#defund Boston police

[callese]

[mysharona1987]

[columboposting]

OK not to Foxpost on main but as much as I appreciate the trope of the coruscant guard being like woefully underfunded and undersupported by the senate because they’re “not front line troops” and therefore “don’t need things like bacta or rations etc” and like I get where you’re coming from, but like…. they may not be on the front line but they are the most significant and final line of defense for the capital of the republic and more specifically the senate, who — and I cannot stress this enough — are the people who decide whether or not the coruscant guard gets money. The corries do the work of cops AND the secret service, and maybe throw in the national guard — imagine if the united states defunded the cops (seriously, imagine…), specifically all the cops that work in DC, AND the secret service because oh they’re purely concerned with domestic affairs and the security of the most essential elements of our republic, they don’t need resources. You’re talking about fucking upside down banana world and certainly not about the political priorities of a fading republic succumbing to nationalism, militarism, and fascism.

If I were a late era galactic senator, I would have funding the coruscant guard as my top fucking priority. I’d be signing off on building fucking cop city overtop of coruscant’s last nature reserve, i’d be giving them experimental bazookas and tanks and shit up the wazoo. Twelve types of alien police dog and two models from Space Boston Dynamics. Horses. Fox keeps trying to find a weapon they won’t finance for him and it’s not working, at this point he’s considering asking for a lightsaber just to see what happens. I’m not saying the coruscant guard should live in the lap of luxury or anything but they should probably have ample if not excessive access to the military resources they need to do their jobs — medical supplies, armaments, armor, etc. Because if politicians are one thing, that thing is interested above all in their own security, and the coruscant guard is literally their personal protective army, why would they not want their personal protective army to be well funded. “I’m chancellor palpatine and I’m going to deprive my slave gestapo of medical supplies so that their limbs fall off when they try to murder my enemies” come on man be serious.

[indigaux]

Hey everyone! I’m so excited for this show 🙂 last night Father Hotep let me know that he’s super pumped to see my set and I feel the same way 🫶🏽 this is gonna be a great show!

I felt love and support from FH, knowing Mass remembers me and fucks with me has been so encouraging and motivated for me 🙂 I have been a lil nervous about this show cuz my new music is a totally new sound coming from me. A new sound almost entirely!

I’m out here blooming nu genres yall~ I would say I’m in that experimental hip hop wave, but I think I’m more of a darkwave/anti-soul & hip hop vibe now. At least with my new, self produced songs. Im still versatile and bringing different musical sounds to my platform. But ever since I committed to producing all my own beats for 2023, I noticed my overall sound has shifted.

I’m thrilled to see where this musical journey takes me. It’s an adventure of self discovery and understanding. A sacred journey for me that I’m overjoyed to share with you all! Not even my own hood has heard these songs yet 💕

I love y’all, and can’t wait to see your cute Mass faces 🙂 see you on Wednesday! See the flyer to more deetz or find me on the gram to stay updated in real time @indigauxthefae

I have a show in Boston, MA • Wednesday, February 8th 2023 at 9pm • 21+ • free entry • genre: experimental hip hop • there will be a tip jar for the artists so bring some cash bby 💵 and drinkers, have fun at the bar cuz every dollar spent helps support the artists!

✨🫧☁️🦋☁️🫧☀️

Some of you pay attention to me, so you know that I’ve been making different type of music lately. If I were to describe my music journey, I’d say I am a hyperpunk sun, sugar trap rising, darkwave moon, and… experimental hip hop mercury. You feel me? Each song in my discography is a star, making up the very architecture of my creative personality. I’ve got a galaxy of gems on and offline. Come into my universe to witness the nebula of sound that is Indigaux the Fae… come to my show :)

p.s., I attended college in Boston, so if you remember me from the old days I’d love to see you there 🫶🏽 heyyy UMass!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Marin Cogan at Vox:

