The Revolution Continues blog is news, views, opinion and other expressions of hope from a leftist point-of-view. (We are not affiliated with any candidate, political party or organization. All are welcome.)
“Any Excuse To Bomb, Starve, Maim, Torture, or Rape Will Do”
by C. A. Matthews
Once upon a time there was a violent and spoiled brat named Benji. Benji lusted after his neighbor’s things. He wanted to play in his neighbor’s yard any time he wanted to without asking permission. He longed to beat up and terrorize his neighbors any time he felt like it, particularly one neighbor. Benji held a long held grudge against this neighbor because he coveted this neighbor’s yard and things the most. But he couldn’t go it alone—he needed help in doing so with minimum injury to himself.
So Benji went to his mother, Usa, to ask for her help.
Benji: I need more bombs to blow up the neighbors. Give them to me!
Usa: Okay, just give me a moment to gather them up. Now, don’t do anything foolish with those bombs that could reflect badly on either me or you.
Benji: I will do whatever I want. I’m special. Anything I want, I get.
Usa: Yes, I know, but you have to give a little in return. You have to let me have access to your room from time to time for my purposes and—
Benji: Yeah, yeah, whatever! Where are the bombs? I need them now.
Usa: Hold on, hold on… [The phone rings. She answers it.] Hello. What’s that, Mrs. Icici? Benji has a what out on his head? A warrant for genocide? He’s been allowing his gang to do what to the neighbor’s kids? Rape? Torture? Maiming? Stealing their pocket money and bombing their lunch boxes?
Benji: Hurry up! These people don’t just kill themselves! You’re cramping my style.
Usa: (Still on the phone.) All right, Mrs. Icici. I’ll let him know. But I’ll have you know that I don’t appreciate your tone. Benji and I have a perfectly respectful relationship. I can’t believe all the lies you’re saying about him. You’re just trying to blame him for everything that goes wrong in the world. It’s all the other kids’ fault anyway. They’re all terrorists and monsters. Good-bye!
Benji: Finally! Give me the bombs and then get back to doing what you do best.
Usa: (Handing the armaments to him.) What’s that, dear?
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We live in a time where leftists and communists are being labeled as Nazis and real Nazis are being labeled as freedom fighters standing up against fascism. We can't make this up. --Kris Legion
You Can't Make This Stuff Up
by C.A. Matthews
After
I read this headline, both my mind and my stomach started to churn:
Jon
Stewart and the Pentagon Honor Ukrainian Nazi at Disney World
Disney
World? "The Happiest Place on Earth"? Jon Stewart? Welcoming Nazis?
Really?
During
the Department of Defense’s annual Warrior Games at Disney World in
Orlando, Florida this August 19-28, liberal comedian Jon Stewart
awarded a Ukrainian military veteran named Ihor Halushka the “Heart
of the Team” award for “inspiring his team” with his “personal
example.”
Halushka happens to have been a member of the
neo-Nazi Azov Battalion, which has been armed by the US and
integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard. The award-winning
ultra-nationalist wore a sleeve over his left arm as he accepted the
prize, presumably to cover up his tattoo of the Nazi Sonnenrad, or
Black Sun. (...)
...Even
the US government propaganda outlet Voice of America [has]
acknowledged the Azov Battalion’s embrace of Nazism. Right Sector
group has been similarly identified as a fascist organization. Since
the invasion, however, Western corporate media has downplayed the
presence of Nazis in the Ukrainian armed forces as groups like Azov
have taken on prominent front-line roles. (...)
An
unlisted YouTube video by the Invictus Games on YouTube offers a
close-up of Halushka working out with Nazi Black Sun symbol tattooed
on his left elbow clearly visible. Halushka opted to cover the
fascist symbol during photo ops at the Warrior Games.
Halushka
has never been shy about his ties to the Azov Battalion. During the
Invictus Games this April, he whipped out an Azov flag as he accepted
a gold medal, which was hosted in The Hague – where war criminals
are normally tried, not awarded. Likewise, in Orlando, Haluskha wore
an Azov Battalion t-shirt as he accepted a gold medal for indoor
rowing. He was honored days later as the “heart” of his team.
(...)
