PHOTO/FRANK JOHNSON
CHICAGO, IL — Tens of thousands of us stand in horror as “America the beautiful, the land of patriot’s dreams,” stripped of the 4th Amendment, guns youth down like dogs, drags children off to jail for nothing, and jails people under suspicion of being “undocumented.” Underlying this fascist terror is a small corporate ruling class that aims to safeguard their private property in a new economy that no longer needs many workers. With robotic production, growing numbers of old and young workers, of all colors, without a wage and money to buy, are demanding that the government provide them with their basic needs. As they fight for their survival, they are coming face to face with militarized police who stand exposed as the “watchdogs of private property.” America is slipping into a full-blown fascism. We can’t forget the lesson of Germany: “First they came for the Communists—but I wasn’t a Communist.” The time for resistance is before it happens to you, and time is short.
What follows are just a few of many recent examples of fascist terror that should alarm us all:
A teen was fatally shot by Chicago police as he was scaling a fence, fleeing police. “They shot him in the air . . . and he hit the ground,” said a witness. Pierre Loury was an aspiring rapper from the west side, a once thriving community, since devastated by plant closings.
Janissa Valdez, a sixth-grade middle school student was body-slammed onto concrete by a San Antonio, Texas, police officer at school. Knocked out by the assault, Janissa said the police thought there was going to be a fight, but she was actually going up to the girl so they could talk.
An Idaho mom called police to report she’d found her missing son—cops came and smashed the boy’s face. “He put my son’s hand behind his back and, lifted him up in the air and slammed his face into the trunk of a car.” The boy suffered a chipped tooth and facial injuries. (rawstory.com)
San Francisco police killed a homeless man who was allegedly waving a knife. Police fired four beanbags and then seven bullets at him within 30 seconds of stepping out of their patrol cars. Witnesses say the man didn’t challenge officers, spoke only Spanish and probably didn’t understand what police were saying before he was shot.
To stop a complete fascist takeover of the country, every instance of police violence and attacks on our liberties must be fought. In so doing, we must visualize the new society of peace and freedom that labor replacing electronic technology makes possible and fight for that future.