Listen to the way Democrats talk about guns, violent crime, and the criminal justice system these days, and you’ll notice that things sound different from the way they did in 2020. That year, following a national protest movement centered around the high-profile police killings of unarmed Black Americans, including Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, Democrats focused their message on protecting citizens from police abuses and overhauling the criminal justice system, rather than reducing violent crime. But four years later, after a historic spike in gun homicide and an election cycle where Republicans attacked them over the issue, Democrats have found a new message. Leaders are still talking about ending gun violence — an important issue for their base, given that it’s the core reason that the United States has a homicide rate that is much higher than other comparable countries. They’re also still supportive of police reform, though it has been less prominent as a campaign issue this year.

But now, with Republicans opposing nearly all of their gun control legislation, they’re highlighting their other efforts in crime prevention and public safety, too. “We made the largest investment, Kamala and I, in public safety, ever,” President Joe Biden said at the Democratic National Convention in August, referring to the $10 billion in funding committed through the American Rescue Plan to public safety efforts for cities and states. Vice presidential nominee Tim Walz touted his administration’s investment in fighting crime as Minnesota governor at the DNC, and Chris Swanson, a sheriff from Genesee County, Michigan, took to the stage to declare that “crime is down and police funding is up,” in a speech that would have been almost unthinkable at the 2020 Democratic convention, when activists and other prominent voices on the left were calling to “defund the police.” Mayors leading major cities are now highlighting increases in funding and support for programs built around more recent innovations in violence reduction, including community violence intervention and hyperlocal crime reduction programs.

“Community safety is a year-round, collaborative effort,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said earlier this year, unveiling a new summer safety program for the city, which has seen a major drop in gun homicides in 2024 compared to the previous year. “Our comprehensive approach to reducing gun violence is working,” Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said, crediting the work of the city’s group violence reduction strategy in contributing to the city’s largest year-over-year reduction in murders last year. It’s not just that Democrats are responding to the rise in gun homicides in 2020 and 2021 and the political backlash that came with it. The change reflects a broader shift in thinking among Democrats and their nonpartisan allies who work in violence reduction, criminal justice, and police reform. It’s one that acknowledges the seriousness of preventing and reducing violent crime — the core concern of the “tough on crime” crowd — without accepting the idea that the solution is mass incarceration. There is a growing sense that increasing public safety, ending gun violence, and reducing mass incarceration, rather than being separate or even in tension, are pieces of the same pie, and that efforts to improve one should help improve the others.

[...]

As researchers deepened the body of existing research on racial bias in the criminal justice system, and activists organized to press lawmakers for change, a series of police killings of Black Americans brought the issue into the public’s view. By 2020, the movement for police and criminal justice reform had already made important progress, thanks to a network of organizers and activists, and funding from foundations and bipartisan coalitions. That support had helped build momentum for drug sentencing reform during President Barack Obama’s administration as well as his administration’s creation of a task force aimed at police reform. Those efforts helped pave the way for the most significant sentencing reform bill in years, the First Step Act, signed by President Donald Trump. The bill gave judges more flexibility to avoid lengthy sentences dictated by federal mandatory minimums, allowed incarcerated people to earn time credits that could move up their release date if they participated in rehabilitative programs, and made retroactive the earlier reform passed under the Obama administration, eliminating the sentencing disparity between those convicted of possessing crack versus powdered cocaine. By the last election cycle, the Democrats’ platform included the most progressive police reform agenda in modern American history. The bill focused on greater accountability for police, but also included proposals to invest more in community-based violence reduction.

But as reformers were making strides, violent crime began to rise again in cities, due to a number of factors related to the pandemic, policing after the George Floyd protests, and the ubiquity of guns. By the end of 2020, the country had seen the largest increase in its homicide rate in nearly a century, and the problem got more difficult to ignore. The following year, homicides remained high. Former President Donald Trump and other Republicans increasingly pointed their fingers at Democrats running big cities, arguing that their policies were responsible for rising violent crime and attempting to connect them with the left’s “defund the police” movement. By 2022, six in 10 registered voters listed crime as a “very important” issue for them in the midterm election cycle that November. Then, a new crop of Democrats, responding to voters’ concerns, launched campaigns for mayor across the United States. Many made violent crime reduction their primary campaign issue.

