Racial crime of the police of Ferguson and critical situation of black people, workers and poor people in USA
21 August 2014, 21:12
On Monday, a federal judge refused to order a halt to the arbitrary “keep moving” rule imposed by the police on residents and journalists on public sidewalks in Ferguson, Missouri.
As part of the police-military crackdown on protests in Ferguson over the police murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown, the police have adopted the tactic of patrolling the sidewalks in groups and shouting “keep moving” at those standing in their way. Anyone who does not move quickly enough is tackled and arrested.
Standing still for as little as five seconds is sufficient to be taken to the ground and handcuffed by a swarm of police. Hundreds of arrests, including of journalists, have been carried out for “failure to disperse.”
The purpose of this tactic is to menace and intimidate the population and obstruct the exercise of basic constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. It goes hand-in-hand with a de facto state of martial law that has been imposed on the largely working-class suburb of St. Louis.
Over the past week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) initiated a number of emergency legal proceedings against municipalities involved in the Ferguson repression as well as their leading personnel, challenging the police activities as unconstitutional.
The legal challenge to the “keep moving” tactic was initiated on Monday on behalf of Mustafa Abdullah, who was repeatedly told to “keep moving” by police in Ferguson while he was on a public sidewalk. As part of those emergency proceedings, captioned Abdullah v. County of St. Louis et al., the ACLU applied for a temporary restraining order that would have required the police to stop using the tactic while the lawsuit was pending.
On Monday, a federal judge refused to order a halt to the arbitrary “keep moving” rule imposed by the police on residents and journalists on public sidewalks in Ferguson, Missouri.
As part of the police-military crackdown on protests in Ferguson over the police murder of 18-year-old Michael Brown, the police have adopted the tactic of patrolling the sidewalks in groups and shouting “keep moving” at those standing in their way. Anyone who does not move quickly enough is tackled and arrested.
Standing still for as little as five seconds is sufficient to be taken to the ground and handcuffed by a swarm of police. Hundreds of arrests, including of journalists, have been carried out for “failure to disperse.”
The purpose of this tactic is to menace and intimidate the population and obstruct the exercise of basic constitutional rights such as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of assembly. It goes hand-in-hand with a de facto state of martial law that has been imposed on the largely working-class suburb of St. Louis.
Over the past week, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) initiated a number of emergency legal proceedings against municipalities involved in the Ferguson repression as well as their leading personnel, challenging the police activities as unconstitutional.
The legal challenge to the “keep moving” tactic was initiated on Monday on behalf of Mustafa Abdullah, who was repeatedly told to “keep moving” by police in Ferguson while he was on a public sidewalk. As part of those emergency proceedings, captioned Abdullah v. County of St. Louis et al., the ACLU applied for a temporary restraining order that would have required the police to stop using the tactic while the lawsuit was pending.