File spoon-archives/marxism-general.archive/marxism-general_1997/marxism-general.9712, message 129


Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 12:34:38 -0500 (EST)
From: "Liam R.Flynn" <trinity-AT-hot-shot.com>
Subject: M-G: Human Rights in the USA ?


> 
> ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted
> from the Dec. 11, 1997 issue of Workers World newspaper -----------------------
> -- Plymouth rocked by police riot Cops brutally assault Native people
> & supporters at Nat'l Day of Mourning By Moonanum James & Mahtowin
> Munro Co-leaders, United American Indians of New England Plymouth,
> Mass.
> Special to Workers World Police attacked a peaceful march of several
> hundred Native people and our supporters in Plymouth, Mass., on
> "Thanksgiving" day.
> 
> More than 150 cops=97latter-day descendants of Custer and the U.S.
> Cavalry=97descended on women, children, elders and men who were merely
>  attempting to march on a side street of Plymouth. The cops attacked
>  without warning and with no provocation.
> 
> Those of us at the front of the march tried to avert trouble. We
> sent negotiators to speak to them to explain where we were marching.
>  The cops refused to negotiate.
> 
> As the sea of blue uniforms approached us, we yelled to them: "Look!
>  You can see we don=92t want any trouble! We have all women and
> children up here at the front!" The police response was to knock two
> men down to the ground and grab a leader of United American Indians
> of New England=97Mahtowin Munro. Mahtowin says: "They handcuffed me
> and dragged me off. As the cops grabbed me, I could feel several
> people behind me grabbing me around the waist and trying to pull me
> away." One woman yelled, "You are not taking my sister!" But there
> were too many cops.
> 
> Some of the cops were dressed in full riot gear. A few were on
> horseback. Some were dressed in plain clothes and did not even
> identify themselves. They used pepper spray and mace. They sprayed
> the eyes and mouths of people who were already down on the ground
> and handcuffed.
> 
> They gassed two children=97one an 8-year-old Black child from
> Providence, R.I., and the other a 10-year-old Latino boy from New
> York. Some Plymouth residents came out of their houses to offer
> water to those who had been gassed.
> 
> The cops knocked people to the ground and arrested people who had
> stepped aside to get out of the way.
> 
> Carefully planned cop attack When the police assault began,
> supporters whisked another UAINE leader=97Moonanum James=97to the
> sidewalk "so I would not be arrested," Moonanum says. "This made no
> difference. The cops swept down on me anyway." It was clear that the
> combined forces of the Plymouth Police Department, the county
> sheriff=92s office, and the Massachusetts state troopers had planned
> and rehearsed this assault for some time.
> 
> This was a carefully orchestrated police assault. Cops pointed at
> the march=92s leaders and peace keepers and said: "Get that one! That
> one!" A Chilean who was one of those arrested said he had not seen
> anything like it since Chile under the fascist military junta.
> 
> He told us: "I remember being in school and the authorities would
> come into the classroom and point to students, saying: =91That one!
> And that one!=92 Then they would take away my friends, and often I
> would never see them again." We still don=92t know who the cops in
> plain clothes were. They could be troopers or federal agents. Many
> of the cops used counter-insurgency tactics such as hitting pressure
>  points on the body to immobilize protesters. Marchers wearing
> T-shirts or buttons calling for freedom for Native political
> prisoner Leonard Peltier were also targeted. As they dragged people
> off, cops said, "Do you know he=92s a fucking cop killer?" Peltier was
>  framed on charges of shooting two FBI agents in South Dakota in
> 1975.
> 
> Those who were not arrested pressed forward, chanting against police
>  brutality and declaring that "the whole world is watching." In fact,
>  many cameras and video cameras recorded the police violence.
> 
> Racist brutality In all, 25 people were arrested.
> 
> Those arrested included not only several Native people but also
> Black, Latino and white supporters. The ages of those arrested range
>  from 18 to 67. The cops arrested a 67-year-old Penobscot medicine
> person, Sam Sapiel, who is on the Council of UAINE. Sapiel had just
> told the cops that he would get everybody to stop marching if they
> would just stop attacking people. When he turned his back, the cops
> jumped him from behind.
> 
> Several youths leaped forward to try and save this respected elder.
> They too were arrested.
> 
> The cops were particularly brutal to the Black people arrested. They
>  ripped out dreadlocks from the scalp of Kazi Toure, a Black former
> political prisoner. They refused to take the handcuffs off the two
> Black women who were arrested, Imani Henry and Nicole Wood, until an
>  hour after all the other women=92s handcuffs had been removed. Imani
> Henry said: "This shows the importance of multinational and
> multi-gender solidarity. There were a lot of lesbian and gay people
> there, and a lot of people of color there who were arrested." John
> Caruso, a gay man from Provincetown, said: "The cops never even used
>  bullhorns to communicate to the crowd. The police are lying when
> they say that they warned us to stop. "We saw one of the Native
> people down on the ground. The cops were dragging him by his hair.
> He was in regalia. They made him take his clothes off in front of
> many cops and put on a prison uniform. "Nobody else was forced to do
>  anything like that. People of color were frisked, but myself and
> other white people were just patted down." Caruso=92s lover, John
> Perry Ryan, was injured and arrested. He has a big gash on his
> forehead from the cops knocking him down on the pavement.
> 
> "The cops pepper-sprayed people who were standing on the sidewalks
> trying to get out of the way," he said. "I got jumped from behind,
> grabbed around the neck, and tackled onto the ground." It=92s all on
> videotape The charges ranged from disorderly conduct and unlawful
> assembly to assault and battery on a police officer. The latter
> charge usually means police have assaulted someone, whom they then
> charge with assault. And sure enough, we have videotapes showing the