Some, like New York’s Eric Adams, who won in 2021, and Philadelphia’s Cherelle Parker, who won in 2023, campaigned on more funding and support for police. (Federal prosecutors announced Thursday that they had indicted Adams on federal corruption charges, and the NYPD has been under heavy scrutiny for illegal stops on citizens, a recent subway shooting, and a separate investigation that resulted in the police commissioner’s resignation in September.) Others, like Wu and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, have focused their efforts on outreach and intervention programs, and focused on investing in community partnerships. The details of each city’s violence prevention program are different, but the broad elements are largely the same: They include more funding for both the police and for community organizations aimed at addressing the people and places most likely to suffer from high rates of violent crime, especially gun homicide.

There has been a major difference in how the Democratic Party is approaching the crime issue this cycle than the 2020 cycle.

[cosmicanger]

“ppl talk abt the george floyd uprisings as failing i just dont think thats true. energy from them went into the revitalized labor movement and the clarity from them have been informing the pro-palestine movement, ppl need to see this as a long process rather than being defeatist.”

“Yeah but the goal was defunding the cops and police funding increased. I'm not knocking energy and joy, but at some point, morale has to create a material result. We can't just "long process" ourselves forever. Believing in ourselves enough to go back to the drawing board and start figuring out how to do more is the opposite of defeatism. I marched with Occupy Boston. I marched after Michael Brown was killed too. I understand that *in theory* it is a long game. What incremental leftists don't understand is that the 21st century does not have to be like the 20th. The whole idea that long games work is based on 1) the civil rights movement, 2) smaller policies that marching has more consistently worked for. In both cases the results came from convincing people in power, which involved A LOT more than just marching. The electoral organization, the militant wings, the ability to overcome resistance from the right, none of those pieces are in place for big stuff because the country is structurally different now. We have a lot more people, A LOT fewer at the top, and multiple info bubbles. The "long game" argument is based on the idea that the majority will eventually win out, but the country is now structured in such a way that that's simply not true. Billionaires & politicians have figured out how to game the system to keep us constantly in a state of cope. This is why I've been doing threads on how they're playing us with Palestine. They do not care one bit that we're shutting down the streets. There does not eventually have to be a stop to the genocide just because the majority wants it. Those are 20th century assumptions. I understand that this is scary because it throws out the model of activism that incremental leftists have become entrenched in. But I expect that, as leftists, you should be able to face that fear head on. Otherwise you all are just street party Democrats. Also, finding new models of activism doesn't mean violence. There's more tactics in the world than marches, symbolic shutdowns, and violence. I'm begging you all to stop being so complacent about the long game and start thinking bigger. On Palestine, the past month has gone from "If we threaten not to vote for Biden, the Democrats will call off the genocide" to "Maybe if we get everyone in the streets?" to "Well, it's a long game, Palestine will be free eventually." Seasoned activists on here pivoted very smoothly from "The people united can never be divided" to "Well, look, boycotts take a year to really work, and movements are a long game." THEN WHY ARE WE USING THESE TACTICS, WHEN GAZANS MIGHT MASS STARVE IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS?????? If you see a short term problem and funnel everyone into long term tactics that OBVIOUSLY will not work in the scheduled timeframe, then as far as I'm concerned you are just as complicit as our entire government.”

[bllsbailey]

Komrade Kamala’s Marxism

US Vice President and Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris speaks at an event hosted by The Economic Club of Pittsburgh at Carnegie Mellon University on September 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Kamala Harris is without doubt the most radical presidential candidate ever proposed, and her Marxism would make the America of the Founders, of historic Republicans, Democrats, and Independents, unrecognizable.

