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More Police Brutality in Montgomery (posted 13 February 2002)
Montgomery, Alabama has a long history of racist police brutality. And they’re at it again. Most recently, five Montgomery police officers resigned and three have been put on suspension amidst charges of police brutality [Nando], as well as abuse of authority, mistreatment of citizens, and false reporting of incidents. One officer, Michael Clark, is being charged with criminal use of mace in the brutality against a 17 year old prisoner. As usual, seven of the eight cops were white, and all of the victims were Black.
Just about every year or couple years, there’s another big high-profile incident with the Montgomery PD, and everyone acts all shocked, like this isn’t shit that goes on every day. Should it surprise anyone that police officers end up acting like jackbooted thugs when we send them on a war
, constantly train them that their first job is to take down criminals (rather than, say, assisting the community), jack them up into militarized units, and run them through what amount to little more than paramilitary raids on low-income neighborhoods? There are housing projects in Montgomery which are raided regularly, whether there is any report of a crime or not, by heavily armored police in black SUVs. Poor people of color in Montgomery are basically living under military occupation. Holding these officers accountable is a necessary first step, but we also have to deal with the militarized culture and practice of policing, as well as end the insane and racist War on Drugs, and address the class disparities trapping people of color in high-crime ghettoes in the first place, if we are ever going to see a real solution to police brutality.
For further reading:
- GT 2001-04-22: History of Race Riots, White Supremacy, and Police Brutality
- GT 2001-04-04: Kalamazoo Police Department Faces Continuing Scandals from Racist Brutality
- GT 2001-04-04: Kalamazoo City Council Pays Reparations to Victims of Racist Police Brutality
- GT 2001-03-28: DC Cops’ Dirty Laundry Revealed in E-mail Audit
- GT 2001-10-25: Cops refuse to adequately investigate rape in Austin
Dennis Latham replied:
Well … I know what it’s like here in Montgomery. I am a well established home business owner that has taken montgomery television and radio on by a quiet storm. I’ve been threatened by police majors on several occassions over the telephone and face to face. Nothing I can do about it either. My home has been broken into and a newly built computer for a client was stolen by the sheriffs department. Nothing I can do about that. I’ve talked to every one in the world and there actually is no help if you don’t have the money to pay a big time attorney. The small time attorney’s are too scared !
Usher replied:
cruelty and torture does existin motgomery city jail.
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