression
By Miguel Andrade, 6 June 2020
Gen. Hamilton Mourão viciously attacked protests against the murder of George Floyd and social inequality, calling for the arrest of demonstrators.
Australian governments try to block demonstrations against police violence
By Oscar Grenfell, 6 June 2020
The bans and police threats are outright attacks on the right to protest, a basic democratic right, aimed at establishing a precedent for suppressing mounting social and political opposition.
Mass protests erupt across Canada against police brutality and Trump
By our reporters, 6 June 2020
Protesters denounce Canadian police brutality and racism, following the US police murder of George Floyd.
The police murder of George Floyd sparks mass protests throughout the world
By Thomas Scripps, 6 June 2020
Hundreds of thousands of people have joined demonstrations in Europe, North and South America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
New York Times in crisis over op-ed backing military takeover
By Patrick Martin, 6 June 2020
In publishing a fascistic diatribe by Senator Tom Cotton, headlined, “Send in the troops,” the Times editorial page tacitly sided with a military takeover of the United States.
Ten thousand people have been arrested across the US as protests against police violence continue to expand
By Kevin Reed, 5 June 2020
Protests have taken place in more than 500 cities and towns across the US over the past ten days in the face of the deployment of riot police, the National Guard and Trump's threat of military intervention.
New details emerge in hearing for three charged in murder of Ahmaud Arbery
By Matthew MacEgan, 5 June 2020
The judge in the Arbery case found probable cause against all three defendants and declared that all of their cases would move forward to trial.
Protests erupt in France against police violence and Trump’s coup d’état
By Alex Lantier, 5 June 2020
After the anti-constitutional threats by Trump to deploy the military against protests in the United States, 20,000 people demonstrated in Paris on Tuesday.
German protests in solidarity with George Floyd and against police violence
By Jan Ritter and Noah Windstein, 5 June 2020
The brutal video-recorded murder has shocked people in Germany and many have taken to the streets in protest.
Austin, Texas police critically injure young protesters with “less lethal” beanbag rounds
By Matthew Taylor, 5 June 2020
College student Justin Howell was hospitalized on Sunday with a fractured skull and brain damage after being shot in the head while participating in a demonstration against police violence.
Use of tear gas by US police may exacerbate COVID-19 pandemic
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 4 June 2020
Tear gas directly attacks the lungs, and its corrosive effects could make people far more susceptible to respiratory illnesses like COVID-19.
Georgia police officers charged after brutal assault on college students returning from protest
By Dan Conway, 4 June 2020
The students were viciously assaulted returning from protests against the murder of George Floyd on Saturday night despite doing nothing to provoke the officers or arouse suspicion.
Protesters defy Trump’s threats, expand nationwide movement against police killings
By Jacob Crosse, 3 June 2020
Curfews, mass arrests and police terror have not quelled the powerful movement of youth and workers of all races and ethnicities in response to the police murder of George Floyd.
Brazilian youth join international wave of protests against police violence
By Tomas Castanheira, 3 June 2020
Responding to demonstrations across the US, thousands of people took to the streets of Brazil protesting against police violence, racism and the fascistic president Bolsonaro.
Australian police officers assault Aboriginal boy in Sydney
By Oscar Grenfell, 3 June 2020
The widespread anger provoked by the attack has prompted nervousness from the political establishment, under conditions of mass protests internationally against police violence.
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