Kamala Harris is a proven and self-admitted democratic socialist with strong ties to communistic Marxism.

This is her own stated “system of values,” the one bequeathed to her by her birth father, a Jamaican professor of economics at Stanford University who proudly acclaimed his Marxist ideology.

American voters should take her at her word and ask if we want this deviant economic and political ideology to come to power in our country. Practical common-sense Donald Trump has made his choice clear, now all voters need to ponder the consequences and do the same, before it is too late. This is particularly true for those voters in the critical swing battleground states: Arizona, Nevada, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

The United States has never in its long electoral history had a candidate as leftist as Kamala Harris. She was named the most liberal Senator– beyond even Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders.

That is because she is not a liberal. She is a Marxist. What exactly are the tenets of Marxism and how does Kamala Harris subscribe to them, you might rightly ask.

Marxism is the ideology and theory of communism developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the nineteenth century. It explains class struggle, alienation, and historical change in capitalist society and proposes a revolutionary path to world socialism. The basics of the ideology of the left are best summed up in the Communist Manifesto (1848).

Here is the detail. There are ten basic points of Marxism and Harris’s policies and preferences substantiate all of them, if you study her words and actions over her political career.

The campaign and the mainstream media are hiding these facts from the larger public and trying to fool us. Yet the very slogan of her campaign comes directly from communism. “We are not going back…Forward Together” has been the slogan of the Communist Party forever.

Abolition of private property and application of rents of land to public purposes.

KAMALA HARRIS PROMISES TO SCRAP THE FILIBUSTER TO PASS THE GREEN NEW DEAL

KAMALA HARRIS WOULD BAN FRACKING ON PUBLIC LANDS

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS WORKERS IN FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY NEED TO TRANSITION KAMALA HARRIS INTRODUCED A BILL WITH AOC ON CLIMATE EQUITY TO FORCE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AFFECTING LOW INCOME COUNTRIES

A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.

KAMALA HARRIS: WE NEED TO SUBSTANTIALLY RAISE TAXES ON THE RICH AND MIDDLE CLASS

KAMALA HARRIS SEEKS TO SIGNIFICANTLY RAISE TAXES ON INDIVIDUALS AND ALL CORPORATIONS

KAMALA HARRIS FAVORS REPARATIONS FOR SLVERY FOR ALL BLACKS

Abolition of all right of inheritance.

KAMALA HARRIS SEEKS TO STOP INHERITANCE AND TAX IT AT CONFISCATORY RATES

Confiscation of the property of all rebels and enemies of the state.

KAMALA HARRIS DEFENDS HER RECORD AS A PROSECUTOR REGARDING NOT INVESTIGATING FATAL SHOOTINGS INVOLVING POLICE

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS WE SHOULD HAVE A CONVERSATION ABOUT FELONS LIKE BOSTON BOMBER BEING ALLOWED TO VOTE

KAMALA HARRIS WANTS TO JAIL MAGA SUPPORTERS AND ANYONE INVOLVED IN J6

Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly over policing and guns.

KAMALA HARRIS ASKS ACTING ICE DIRECTOR IF HE’S AWARE THAT SOME PERCEIVE ICE TO BE LIKE THE KKK

KAMALA HARRIS WANTS TO DEFUND POLICE AND REIMAGE PUBLIC SAFETY IN AMERICA

KAMALA HARRIS: ASSAULT WEAPONS SHOULD NOT BE ACCESSIBLE

KAMALA HARRIS: MANDATORY BUYBACK OF ASSAULT WEAPONS IS A GOOD IDEA

KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS THE FORCEABLE CONFISCATION OF UP TO 10 MILLION GUNS

Extension of the revolution beyond any one nation in an internation/global struggle.

