I must say that the SWP uses really weird criteria for choosing its causes.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran
Bailey (Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Friday, February 12, 2016 10:33 AM
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Subject: [blind-democracy] Protest gov't killing of Robert Finicum!
http://themilitant.com/2016/8006/800658.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 80/No. 6 February 15, 2016
(Socialist Workers Party statement)
Protest gov't killing of Robert Finicum!
The following statement was issued Feb. 3 by John Studer, Socialist
Workers Party national campaign director.
The Socialist Workers Party condemns the Jan. 26 killing of Robert "LaVoy"
Finicum by Oregon State Police and the FBI in what can only be described as
an assassination. We demand that the cops involved be charged and prosecuted
to the fullest extent of the law.
Finicum was one of the ranchers and others occupying the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, over the last month. He, occupation
leader Ammon Bundy and a few others were on their way to a community meeting
in John Day. The FBI claims that following a "traffic stop" Finicum fled and
was reaching for a gun. Cops and government police agencies often use this
charge to justify cold-blooded killings, including "finding" a weapon when
the victim doesn't have one.
This was no traffic stop, it was a premeditated assault. The FBI and state
police closed off more than 50 miles of highway, set up roadblocks, and
deployed snipers and a surveillance plane. After shooting Finicum, the cops
shot up his vehicle, with three passengers still inside, including with
flash grenades and pepper spray. They ignored Finicum's need for medical
attention for at least 10 minutes as he lay dying in the snow.
This echoes the callous disregard for cattle rancher Jack Yantis Nov. 1 when
sheriff's deputies in Adams County, Idaho, refused him medical aid when they
shot him after calling him to come put down one of his bulls when it was hit
by a car. They handcuffed Yantis' wife and nephew to prevent them from
coming to his aid as he lay bleeding on the ground.
Protests have demanded the cops be charged in both killings. At recent
actions in Oregon participants chanted, "Ranchers lives matter" and "All
lives matter." This shows the widespread impact of the explosive fight
against police killings of Blacks and others, including Michael Brown, Eric
Garner, Tamir Rice, Mario Martinez, Zachary Hammond, which has forced the
rulers to place some restraints on their cops.
In the wake of the killing of Finicum, ranchers and working people in Harney
County, Oregon, are redoubling their efforts to fight for freedom for Dwight
and Steven Hammond, two local cattle ranchers framed up and imprisoned twice
on the same arson charges, for controlled burns to protect their ranch from
invasive plants and wildfires, a common practice in the region. After
serving their original sentences in full, the government used the 1996
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act to send them back to jail for
more time.
Washington and cops at every level across the country are the greatest
perpetrators of terror - from Waco, Texas, to the deadly assault on MOVE in
Philadelphia, to Vietnam, Iraq and the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki.
We urge the labor movement and all those who have been fighting for justice
for working people killed by the cops to join in demanding, "Free the
Hammonds! Jail the cops who killed Robert Finicum!"
Related articles:
FBI, state troopers kill Oregon occupier
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