It is difficult to believe that Palevska and
Halushka are the only members of Team Ukraine that have belonged to
neo-Nazi groups.
A photo posted on the team’s official
Facebook page show five team members performing a fascist salute in
front of a Warrior Games banner.
In other photos, a member
of the team wearing a Warrior Games t-shirt can be seen holding a
Right Sector flag; and seven veterans associated with the team bear
the flag of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the Schutzstaffel
(SS), a WWII-era Nazi military formation made up of Ukrainian
nationalists.
American taxpayers have already forked $60
billion over to Ukraine since the war broke out in 2014. They are
therefore entitled to know whether the Department of Defense paid
Team Ukraine’s travel expenses.
The
article provides plenty of video links and photos that clearly show
these individuals with Nazi symbology tattooed on their
bodies and proof that they belong to Neo-Nazi militias such as the Azov
Battalion and Right Sector. (More about The History of Nazism in Ukraine here.) There's no doubt that Ukrainians have a thing for fascists as their own postage stamps attest:
So…
Disney
World welcomes Ukranian Nazis. Bad enough Disney Corp. welcomes the US
Department of Defense (more like Department of Offense)
inside their fairy-tale-themed, family amusement park, but they're
okay as
well with
individuals and groups who
agree with Ukrainian Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera and his favorite person Adolf Hitler, the man who
had 6 million people murdered in his gas chambers during World War 2.
You
know, this incident gives me a completely different take on “The
Magic Kingdom.” I can imagine
a Teutonic tour guide in a
near
dystopian future giving us a rundown of
its attractions...
“Velcome
to DizNa World! It's zee magical land where everyting is kept
spotlessly clean by our slave labor. No ve don't pay them low
wages--ve just don't pay them at all! Ha ha ha! It's what that sign Arbeit
macht frei (Work sets you free) outside the front gates means.”
“Over
here, you will see our most popular ride, It's A Small World.
Really, it is! We only allow a few northern European countries to be
featured on this ride because… Well, you know why. We only want
blue-eyed, blond persons in our fairy-tale land. No other colors or non-European religions need apply!”
“Speaking
of which, you might have noticed that DizNa's Princess Jasmine
character is now also blue-eyed and blonde. Just like Republican
Jesus!”
“The
Swiss Family Robinson tree house is, of course, still here. We
like the Swiss, especially their bankers who kept our gold for us
during World War 2. The Robinson home has been tastefully redecorated
in red, white, and black.”
“Whatz
dat construction over there? Oh, that’s a new attraction being
developed. It’s called The Showers. It’s not for everyone.
In fact, if you are Aryan you don’t ever have to
worry about it.”
Yeah,
the whole “Magical Kingdom” aspect of Disney World has been flushed down
the drain for me. I can’t see why
celebrating any persons who associate themselves with a Nazi
organization is a wholesome thing to do at a family amusement park anywhere in the world. I
just don’t.
Biden at Nuremberg?
Here
we have Biden sending billions of dollars in aid and armaments to
these Neo-Nazi groups in Ukraine while millions of Americans are going without
health care, rent assistance, and even food. We have millions suffering
under the burden of medical and student loan debt in this country, but we can’t do
a thing to relieve their pain. Jackson, Mississippi, and Flint,Michigan, still don’t have safe drinking water, and our federal
government can’t lift a finger to help these citizens out. But
somehow, we can finance an all expenses paid trip to Disney World for
a bunch of Nazis.
Hmm…
Jackson and Flint are cities with predominantly African American populations. Could that have
something to do with it? Biden doesn’t have any problem sending
billions of dollars to white Europeans to run a proxy war, but when it comes to helping
out fellow Americans of a different ethnic heritage in need of drinkable water he’s got
nothing?
Funding
and rescuing Nazis is nothing new to the US government. Remember NASA’s
rocket scientist Wernher von Braun? He was one of the 1,600
“nice Nazis” who America kept from the hangman’s noose at the Nuremberg Trials and
secreted into the US along with their families in
Operation Paperclip.
The
US government was fine
with these scientists' Nazi sympathies as long as they worked hard to give us the
edge we
wanted over
the Soviets’
space program. The US would do anything to best
the
“Russians" during
the Cold War, up to and including inviting avowed Nazis into our country.