KAMALA HARRIS STATES HER GLOBALISM AND THE EROSION OF AMERICAN POWER

 KAMALA HARRIS AS BORDER CZAR DECLARES FOR OPEN BORDERS AND DECRIMINALIZATION OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION

KAMALA HARRIS PLEDGED SUPPORT FOR A PATHWAY TO CITIZENSHIP FOR TENS OF MILLIONS OF UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

Centralization of the means of communication in the hands of the state and its’ agents.

KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS THE MOVE TO SLASH POLICE FUNDING

KAMALA HARRIS THREATENS EXECUTIVE ACTION ON GUN CONTROL IF ELECTED

KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS THE GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP OF MEDIA AND INFORMATION

Extension of factories and instruments of production owned or controlled by the state under a common plan.

KAMALA HARRIS ENDORSES GREEN NEW DEAL

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS SHE WILL NOT VOTE FOR A BORDER WALL

KAMALA HARRIS SEEKS LEGISLATION FOR ALL DRUGS EVEN HEROIN< COCAINE AND FENTANYL< INCLUDING STATE BASED DISPESATION CENTERS

Equality of all labor and an end to all borders.

KAMALA HARRIS: MY MEDICARE FOR ALL PLAN WILL COVER ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS

KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS DECRIMINALIZING ILLEGAL BORDER CROSSINGS

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS WE NEED MEDICARE FOR ALL

9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country. All power in the hands of the elite vanguard of the proletariat.

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS I WOULD CHANGE DIETARY GUIDELINES TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF RED MEAT YOU CAN EAT

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS BLM PROTESTS SHOULDN’T STOP

KAMALA HARRIS VOICES SUPPORT FOR HAMAS PROTESTS

KAMALA HARRIS’ SUPPORT FOR PROGRESSIVE PROSECUTORS

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS YOU DON’T GET TO KEEP YOUR INSURANCE

SUPPORTS MEDICARE FOR ALL

KAMALA HARRIS SAYS GREEN NEW DEAL PRINCIPLES ARE SOUND AND IMPORTANT

10. Free health care and education and political indoctrination for all children in public state schools.

KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS MEDICARE FOR ALL, END TO EMPLOYER INSURANCE

KAMALA HARRIS SUPPORTS ONLY STATE RUN SCHOOLS AND OPPOSES VOUCHERS AND CHARTER SCHOOLS.

Take Komrade Kamala at her word.

She’s a no-good commie, a ruby red radical, a voluntary comfort woman for lefty officials – a freedom-hating, gun-confiscating, America last climate changer with all the worst policies for everyone except the champagne socialists she intends to sell us all out to. Hating America and all she stands for should be disqualifying, but in the upside-down world of “fundamentally transforming” the greatest country the world’s ever seen – no amount of sabotage directed at the pillars that built the nation’s internal strength is too low.

She cannot and must not be elected.

Theodore Roosevelt Malloch a former Oxford professor, was to be Trump’s nominee as Ambassador to the European Union. His remarks on BBC about the “EU needing taming like the former Soviet Union” caused a firestorm in Brussels. He is the only American to have been made persona non grata by the European Union for his so-called malevolent views and redefinition of trans Atlanticism. His book, Trump’s World co-authored with Felipe Cuello, was a best seller.

[andronetalks]

Unburdened: Kamala Harris Suddenly Rejects All Of Her Radical Positions

Zero Hedge BY TYLER DURDENTUESDAY, JUL 30, 2024 – 11:45 AM In 2019, Kamala Harris was rated the ‘most liberal’ Senator in a now-scrubbed rating from GovTrack. She’s on record wanting to abolish ICE (which she compared to the KKK), letting criminals like the Boston Marathon bomber and rapists vote, banning fracking and offshore drilling, defunding the police, providing US taxpayer subsidized…

[shirleymerly]

NOW THESE DEMONIC MARX DEMS AND GEORGE SORR ACTIVIST JUDGES TRIED TO FREE BOSTON BOMBERS. I CANT BELIEVE YOU IMBECILES STILL SUPPORT THIS EVIL. PURE EVIL.

