Washington DC vigil and rally in wake of police terror wave

Washington, DC: On November 21, over 200 community members gathered outside the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) Headquarters for a rally and vigil in the wake of a wave of police terror last weekend by federal and local police forces in DC.

The social media messaging for the event from the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR) and other sponsoring organizations stated that federal and local police “went on a rampage, killing three Black men and nearly killing another.”

The vigil began with a prayer and a moment of silence for victims of police crimes. Afterwards, Merawi Gerima from DCAARPR took the stage to lead the crowd in chants of “No justice, no peace!” and “When Black people are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” before speaking on the recent spree of violence by police in DC.

“MPD has been an occupying, terrorizing force in DC before this,” said Gerima, “at the same time, now the feds are coming in and helping MPD to deport and terrorize Black and brown people in DC!”

During the rally portion of the event, some of the community members gathered held up pictures of victims of police crimes, while others wrote their names on a canvas banner on the street. Still more wrote slogans of “Stop police crimes!” and “Free DC!” with chalk in front of the police station.

“Take a look around the crowd at the photos that you see, and remember why we’re here,” said Frankie Seabon from Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, “We’re here because we have a rallying cry; since 2001, local police have killed almost a hundred people!”

“The oppression that Black people face, the oppression that working people face, all has an economic basis,” said Kristen Bonner of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization DC (FRSO DC), “There are people that are profiting off of our misery and our pain, and, in fact, they do it so they can profit more! “

Speaking on the wrongful murder of her son by park police two years ago, Terra Martin of DCAARPR said, “I heard [criticisms] about my son, I heard that he shouldn’t have been in a stolen car, I heard I shouldn’t have put him out, I heard he shouldn’t have had a gun – but he didn’t have a gun.” connecting it to other families of victims at the protest, she said, “so you’re going to hear these things. But the strength is the memories you have with your loved one.”

Nadia Salazar of Movimiento Migrante DC told the crowd “There is a deep, deep, deep connection in the way [police] target migrant communities and Black communities in this country.”

After the rally, community members prepared for the vigil by forming into a line with faces of police crimes victims, capstoned by the banner which had been decorated with the names of victims in DC. The chant leader called out each victim with the chant, “Say their name!” to which the crowd responded with the name. The vigil created a visual display of solidarity within the community members and activists gathered, as they lined the street from MPD headquarters to the DC Superior Courthouse two blocks away.

“As has been said before, the only thing we got at the end of the day is our numbers,” said Merawi Gerima, “that’s why we have to come out here, shout these criminal actions down, demand accountability together, build our organizations, and bring them together!”

#WashingtonDC #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #PoliceBrutality #DCAARPR