Protest Against "Racist Police Brutality" and Gentrification Scheduled Tomorrow

It's hard not to be mixed on this one.  On one hand, the video—which was originally published on SFist—of two motorcycle cops running a guy down and shoving his face in a 24th and Mission gutter gives me the chills, never mind raises a whole bunch of questions about police brutality and why SFPD refuses to discuss the matter publically.  Just watch:

But on the other, these protesters don't exactly have the best reputation when it comes to not breaking every window along Valencia Street.  And all the promotional materials for the event don't even pretend the discourage people from engaging in black bloc 'tactics'.  So it's hard to imagine digging out my best black bandana from my Container Storified closet and joining the mob.

Either way, board your windows! Charge your iPad! Pre-marinate your Israeli flag in gasoline! Livevine the shit out of everything!

Comments (37)

Are they going to be protesting Latino gang activity and black crime? Are they going to be protesting people get mugged at gun and knife point? Are they going to protest against people punching women in the face and stealing their cell phones? Are they going to protest against all the attempted rapes? I didn’t think so. I wonder how many white kids from upper middle class family’s that have never worked hard in their lives will be destroying stuff.

No, they’re not protesting (nor defending!) the desperate behaviors of marginalized people who propagate the generational trauma and violence their communities and families have endured for centuries…

But don’t get your undergarments in a bunch bro, your colonial mentality and the status quo are indeed safe.

Are you part of The Blue Vein Society bro?

What a spurious argument. Why stop where you did? Where’s their protest against the debt ceiling! bicyclists running red lights! long lines at Ritual!

No argument, just questions.

Thank you.

Some critiques for these people:

1. For fuck’s sake, nobody is going to type in a YouTube URL. Hire a competent poster designer next time.

2. Unless gentrification has something to do with police brutality, why bring it up? What does one thing have to do with the other? Stop connecting dots that aren’t related and focus on one clear objective.

The tie isn’t *that* nuts. It goes something like this: privileged gentrifiers come in to a neighborhood SFPD was previously happy to ignore, and then various residual -isms (racism, classism) plus actual existing crime/poverty mean the gentrifiers complain to SFPD, and then SFPD is suddenly interested in the neighborhood. On the plus side, you get a probable decline in crime (there is good research on this, and poor neighborhoods, when surveyed, usually want more police on foot), but on the down side, you get more racist/violent policing. The problem with the poster, of course, is that their proposed solution is “fuck the police and fuck the gentrifiers” instead of “increase anti-racism/anti-violence training and fire police when they are racist or violent.” But of course that slogan is hard to fit on a poster. (Interrogating the relationship between pro-union anarchists and the police union’s regular defense of racist/violent cops is an exercise left to the reader.)

This

Thank you. And some of us have experienced this first hand.

The tie isn’t *that* nuts. It goes something like this: privileged gentrifiers come in to a neighborhood SFPD was previously happy to ignore, and then various residual -isms (racism, classism) plus actual existing crime/poverty mean the gentrifiers complain to SFPD, and then SFPD is suddenly interested in the neighborhood.

Assuming the hypothesis that gentrification leads to police brutality has any merit, what is the protester’s solution to address it? Why are they addressing the symptom rather than the problem?

Yup, well said, Luis.

Ah yes 5pm, That’s right when I’m still working for another hour. Whats that? this march is not for the gainfully employed? I see. uh huh. ok. I’ll meet you later for the car bashing and ‘fuck gentrification’ graffiti spraying later.

Stop racist police brutality. All other types are permitted.

“We will not tolerate violence on our community!”

Dude. I’ve lived at 25th and South Van Ness for a very, very long time, and it is not police violence that I’m scared of.

Thank you.

Exactly. I fondly recall the days when I lived at 26th and Folsom and the “anarchists” came to protest poverty and violence. Nevermind, that never happened.

