December 11, 2008 – 3:05 pm
The cops who shot Louis Jiles last summer have been cleared. At a traffic stop, the police mistook a beer bottle in Jiles’ hand for a gun, and shot him in the wrist. Months later, “independent arbitrators” and the Hampden County District Attorney rule that the cops did nothing wrong.
So, what’s the punishment for these [...]
September 10, 2008 – 1:33 pm
By now you’ve likely heard about the police repression of protesters at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota last week. Police made a massive show of force, arresting over 800 people, making a special effort to target journalists who were documenting the protests and the police violence going on.
Perhaps more shocking and concerning [...]
Thanks to everyone who helped organize the WMCIWR (Western Massachusetts Coalition for Immigrant & Worker Rights) rally on May Day and to everyone who attended! Check out the WMCIWR blog for an assessment of the event.
Brothers & Sisters Gonna Work It Out: Sexual Politics And Hip-Hop Feminism,
“What It Look Like”: Race, Class & Hip-Hop,
Marketing A Revolution?: Hip-Hop Culture, Media Influence & You!
Sounds good? Then check out this weekend’s Triggering Change: Hip Hop, Media Justice and Social Responsibility Conference at the Isenberg School of Management at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Click [...]
Claire Gordon, in yesterday’s Yale Daily News, gives the rundown of some problems with the U.S. prison system. Not only does the United States imprison a higher percentage of its people than any other nation in the world, the system is hugely burdensome to taxpayers and disproportionately punishes people of color. As Gordon puts it, [...]
On December 18, three off-duty Holyoke Police Department officers beat up Christopher Martinez, a Holyoke resident, outside of Pal Joey’s, a bar on Route 5. At a pre-trial conference this week, the date for the cops’ (the two who are being tried) trial was set: May 27, 2008, in Palmer District Court. Until then, the [...]
February 29, 2008 – 9:48 am
The Springfield Police Department is looking into rolling out a program to install 50 video cameras Downtown, along with four microphones that can pick up the sound of gunshots. This program also plans to install video cameras in police cruisers, both to scan license plates in search of stolen cars, and to record police officers [...]
February 28, 2008 – 8:59 am
A recently published series of articles in ColorLines discusses research on race, crime, and police brutality. Relevant to our work in Springfield and Holyoke, this research says that nationally, the number of Latinos killed by the police is on the rise. Focusing on the ten largest U.S. cities, these articles show that police brutality [...]
February 20, 2008 – 6:50 am
Have you been harassed or beaten by the cops? Contact us and tell us what’s going on. Copwatch is collecting and publishing people’s stories of police harassment and brutality. Police abuse in our communities is widespread. By sharing our stories, we realize that none of us must suffer alone. We believe the struggle against police [...]