In the early morning hours of October 2nd, relatives of 20-year-old Porter Burks called Detroit police because the young Black man, who was challenged by schizophrenia, wandered the neighborhood brandishing a knife with a blade slightly longer than three inches. He slashed his brother’s tires and was otherwise acting out in ways that concerned his loved ones. The specific request was that police assist with getting control of the young man so that he could be transported for treatment. When five officers arrived, they took positions more than fifty feet away from Burks. As they shouted pleas for cooperation, they . . .
Detroit
Reparations: Why Paying Them in Cash is Throwing Good Money After Bad
African Americans won’t turn the tide by going on a shopping spree, or leaving it to whites to decide what we can and cannot teach our children, where we work, and for how much, whether we are free or imprisoned, or whether we live or die. We need power over our own communities just as the white working class needs it over theirs. . . .
BLACK ALLIANCE FOR PEACE- BALTIMORE DEMAND END TO POLICING SURGE
At the end of October, during the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Chicago, President Trump announced, “In coming weeks, Attorney General Barr will announce a new crackdown on violent crime—which I think is so important—targeting gangs and drug traffickers in high crime cities and dangerous rural areas.” Attorney General Barr announced, right before the holidays, the initiative known as Operation Relentless Pursuit at a news conference in Detroit, Michigan. Joining him were leaders of the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and U.S. Marshals Service. Baltimore City is one of 7 cities, . . .