I don’t even own a black bandana. The only one I own is pink with little red hearts dotted all over it. Will I still be allowed to do cool anarchy stuff, too? Or should I just spill out a couple of bucks, and just buy a damn black bandana for christ’s sakes?!?!?! Fuck, this anarchy shit can get expensive.

Are you really applying the black bloc tag to answer, power and the other orgs? Do you realize that you’re riling up so many nasty readers that you have (who wanted to KILL or wanted the police to KILL those ragamuffings that broke windows on Valencia).
Good work. I’m not a member of any of those orgs, and one I wouldn’t go near. But to smear them with the Valencia street jerks,…who may yes, have had and may still do have gov’t paid people among them? Google about the Mnnpls case, Cleveland, how occupy portland had two etc……This is not a joke Kevin really. As you’ve stated I think, cops read all these blogs. BTW there are anarchists all around you, and 99% of us don’t like petty acts of vandalism. But we aren’t cops, nor leninists that will do ‘purges’, and don’t turn people in for property damage no matter how petty it is.
Please rethink your linking here. And yes I do know you know my real name etc. It’s on my email. I’m not threatening, I’m asking for some damn common sense.

People look at that flyer and draw their own conclusions and either agree with Kevin or Don’t. I tend to fall in the ‘lets talk about the rape, muggings and grand theft auto first’ camp. I need no commentary to put me in that camp.

I tend to do whatever it is that Kevin and the crew here at UA tell me to do. Must go ride fixie, drink PBR and listen to crappy music by dudes dressed up like cats………..

¡Boing!

I’M WEARING MY WINNIE THE POOH FURRY FUCK OUTFIT HOW THE GODDAMN HELL CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT????????

That’s what the extra periods at the end of my reply comment were for. Those extra periods are there to cover all the other gnarly stuff you dude(ettes) influence my life with. FYI: my mom is sewing me a “winnie the pooh furry fuck outfit” as we type!

Wow, that’s rich.

If you still think fixies, pbr, and crappy music are the hallmarks are hipster culture you best find a time machine to the present.

Will it have to be a hipster time machine? Because by the time I construct/happen onto one/or acquire one in a trade for some low-grade cocaine from a chick with lensless spectacles………..that specific time machine(if it’s a hipster one) will already be out of style with them.

Yeah dude! We got hella Oregon Trail gear now too man! Its Little Houseon the Prairie meets Gangs of New York this year. God, the Missions so rad.

Well, it is 2013 and hipsters still seem to be really into fixies, pbr and crappy music… sooooo… I’m not sure what your point is?

Yes, not all anarchists are black bloc assholes, but considering these guys promote their events to the same crowd on the same forums with the same incendiary language, it’s hardly a stretch to say these events are commonly (and quite likely will be) hijacked by such shitheads.

I’m not necessarily saying they should do a “leninist” purge (murder their own ranks?) or rat them out, but allowing otherwise peaceful protests to be hijacked by violence without so much as a peep from the organizers disqualifies those organizers from receiving support or credibility.

Even the GOP knows when to throw a troublemaker of their own under the bus.

Concur.

Police use of excessive force, corruption and other misconduct hurts everyone – including the police – in terms of lost cooperation, support and trust – which, in turn, diminishes their effectiveness. And remember: policing in a democracy is best accomplished by those who are carefully selected, well-trained and led, controlled in their use of force, honest, courteous to every person, and closely in touch with the communities they serve. For more, follow one police reformer’s blog at http://improvingpolice.wordpress.com.

I don’t see the problem with that video… fuck that punk.

Jesus. You gotta call the Police on the Police these days.

Calling the Police action in that video “racist” suggests that pinning that dude down was racially motivated. In other words, he was pinned down because he was black. There is no account of what preceded the pinning down at all, which presumes that the incident starts when the Police see that this man is black. This whole thing is fucking retarded. Anyone associated with this protest needs to get an education

“Police told Mission Local that the 18-year-old suspect, identified as Kevin Clark, was assaulting another citizen in front of officers near the 24th and Mission BART plaza.”