Call Out for Solidarity with Oscar Grant Protest Arrestees

by Oakland 100 Support Committee ( oakland100 [at] gmail.com )

Friday Jul 23rd, 2010 indybay.org

Greetings from California, Comrades!

As many have heard, a relentless anti-police movement has grown from the
tragedy of Oscar Grant's murder on January 1, 2009 by former officer
Johannes Mehserle.* Recently, Mehserle was convicted of the deplorable
charge of involuntary manslaughter, a weak charge which carries a sentence
of probation to four years in prison.


When the news of Mehserle's verdict reached the people of the bay area on
July 8, the streets heated up in a style reminiscent of the anti-police
riots a year and a half ago. Downtown Oakland swelled immediately after
the release of the verdict. For hours after the verdict was released,
people milled about, yelling at police, and listening to angry speeches.
As the sun went down, the police moved in to end the spontaneous
demonstration, threatening arrest of anyone who stayed on the streets. The
sky was littered with helicopters and planes. Every police force in the
region had gathered in downtown. Despite these threats, in the hours that
followed, blocks and blocks of Oakland were wrecked, bank windows smashed,
stores looted, and trash cans set on fire by people outraged by the state
and society's sickening disregard for Oscar Grant's life, and by
extension, those who are always the victims of police violence in the
state's constant war against people of color, women, and the
poor.
The night of July 8th, and long after the riots had ended, the
Oakland Police Department as well as other Bay Area police departments,
snatched at least 78 people from the streets.

Twelve of those comrades are still in jail. Seven of them are being held
without bail for parole violations. The five others face various felonies
including burglary, rioting, and arson. They have bails ranging between
$60,000 and $70,000, with one man being held for $525,000. With a bail
bondsman we can free them by posting around 10% of the bail. We are
hopeful that some of these people will get their bail reduced in the
coming weeks after their pre-trial. Regardless, raising funds now is
imperative. Defendants will be held in jail until the conclusion of their
trial if we do not bail them out. (During the last Oscar Grant riots in
January 2009 one man was charged with arson. His trial dragged on a whole
year before the city dropped the charges due to lack of evidence. This
scenario is destined to repeat itself at the expense of those arrested on
the 8th.)


We, the anarchists and autonomists of the Bay Area of California, lovers
of rebellions, and haters of cops for their ceaseless violence against us,
do humbly request for solidarity to help free these brave rebels. If your
collective, scene, squat, movement has the capacity to throw a benefit, or
otherwise come into money, for this legal defense fund. we couldn't need
it more in order to keep our movement against the murderous police fierce
and alive!




Thank you.



In Solidarity,


The Oakland 100 Support Committee


To make an online contribution use oakland100 [at] gmail.com via paypal.com

For more information on the status of the cases see
http://supporttheoakland100.wordpress.com/ or email us at oakland100 [at]
gmail.com


For ongoing coverage of the Justice for Oscar Grant Movement see
http://www.indybay.org


Please feel free to repost and forward this widely and translate into
other languages!


*For those unfamiliar with the case: Oscar Grant, a Black man, was pulled
off a train in Oakland New Years Eve by a gang of police. He was laying
face down on the ground when shot point blank in the back by Mehserle, a
white cop. The murder was filmed by many train passengers and viewed by
hundreds of thousands of people on youtube. A week after the murder herds
of people from Oakland, California erupted in riots.
http://supporttheoakland100.wordpress.com/