May 12 2009
Police brutality is nothing new. Recall the beating of Rodney King in 1991 captured on film in what was called “The Rodney King video”. The shooting of 15 year old Alexandros Grigoropoulo by the Greek police in December 2009 which sparked a national response including mass rioting. Police brutality is part of the status quo. It is experienced everyday by people in London, Canada and throughout the world.
The newest deadly weapon of the police in London and abroad is the Taser. Several Londoners have been killed and injured by the device. Yet Tasers are not outlawed and we are reminded that the police are “just doing their job”. However, this response does not address the main issue: Police officers must be held accountable for what they do to citizens.
Accountability is what the students at Beal (among others) have been demanding as they watch their friends and school mates face charges in a court room while their attackers (the police) remain in positions of power. When Beal students show their outrage at the ugly face of police brutality, how are they treated? They are told that they are wrong to say “fuck the police”. Instead they must remain “civil” while their friends face trial on odious charges.
Hundreds of students responded with a march and demonstration in front of city hall and the downtown police station on April 17th. Much outrage was expressed, in many ways, by witnesses and fellow students at the actions of the London police.
Yet authorities and the media are not asking the bigger question. What is the source of this social phenomenon taking place among these students? Where is this unprecedented outburst of discontent steaming from? And why? The reason why students are taking action against police brutality is because what was once subtle has been revealed to them openly. The contradiction of the day-to-day oppression of the police apparatus upon the people of London is being brought to the surface to the students of Beal. Exactly what the police do, how they discriminate and how they cover up their oppression is brought to the surface in open clarity. On April 16th 2009 the students of Beal saw one kind of oppression practiced by the police first hand: the indiscriminate use of force upon the citizen population and specifically among vulnerable peoples such as women, black people, native people and youth. And what did these students do? They had the normal, healthy and ethical reaction that people should have to injustice; they tried to stop it. They were so outraged that they put themselves in danger to help those who were treated with open oppression. The media then reported that students swarmed the police, when in actual fact they were making an attempt to thwart police from beating their schoolmates for “trespassing”.
The police dropped thee ball; they broke the façade of “Serving the Community”. They openly harassed and assaulted a vulnerable person among her peers. In that moment all was revealed. This is what the police do to people. However the police know that they abuse their authority and had done just that, openly. What was their response? To attempt to destroy the evidence of their oppression; they demanded that students erase the incriminating evidence of police brutality documented on students’ cell phone cameras, to save their own skins. This was not completely successful. As we know, some footage was salvaged. Some footage of the event was played on mainstream media, and can be found on Youtube.
On May 11th, students demonstrated in front of the London courthouse in solidarity with their friends and fellow students being charged inside. The students voiced their opinions with signs, a megaphone and chants of “Drop all charges; charge the Police!” and “No justice, No peace. No racist police!”. They proceeded to march down Dundas while receiving comments from the police that were following “Come on people, keep it together. We don’t want to walk around all day”. Apparently the demonstration is nothing more than a joke to some fellow officers of the London police. These events have apparently had little effect within the ranks of the London Police.
Issues of police corruption should be taken seriously. It is time for people to stand up and demand for their basic right not to be harassed and assaulted. The students are. Where are you?