The
more things change… Honestly, you can't make this stuff up.
I
don’t think I could feel more disgusted or more embarrassed than I
do today at the antics of the US Department of Defense and the military industrial complex as a whole.
Many
Americans
have
parents, grandparents, or
great-grandparents who fought the
Nazis
in World War 2. Many
Americans have relatives who survived the tortures of the Nazi work
camps, POW camps, and the bombings of their cities. Some older Americans themselves are survivors of Nazi atrocities.
And now Americans politicians and entertainers openly welcome Neo-Nazis with their words and actions.
All I can say is what Captain America said in his original 1940s comic book serials: Punch a Nazi!
DizNa
World is the dark
world
neoliberals
like Biden and company dream
of, maybe even celebrities like Jon Stewart. Perhaps it's time for Jon to retire? He seems out of touch with reality. Nazis were only funny on TV sit-coms like Hogan's Heroes and the British classic comedy series 'Allo, 'Allo! where they were portrayed as bumblers, not the racist killers they really are.
Either way, it’s
not the world our loved ones who died fighting fascism would have
ever imagined. Neoliberals will do anything to make money selling weapons so their stock portfolios of arms manufacturers continue to grow. It's all about their wealth, their health, and their propaganda machines churning out stories about how great the Azov Battalion is and how the US is all about "freedom and democracy." (Read last week's blog about how that fictitious labeling of wars for resources comes about.)
Ugh. I don't know about you, but I'm never going to consider taking a vacation at Disney World, Disney Land, or any of their related amusement parks ever again. They've convinced me that Mickey Mouse and friends aren't the sort of fictional creatures I want to hang out with.
Heck, forget Disney+ and all their movies and online streaming channels. Let the white supremacists support them. There's gotta be enough of them to keep Disney Corp. in the black...and red.
Here is Ihor Halushka, the Nazi honored by Jon Stewart, after he was injured, with his Nazi Sonnenrad tattoo clearly displayed as he grips a Mickey Mouse plushie in his hospital bed https://t.co/NWiqV4GkZSpic.twitter.com/ZWU45ZhL7S
We live in a time where leftists and communists are being labeled as Nazis and real Nazis are being labeled as freedom fighters standing up against fascism. We can't make this up.
Russian propaganda poses a much smaller threat to the western world than
the various government agendas that are being rolled out under the
justification of fighting Russian propaganda. --Caitlin Johnstone, The US Empire Will Be Defeated By the US Empire
Atrocity Propaganda and Narrative Control
by C.A. Matthews
There's nothing nasty that's new under the sun. Really, there isn't.
Just when you thought you heard it all, another bit of "disinformation" from the US/NATO proxy war in Ukraine pops up and within a month it's revealed as the grotesque lie that it is. (More on DHS's Disinformation Governance Board here.)
Human rights ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova was Ukraine's top human rights official until it was revealed that she has been making up obscene stories of Russian soldiers raping defenseless women and children en masse. The Ukrainian parliament found her lurid storytelling to the Western mainstream media to be such an embarrassment and a liability to their cause that they kicked her out of office.
As has been the pattern in prior wars, whether in Syria or Libya,
the media claims got more and more sensational and over-the-top as the
conflict intensified, and as Western powers became more deeply involved,
yet with no concrete or definitive proof.
But one consistent detail in the majority of the stories is that the aforementioned Ukraine human rights ombudsman, Lyudmyla Denisova, is often the central figure feeding Western correspondents the shocking rape stories. (...)
"Ukrainian lawmakers dismissed the country’s ombudsman for human
rights, Lyudmyla Denisova, in a no-confidence vote on Tuesday,
concluding that she had failed to fulfill obligations including the
facilitation of humanitarian corridors and countering the deportation of
Ukrainians from occupied territory," The Wall Street Journal reported late in the day.
"Lawmaker Pavlo Frolov said Ms. Denisova was also accused of making insensitive and unverifiable statements about alleged Russian sex crimes and spending too much time in Western Europe during the invasion," the report added.
"The
unclear focus of the Ombudsman's media work on the numerous details of
‘sexual crimes committed in an unnatural way’ and ‘rape of children’ in the occupied territories that could not be confirmed by evidence, only harmed Ukraine."