[callese]

[unashamedly-enthusiastic]

Me: oh hey, my post about a robotic dog doing a little dance got lots of notes overnight!

Me checking the notes: people are sharing tips on how to disable the robot dog?? and tagging it ACAB?

Me after checking Google:

[liturgical-lesbian]

[rebornghostgirl]

Cant believe spot is being used for evil by the cops. Spot is not for the police force... They wasted 75000 for a walking camera...

This is why they need to defund these mother fuckers..

full thread

how to disarm Boston Dynamics drone dog

[eowyntheavenger]

What have the protests accomplished?

5/26 4 officers fired for murdering George Floyd 5/27 Charges dropped for Kenneth Walker (Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, who police accused of killing her) 5/28 University of Minnesota cancels contract with police 5/28 3rd precinct police station neutralized by protesters 5/28 Minneapolis transit union refuses to bring police officers to protests or transport arrested protesters 5/29 Activists commandeer Minneapolis hotel to provide shelter to homeless 5/29 Former officer Chauvin arrested and charged with murder 5/29 Louisville Mayor suspends “no-knock” warrants 5/30 US Embassies across Africa condemn police murder of George Floyd 5/30 Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison takes over prosecution of the murdering officer 5/30 Transport Workers Union refuses to help NYPD transport arrests protesters 5/30 Maryland lawmakers forming work group on police reform, accountability 5/31 2 abusive officers fired for pulling a couple out of their car and tasing them - Atlanta, GA 6/1 Minneapolis public schools end contract with police 6/1 Confederate monument removed after being toppled by protesters - Birmingham, AL 6/1 CA prosecutors launch campaign to stop DAs from accepting police union money 6/1 Tulsa Mayor agrees to not renew Live PD contract 6/1 Louisville police chief fired after shooting of David Mcatee 6/1 Congress begins bipartisan push to cut off police access to military gear 6/1 Atlanta announces plans to create a task force and public database to track police brutality in metro Atlanta area 6/2 Minneapolis AFL-CIO calls for resignation of police union president Bob Kroll, a vocal white supremest 6/2 Pittsburgh transit union announces refusal to transport police officers or arrest protesters 6/2 Racist ex-mayor Frank Rizzo statue removed in Philadelphia 6/2 6 abusive officers charged for violence against residents and protesters - Atlanta, GA 6/2 Civil rights investigation of Minneapolis Police Dept launched 6/2 San Francisco resolution to prevent law enforcement from hiring officers with history of misconduct 6/2 Survey indicates that 64% of those polled are sympathetic to protesters, 47% disapprove of police handling of the protests, and 54% think the burning down of the Minneapolis police precinct was fully or partially justified 6/2 Trenton NJ announces policing reforms 6/2 Minneapolis City Council members consider disbanding the police 6/2 Confederate statue removed from Alexandria, VA 6/3 Officer fired for tweets promoting violence against protesters - Denver, CO 6/3 Walker Art Center and the Minneapolis Institute of Art cut ties with the MPD 6/3 Chauvin charges upgraded to second degree murder, remaining 3 officers also charged and taken into custody 6/3 Richmond VA Mayor Stoney announces RPD reform measures: establish "Marcus" alert for folks experiencing mental health crises, establish independent Citizen Review Board, an ordinance to remove Confederate monuments, and implement racial equity study 6/3 County commissioners deny proposal for $23 million expansion of Fulton County jail 6/3 Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board unanimously votes to sever ties with MPD 6/3 Seattle withdraws request to end federal oversight/consent decree of police department 6/3 Breonna Taylor’s case reopened 6/3 Louisville police department (Breonna Taylor’s murderers) will now be under review from an outside agency, which will include review on training, bias-free policing and accountability 6/3 Colorado lawmakers introduce a police reform bill that includes body cam laws, repealing the “fleeing felon” statute, and banning chokeholds 6/3 Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announces plans to reduce funding to police department by $150M and instead invest in minority communities 6/4 Virginia governor announces plans to remove Robert E. Lee statue from Richmond 6/4 Portland schools superintendent discontinues presence of armed police officers in schools 6/4 MBTA (Metro Boston) board orders that buses wont transport police to protests, or protesters to police 6/4 King County Labor Federation issues ultimatum to police unions: admit to and address racism in Seattle PD, or be removed 6/5 City of Minneapolis bans all chokeholds by police 6/5 Racist ex-mayor Hubbard statue removed - Dearborn, MI 6/5 NFL condemns racism and admits it should have listened to players’ protests 6/5 California Governor Gavin Newsom calls for statewide use-of-force standard made along with community leaders and ban on carotid holds 6/5 2 Buffalo officers suspended within a day of pushing 75 year old protester to the ground, and lying about it 6/5 2 NYPD officers suspended after videos of violence to protesters 6/5 The US Marines bans display of the Confederate flag 6/5 Dallas adopts a "duty to intervene" rule that requires officers to stop other cops who are engaging in excessive use of force 6/5 Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax releases an 11-point action plan for immediate police reforms 6/6 Statue of Confederate general Williams Carter Wickham torn down - Richmond, VA 6/6 2 Buffalo officers charged with second-degree assault for shoving elderly man 6/6 San Francisco Mayor London Breed announces effort to defund police and redirect funds to Black community 6/7 Frank Rizzo mural removed, to be replaced with new artwork - Philadelphia, PA 6/7 Minneapolis City Council members announce intent to disband the police department, invest in proven community-led public safety 6/7 Protesters in Bristol topple statue of slave trader Edward Colston, throw it in the river 6/7 NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio vows for the first time to cut funding for NYPD, redirect to social services 6/7 A Virginia police officer faces charges after using a stun gun on a black man 6/8 NY State Assembly passes the Eric Garner Anti-Chokehold Act 6/8 Democrats in Congress unveil a bill to rein in bias and excessive force in policing 6/8 Black lawmakers block a legislative session in Pennsylvania to demand action on police reform 6/8 France bans police use of chokeholds 6/8 Seattle council members join calls to defund police department 6/8 Boston reevaluates how it funds police department 6/8 Honolulu Police Commission nominees voice support for more transparency, reforms 6/8 Rights groups and Floyd’s family call for a UN inquiry into American policing and help with systemic police reform