>  people charged with assault and battery being tackled to the ground
>  and slammed up against walls by cops.
> 
> In fact, we have the entire police assault=97all of it=97on videotape
> and in photographs. We have dozens of witnesses. There is no doubt
> but that we are telling the truth about what happened.
> 
> Every single person arrested was guilty of only one thing: daring to
>  stand up and support the Native struggle.
> 
> One of our peace keepers, Steve Gillis, described the scene: "As the
>  march approached the Plymouth business district, a squad of state
> and local cops, some on horseback, ambushed us at a full run.
> Several members of my union, the Steel Workers, attempted to
> negotiate with the brass, who immediately ordered a squad of six
> cops to put us down. "They threw me down to the ground, smashing my
> head on the pavement, choking me, hitting a pressure point in my ear
>  to immobilize me, ripping off my clothing and spraying burning gas
> in my face. "We=92ve seen these cop war tactics before on numerous
> union strike lines, and know that they were ordered by the highest
> levels of the political and business establishment." Many of those
> who were not arrested rallied at the Plymouth police headquarters.
> They raised money for bail and cheered as those who had been
> arrested came outside after being freed hours later.
> 
> Protecting tourism profits Several hundred Native people and their
> supporters had gathered in Plymouth for the 28th Annual National Day
>  of Mourning. Since 1970, UAINE has organized the National Day of
> Mourning, a protest against the U.S. celebration of the mythology of
>  Thanksgiving and against the racist "Pilgrim Progress Parade."
> Before the police assault on the attempted march, there was a
> speak-out on Cole=92s Hill. Native people representing the Maya, Yaqui,
>  Inuit, Wampanoag, Lakota and other nations spoke.
> 
> UAINE chose not to disrupt the parade this year. The police attacked
>  anyway.
> 
> Why? Because the government is afraid of the people=92s movement we
> have been building at the National Day of Mourning. We have been
> able to bring people of all races and ages and genders and sexual
> orientations, together like one fist. This is the oppressors=92 worst
> nightmare. This year, we were especially effective in getting out
> the word about what we are doing, and why. For instance, a few days
> before the Day of Mourning the Boston Globe printed an opinion piece
>  in which we expressed our point of view about why we don=92t
> celebrate Thanksgiving. This police attack was clearly meant to
> protect the reputation and business interests of Plymouth. Much of
> Plymouth=92s income is from tourism. The Plymouth establishment has a
> huge stake in protecting the sacred image of the pilgrims.
> 
> The police assault was planned and carried out simply to protect the
>  tourist industry in Plymouth. The human and civil rights of people
> of color=97and especially of Indigenous people=97are expendable when
> money is to be made. But this has completely backfired on them. Even
>  people who had not supported us before are disgusted by the show of
>  brute force by the police. Now anyone with a shred of decency will
> stay away from Plymouth.
> 
> It sure doesn=92t look very good for this town that calls itself
> "America=92s Hometown" to be assaulting peaceful protesters on
> "Thanksgiving" Day. The racism and brutality were on display for all
>  to see.
> 
> Clearly the town of Plymouth and the Plymouth police have declared
> war on Native Americans and those who support our struggle.
> 
> Those arrested were arraigned Nov. 28 and Dec. 2. Many supporters
> turned out at court.
> 
> In fact, support has been pouring in to UAINE. We have been
> receiving about 150 email messages a day. Expressions of solidarity
> have come not only from this country, but from Latin America and
> Europe. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------=93If they thought they could stop us, they were dead wrong
> =94 At a Dec. 2 news conference, Sam Sapiel, a 67-year-old Penobscot
> medicine person who is on the Council of United American Indians of
> New England, said: "We Indians are prisoners in our own country. We
> are not free; neither are Black or Latino people or any people of
> color." Sapiel, Moonanum James and Mahtowin Munro of UAINE, and all
> the rest of the people who were arrested during a police riot
> against participants in the National Day of Mourning in Plymouth,
> Mass., made it clear that they are not intimidated by police-terror
> tactics.
> 
> Statements issued by United American Indians of New England at news
> conferences on Nov. 28 and Dec. 2 said in part: "Clearly, the only
> ones with a right to march in Plymouth are the descendants of the
> Pilgrims. Clearly, the only ones with a right to speak in Plymouth
> are the descendants of the Pilgrims.
> 
> "The cops claim they attacked us because we did not have a permit to
>  march. UAINE has marched in Plymouth many years since 1970 and has
> never taken out a permit.
> 
> "In fact, lawyers have told us that it was not necessary as we are
> simply walking and are not some kind of parade.
> 
> "Besides, why would we as Indigenous people need a permit to march
> on our own land? "We are demanding that all charges be dropped and
> that there be an independent investigation into the police terror on
>  Nov. 27. We are forming a defense committee. "If the forces of the
> state thought they would stop us, they were dead wrong. Hundreds of
> people have contacted us and expressed their support. Word has
> spread rapidly in Indian Country, and people are outraged. "We have
> come to Plymouth every year since 1970 for the National Day of
> Mourning. We will not stop coming to Plymouth. We will continue to
> raise our voices in protest.
> 
> "We are not vanishing. We are not conquered. We are as strong as
> ever." - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to
> reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact
> Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY,NY 10011; via e-mail: ww-AT-workers.org.
>  For subscription info send message to:info-AT-workers.org. Web:
> http://www.workers.org)  Copyright =a9 1997 workers.org



                                                       Liam R.Flynn
                                                  liam-AT-stones.com
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