It's pretty amazing they shut Lyin' Lyudmyla down since she wasn't afraid of dumping "atrocity propaganda." Atrocity propaganda is a very effective weapon in the arsenal of professional propagandists. It has been used to push for increasing amounts of money and weapons to be given to Ukraine with no debate and little expectation of compensation.
Nothing makes Westerners more horrified and ready to open their wallets than a supposed "reliable source" (often an "anonymous" or insider source like Ms. Denisova or the CIA) spinning a narrative about newborn babies being kicked out of their incubators (Iraq War I) or soldiers being given massive doses of Viagra in order to rape the helpless populace to death (Libya) or huge stockpiles of "Weapons of Mass Destruction" (Iraq War II).
Going back even further to World War I, it was posited that the German Kaiser's troops actually ate babies for dinner as they advanced into Belgium. Rape, child endangerment, and cannibalism definitely make for great attention-grabbing, pro-war headlines.
Why do our corporate-owned politician-puppets and their media lackeys put out such outrageous falsehoods? Why do they constantly whip up hatred of others such as the Russians, a people that most Americans don't see as being very different from ourselves? I think it's simply because the vast majority of Americans don't mind being lied to. Some might even enjoy having a scapegoat to blame for all the world's ills.
Comfortable Americans will allow their emotions and intellect to be manipulated by the current government because somewhere, somehow they feel it will benefit them not to go against the status quo. Or perhaps it's simply because many Americans can't be bothered to double-check dubious tales the mainstream media feeds them since they have more important things to do--like watching professional sports or the latest Marvel movie release.
And so the US government and its cronies will keep lying to the public in order to keep pumping billions of dollars of weaponry into a faltering proxy war. The capitalists rest assured that their lies will never be called out because We the Workers are all too stressed and busy trying to survive to make a fuss. We're too confused to see that we're being played in order to make billionaires even richer.
Other examples of recent atrocity propaganda include newspaper headlines declaring, "Too high wages are causing inflation" which implies that wage cuts and a possible dropping of the federal minimum wage are in the works. Atrocity propaganda can include news stories about how it's good to lock up homeless persons for up to six years for camping because they cannot afford skyrocketing rents, thus creating more "slave labor" for the for-profit prison system.
Lyudmyla Denisova may have gone the more salacious route with made-up tales of rape and child abuse, but mainstream media pundits casting doubt about who is at fault for our current hard times is every bit as atrocious. Blaming real-life homeless and dispossessed Americans for their current situation is as cruel and evil as labeling them "cannibals." Hatred is stirred up against the most vulnerable. They are turned into scapegoats, blamed and punished, rather than the actual criminals who put all of us into this untenable proxy war/economic meltdown situation. The wealthy one-percent, who profit immensely from the military-industrial complex, are never held responsible for their actions.
The current government narrative spin says it's working class Americans' fault that gasoline is averaging over $5+ a gallon. We're told we're experiencing food shortages because we won't work during a pandemic. Why are they dumping this atrocity propaganda onto our breaking backs? It's simple--the oligarchs want to keep us lowly workers subdued and confused. If we fall for their lies we'll accept ever-worsening conditions. If today things seem bleak and overwhelming, then we will never have the strength to take on these corrupt bastards and change things to make a better tomorrow.
Only by massive amounts of propaganda would people consent to
unprecedented acts of economic warfare which directly hurt them and
benefit them in no way, shape or form. --Caitlin Johnstone
The abusive relationship we have with those in power must end. Reject the oligarchs' atrocity propaganda and the status quo's narrative control. Turn off the mainstream media outlets and turn on to the podcasters and independent journalists you can find via Rad Indie Media and the links below to gain a wider perspective.
Once you know what's really happening in the world, then you can fight more effectively to make it a better place. We owe it to ourselves to take control of the narrative and tell these professional liars where to shove their atrocious propaganda.
