Flyer for police violence demo

bristol | policing | announcement Tuesday April 28, 2009 17:56 by Alexis

Saturday May 2nd, 12 noon, New Bridewell police station, Bridewell Street, Bristol.

Wrong place, wrong time
Ian Tomlinson was on his way home when he was viciously attacked and killed by riot police at the G20 demonstrations in London. Despite an attempted cover up and sickening lies by the authorities, this time they could not hide the truth. They beat and pushed a man to the floor and watched as he died of internal bleeding. Ian Tomlinson is the latest name in a long, long list and he will not be the last to die at the hands of violent cops.

Police everywhere, justice nowhere
None of this is anything new and this is not an isolated incident. Police routinely, harass, intimidate and attack demonstrators with extreme violence. Wearing masks and no numbers has long been part of the dress code of the boys in black. They just happened to kill someone and got caught on camera this time. But we can’t rely on the justice system to deliver justice. It will only give us a whitewash, like so many times before. The hired thugs of the state know they have impunity and are above the law.
So now the liberal media expresses it’s shock at the police brutality, calling for inquests, reviews of police tactics and justice for the family. They will divert people’s attention away from confronting systematic, everyday state violence with talk of “a few bad apples” in the force. What’s actually more shocking is that more people aren’t killed by police at demonstrations, because these beatings are business as usual.
A recent multi million advertising campaign spins the police as caring, listening and approachable. In reality the purpose of police public relations is to maintain fear, to keep the public in order. They talk about “working together” but their job has always been to work against us, to protect and serve the rulers and the rich. “Keeping the peace” means that a paramilitary riot squad, with batons raised, is never far away.

They can’t beat it out of us
More and more people are angry at the greed of the bankers and bosses, the lies of the politicians, inequality, poverty, debt, climate chaos, corporate power, the escalating control of our lives, the surveillance society, police brutality and murders… the list goes on. As more of us take to the streets to show our anger and resist, and as the rulers feel the pressure of their collapsing system, we can expect to see the gloves come off as the state bares it’s teeth. Capitalism and its agents think nothing of human life and anyone who stands in the way of profit or steps out of line is a target.
Solidarity is our best defence. We can stick together to defend ourselves from the police, and resist the attacks of state and capitalism while fighting for a better world free from the violence of authority. Remember, the streets are ours, our ideas are baton proof and the revolution will not be terrorised!

Police violence demo flyer - copy and distribute 0.19 Mb