No, it’s not enough, but this is only the beginning. Keep fighting!!!

(This list comes from Mara Ahmed’s blog post and was compiled by Fahd Ahmed; I added sources and new entries. Please reblog with further additions.)

[space-and-suffering]

These machines can be used as surveillance, and that is bad, but we have to provide accurate information if we want to counter it.

Stating claims that these were “designed” for this also provides misinformation. They were designed for industrial use, meaning slow, deliberate, delicate work (ie not brutality). I say this as it is important to know if you encounter one. Since they were designed this way intentionally, it means they can’t attack you, and it also means someone nearby will be able to shut it off easily (ie by removing the battery with the deliberately placed quick release handle, or by spray painting over its main optical sensor) without fear of harm. This is important information.

There is no collaboration between the police and the manufacturer, meaning the robot that they get will be the same as the one everyone else does, so will be just as easy to disable. (Not to mention the fact that they have a max speed of less than 4mph, and weigh about 50lbs/25kg)

Boston Dynamics (the manufacturer and developer of this robot) also has a user Terms of Service that prevents the use of spot to intimidate, threaten, or invade private property, and cannot be used as or fitted with a weapon, without grounds for software termination and seizure of the goods.

PLEASE REBLOG this version with all the info; These things are important to know, both to maintain credibility, and also as a tool in your arsenal should you encounter one being used for surveillance or otherwise.