No surprise there. Americans literally have no idea what fascism is, what communism is, what capitalism is, what class consciousness is, what colonialism is, what empire is, what propaganda is, what police are all about. Basically, Americans are the most befuddled confused people
— 🇸🇴⭑ ☭ ⭑ Justice for the Damned ⭑ ☭ ⭑🇸🇴 (@tekstone) June 3, 2022
— Back on Double Secret Probation (@thecraigrpowers) June 1, 2022
When we drop bombs, use guns, throw grenades, hurt, destroy, seize, steal, loot, rape, harm and kill in other countries and normalize that as a form of collateral.. it becomes engrained in the Western subconscious as being a standard way of operating not just over there but here.
The US empire's ruling elite have lost control of the narrative and therefore need to push the idea that many independent journalists are "misinformation" or "fake news." They also try to censor anything outside allowable corporate talking points.
In a near-future dystopian world, hope blossoms where mutual aid and democracy begins...
Zonta’s
world is turned upside down when Jake arrives at the commune to
investigate the disappearance of agents of the Authority. Can she
persuade him to switch sides before the Protectors (antifascist
fighters) take action?
Please buy direct from the small publisher and not via Amazon. Why? Amazon takes a huge percentage of the book's price and leaves very little for the publisher and author to share. Thanks.
Somewhere
in and around the city there is a beat-up old car
held together with duct tape and baling wire. It’s not an unusual
sight in the impoverished city where damaged vehicles are a dime a
dozen, but plastered over the surface of this particular vehicle (and
probably helping to hold it together) is a range of pro-Trump
propaganda and a portrait of George Washington. It was the latter
image that made me think of this photo taken of the German-American
Bund rally in Madison Square Gardens held on George Washington’s
birthday on February 20, 1939.
The
rally drew over 20,000 members of this American Nazi organization dedicated to
promoting the rights of white gentiles, whom the literature described
as “true patriots,” and to keeping the United States out of the
war looming in Europe. The crowd booed President Franklin D.
Roosevelt and chanted Heil Hitler. The overt use of Nazi symbols and
terminology made no bones about where this organization’s loyalties
lay.
The
Turbulent Thirties
The
Bund originated in the Friends of New Germany (FoNG), an organization
founded in 1933 by Nazi party member and immigrant Heinz Spanknöbel
with German Deputy Führer Rudolph Hess’ approval. Based out of New
York City with a strong presence in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and
Chicago, members wore a uniform of white shirt and black pants for
the men, white blouse and black skirts for women.
From
the first the FoNG were openly pro-Nazi and sought to infiltrate and
subvert the numerous non-political German groups throughout the US.
It was responsible for a massive outpouring of Nazi literature and
counter-attacks against Jewish, socialist and communist moves to warn
the world of Hitler’s growing power and attempted boycotts of
German goods.
Not
long after its foundation the FoNG went through a spell of infighting
on a smaller and less bloody scale to that which occurred in the
German party when Himmler ousted SA leader Ernst Röhm.
Spanknöbel was ejected from the FoNG and subsequently
deported as an unregistered foreign agent. The FoNGs’ numbers were
noisy but remained small, ranging from 5,000 to 10,000 until 1935,
when Rudolph Hess ordered all German citizens to leave the group and
the leadership to return to Germany.
The
German-American Bund arose out of the FoNG in Buffalo, New York under the
leadership of WWI veteran Fritz Julius Kuhn. At its height the
organization had over 25,000 members—including an 8,000 strong
Sturmabteilungen (SA Storm Detachment) brigade and ran summer
camps modeled on the German Hitler Youth, one of which, Camp
Hindenburg, was located in Grafton, Wisconsin. A photo exists of a
1937 Bund rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin, scene of recent protests against the
fascist attitudes of the local police in regards to their shooting of Jacob Blake seven times in the back.
The
Bund engaged in several bloody clashes with opposition groups,
including Jewish WWI veterans in New York City, which mirrored those
clashes occurring in Britain, notably the “Battle of Cable Street” in 1936.
In
1934 it became the subject of a special Congressional inquiry headed
by Congressman Samuel Dickstein which concluded the Friends were a
branch of Hitler’s Nazi party. Another inquiry in 1939 confirmed
the findings. Dickstein had reason to investigate and turn the screws
on the Bund. Not only was he a Jewish immigrant (born the son of a
Rabbi in Vilna, Russia in 1885), a subsequent release of Soviet-era
documentation showed Dickstein worked as an agent of the NKVD,
predecessor to the KGB.
