PHOTOS: Philando Castile and Alton Sterling Bastille Day Protest

Demonstrators laid down on the floor of Grand Central for six minutes or the number of times Alton Sterling was shot by Baton Rouge police last week while selling CD’s

One demonstrator holding a sign from the previous rally outside that occurred about an hour earlier inside Grand Central for another demonstration inside for #AbolishThePolice, Justice for #AltonSterling #PhilandoCastile From the Facebook Event page

The police are the frontline enforcers of the new Jim Crow. Mass incarceration starts with police occupying and terrorizing marginalized communities of color. This targeting and terror inevitably leads to violent and deadly interactions like those we have seen in the police murder of #AltonSterling and #PhilandoCastile. Join us as we speak out about the true nature of racist police terror, and march for justice!

Police are not here to protect our marches. They are here to repress our first amendment right to assemble, march, and speak out; and brutalize anyone who chooses to express that right too boldly. People calling for unity with the police are speaking on behalf of the police in an attempt to drown out and silence resistance. By asking us to ignore the responsibility of the institution of policing for the racism and police murder in this country they are asking black people to be complicit in their own oppression. In a democracy the police are a necessary evil at best, and never could those who are for democracy be “pro-police”. The fact that people feel the need to claim a ‘pro-police’ stance is only further evidence of what justice Sotomayor called a “carceral state”. Justice for Philandro, Alton, and all victims of racist police violence is the elimination of this carceral state. Abolish the police!

Also last night, after the Giuliana rally outside Grand Central Station, a second and younger group did a demonstration and a march afterward on the recent police killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and Delrawn Small. At least 50 or so participated in a DIE IN for the # of times Alton Sterling was shot.

I spoke with 2 young women wearing PROP t shirts. Police Reform Organizing Project. This was on the back of one of their shirts.

I’ve attended PROP events 2-3 years ago where past and current police and detectives came out about the NYPD quota system that forces them to harass and Stop and Frisk the most vulnerable members of society. PROP began about 5 or 6 years ago by Robert Gangi. “We focus on every day interactions that mostly black and latino go through with police”. Maesha Meto, Project Coordinator for PROP explained what “Broken Windows” policing was. “Police have quotas to fill” and target young black and latino males mostly for non crimes like having your foot on a seat in the subway or having an open alcohol container. Things police would not otherwise do to in white neighborhoods.

“POLICE EXIST TO FILL THEIR #’s, TO FILL THEIR QUOTAS AND WE DON’T THINK THAT’S SOMETHING THAT POLICE SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON, they should be focused on real crime, murders, rapes, etc”. I poetically added Bankers, Corporate crime, War Crimes to the list. Sasha said, “WE’RE AGAINST CRIMINALIZING POVERTY. EVERYONE AT SOME POINT COMMIT THESE ACT SO, CAN SAY EVERYONE IS A CRIMINAL?” Police focus on the low hanging fruit, the most vulnerable to criminalize. “OTHER GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES CAN BE INVOLVED LIKE INSTEAD OF THE POLICE LIKE SOCIAL SERVICES OR SHELTERS FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE”, said Sasha.

“They said they were not going to arrest people for small amounts of marijuana but, we see it happening everyday” said Maesha Meto. From a regular email I receive from PROP it gave these stats; Here are vignettes that PROP has recently written up as part of our determined effort to show the harm that “broken windows” policing inflicts on New Yorkers of color every day. ** Officers arrested a middle-aged Latino man in Manhattan — cuffing and detaining him overnight — on a charge of petty larceny. His infraction: picking a flower from a public garden and dangling it in his shirt pocket. ** Police in Queens arrested a young Latino man on the charge of contempt in the second degree. His offense: in violation of a partial order of protection, he left a voice mail on his ex-girlfriend’s phone, “Happy Mother’s Day. I won’t bother you again.” ** Police in Queens arrested a young black man on the charge of driving with a suspended license. PROP observers could see that he was having an agitated conversation with his attorney before he pled guilty to disorderly conduct.

A PROP representative followed him out of the court room when the young man explained the following: he was upset with his public defender because officers had pulled him over for a broken tail light even though his car didn’t have one & ticketed & locked him up overnight on a suspended license charge even though his license was in effect. He felt pressured into a guilty plea when he wanted to fight the charges. He also stated the the police pull him over “all the time” for no good reason. Knowing that officers regularly stop drivers of color when they’re behind the wheel of luxury cars, the PROP volunteer asked the man what kind of vehicle he drove. “Lincoln Town Car”, he answered. 2 SOLUTIONS,, ** Ending quota-driven “broken windows” policing involving the daily harassment & targeting of low-income people of color that fosters & incentivizes cops’ attitudes that black lives do not matter, and ** Establishing independent prosecutors’ offices with the sole charge to investigate & prosecute all incidents involving not just fatalities in police custody but all credible allegations of police brutality & excessive use of force.