The
decline and fall of the Bund came quickly. A New York State tax
investigation found Kuhn had embezzled $14,000 from the Bund’s
coffers. The party declined to press charges, holding that the
leadership had absolute power in the party and could do as they
wished. Nevertheless, the New York DA pressed charges in an effort to
cripple the Bund and succeeded in jailing Kuhn for tax fraud. The
Bund replaced Kuhn as leader, but the writing was on the wall.
Congress
enacted a peacetime draft in September 1940, which led to the Bund
ordering members of draft age to avoid conscription—a criminal
offense which carried a jail sentence of up to five years and a
$10,000 fine. By 1941 membership of the Bund had waned. When the
United States actively entered the war in December 1941 the Bund was
officially outlawed.
The
Present Day
Neo-Nazi
groups like the so-called “Proud Boys” are widespread across
America. Whether their membership numbers are anywhere like what they
claim is debatable. I suspect that, like their predecessor
organizations the FoNG and German-American Bund, the number of actual
members is in the thousands, but those who tacitly support their
far-right aims are far greater. Social media is a powerful vector for
spreading such hatreds, something the current demagogue president
quickly picked up on.
It
certainly works in the case of the poor individual driving around town in that beat-up vehicle plastered with Trump propaganda. Does he and those poor Americans who
share his far-right mindset really believe Trump gives a damn about
them and their plight? Do they really believe Trump will “Make
America Great Again” (or even “Make America Great Again Again” –
as Vice President Pence said at a recent rally.) I suspect they either don’t
know or don’t care, being content merely to spread hatred and
division when the ordinary people of America should be uniting against
the oppressive oligarchy.
BIO: Coast Watcher keeps a close eye on the present as he researches the past. The parallels between the German-American Bund and modern-day white supremacists groups are too close--and downright scary--to ignore. We can't afford to let history repeat itself. We must be vigilant and take out the fascists as our (great) grandparents did.
Here's why I don't talk about you know who and why I don't bother trying to change his supporters minds about him. I just read this on a friend’s page.
The question was posed, "Why do people continue supporting Trump no
matter what he does?" A lady named Bev answered it this way:
“You
all don't get it. I live in Trump country, in the Ozarks in southern
Missouri, one of the last places where the KKK still has a relatively
strong established presence. They don't give a shit what he does. He's
just something to rally around and hate liberals, that's it, period. He
absolutely realizes that and plays it up. They love it. He knows they
love it. The fact that people act like it's anything other than that
proves to them that liberals are idiots, all the more reason for high
fives all around.
If you keep getting caught up in "why do they
not realize this problem" and "how can they still back Trump after this
scandal," then you do not understand what the underlying motivating
factor of his support is. It's f*ck liberals, that's pretty much it.
Have you noticed he can do pretty much anything imaginable, and they'll
explain some way that rationalizes it that makes zero logical sense?
Because they're not even keeping track of any coherent narrative, it's
irrelevant. Fuck liberals is the only relevant thing. Trust me; I know
firsthand what I'm talking about.
That's why they just laugh at
it all because you all don't even realize they truly don't give a f*ck
about whatever the conversation is about. It's just a side mission story
that doesn't matter anyway. That's all just trivial details - the
economy, health care, whatever.
F*ck liberals.
Look at
the issue with not wearing the masks. I can tell you what that's about.
It's about exposing fear. They're playing chicken with nature, and
whoever flinches just moved down their internal pecking order, one step
closer to being a liberal.
You've got to understand the one core
value that they hold above all others is hatred for what they consider
weakness because that's what they believe strength is, hatred of
weakness. And I mean passionate, sadistic hatred. And I'm not
exaggerating. Believe me.
Sadistic, passionate hatred, and
that's what proves they're strong, their passionate hatred for weakness.
Sometimes they will lump vulnerability in with weakness. They do that
because people tend to start humbling themselves when they're in some
compromising or overwhelming circumstance, and to them, that's an
obvious sign of weakness.
They consider their very existence to be superior in every way to
anyone who doesn't hate weakness as much as they do. They consider
liberals to be weak people that are inferior, almost a different
species, and the fact that liberals are so weak is why they have to
unite in large numbers, which they find disgusting, but it's that
disgust that is a true expression of their natural superiority.
Go ahead and try to have a logical, rational conversation with them. Just keep in mind what I said here and be forewarned.”
***
Newsbroke is back! Francesca explains the myths of American Individualism and the American Dream and why they're literally killing us during the COVID-19 pandemic. Worth watching and sharing. https://youtu.be/rVxSfX_nCr8
***
This week marks six months since Breonna Taylor was killed.
Six
months since Louisville police broke into her apartment while she
slept. Six months since police fired multiple rounds of bullets into her
apartment. Six months of millions calling for justice and taking to the
streets to demand accountability. Six months of Kentucky officials like
Attorney General Daniel Cameron staying silent.
But the demands
for justice for Breonna Taylor won’t stop. Not until the systemic
failures that led to Breonna’s murder are addressed.
More than
11 million people have taken action on a petition started by student
Loralei HoJay to call for change in the wake of Breonna Taylor’s
killing. Tonight, during the opening Sunday night game of the NFL
season, two ads will run in Kentucky showing the power of this movement,
and urging people to keep the pressure on Kentucky lawmakers to get
justice. See the ad now.
The
deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Rayshard Brooks, along with
the shooting of Jacob Blake and countless other acts of police violence
have put the issue of police reform in the spotlight this summer.
New
powerful legislation – the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act – would
help address this issue. Democrats and Republicans came together to
propose the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. This law will ban
discriminatory profiling, chokeholds, carotid holds and no-knock
warrants in drug cases. It will require training, a national police
misconduct registry and use of body cams.
You can take a moment
now to tell your members of Congress to support this. Add your name to
this petition and demand your lawmakers support the passage of the
George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. Sign the petition.
Millions
of voices are demanding justice. Millions of voters want real, systemic
police reform. And millions of Americans are going to keep saying
Breonna Taylor’s name until there is accountability for her murder.
Thank you for taking action, Mike Jones, Change.org
Breonna
Taylor was an award-winning EMT and model citizen. She loved her family
and community, working at two hospitals as an essential worker during
the pandemic. Nearly four months ago, a division of the Louisville
Police Department performed an illegal, unannounced drug raid on her
home. Not a single officer announced themselves before ramming down her
door and firing 22 shots, shooting Breonna 8 times, killing her.
Not only were the police at the WRONG HOUSE, but the man they were looking for had already been arrested earlier that day.
1.
Charges must be filed immediately. The officers involved, specifically
John Mattingly, Brett Hankison, Myles Cosgrove, Joshua Jaynes, and any
other law enforcement officer involved in the death and coverup of the
death of Breonna Taylor must be fired, charged, and arrested immediately. There have been no charges thus far (it has been nearly 4 months). Their pensions must be revoked. 2. Her family must be paid in damages for wrongful death and the negligence of the LMPD. 3.
Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear must speak up on behalf of Breonna, and
Governor Beshear or Attorney General Daniel Cameron must appoint a
special prosecutor to investigate the Louisville Police Department
immediately. An in-house investigation is unacceptable. 4. The
"no-knock" warrant that police had used in Breonna’s murder completely
violates the constitutional rights to reasonable search and seizure. By
law, police must be legally obligated to announce themselves before
breaking and entering into a home privately owned by American civilians.
Legislation to federally ban no-knock warrants must be passed in
Congress and signed by the President; what happened to Breonna was a
complete violation of her constitutional rights, and threatens the
rights of all American citizens. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky has
voiced similar concerns. A special session must be intervened by
Congress to discuss the constitutionality of no-knock warrants
immediately.
This has carried on for over four months.
For weeks, the city treated Breonna like she was a criminal, calling her
a “suspect” before finally admitting that she was an innocent,
crimeless victim. She had no drugs. She committed no crime.
Yet, she is dead, and the perpetrators are facing no charges.
She
was not only an exemplary citizen, but an essential one. She was a
daughter, a friend, an American hero, and most importantly, a person. She deserved to be treated as such.
Let’s get justice for Breonna. Say her name.
PLEASE
help me get the word out, and share this campaign on your social media
platforms. Thank you to everyone who is helping in our fight to get
justice for Breonna.
