Quote of the Day

Today the question is this: What is "justice" for Jamar Clark or Mike Brown or Eric Garner or Sandra Bland or Akai Gurley or Reika Boyd or thousands more who are simultaneously remembered but then ultimately reduced to a hashtag or protest rallying cry? Is it "justice" if officers are fired? Indicted? Convicted? Imprisoned?

And then what?

It is understandable the oppressed want the criminal legal system to apply the laws equally. Accountability, even for once. But the relentless movement demands for more prosecution and punishment serve only to reify the system that must itself be indicted. In the nearly two years since Ferguson, police killings of Black civilians in particular are unabated – 258 this year alone – with few indictments, fewer convictions and no satisfaction. And there have been endless hours and days and months of activist energy expended in reaction to and reinforcement of the system.

Why is the vision of "justice" so narrow and carceral – demanding arrest, trial and punishment for killer after killer after killer without cease?

Justice for Jamar and Mike and Eric and Sandra and Akai and Rekia and thousands would mean they are still alive. With as much love and solidarity and community support for them in the anonymity of everyday life as they have in the glare of death.

I’ll say it again: Stop asking for "justice" from the system that is killing us – Demand Abolition.

Then demand more.

– Nancy A. Heitzeg
Excerpted from "Criminal InJustice: 'Justice' ~ A Short Rant"
Critical Mass Progress
March 30, 2016

UPDATES:
• Witness: Jamar Clark Was "Absolutely Not Resisting"
– Reg Chapman (CBS Minnesota, March 31, 2016).

• Rayann Hayes, Alleged Jamar Clark Victim, Speaks Out:
"I Wasn't Jamar Clark's Girlfriend,
and He Didn't Break My Ankle"
– Mike Mullen (City Pages, April 1, 2016).

• An Open Letter to
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman:
Evidence in Jamar Clark Case
Does Not Exonerate Officers
– Crystal Yakacki (Star Tribune, April 2, 2016).

• Surprised by Mike Freeman’s Lies?
Ok, Now What?
– Ryan Williams-Virden
(Form Follows Function, April 2, 2016).

• Can Cry for Justice in Clark Case
Cut Through Decades of Mistrust?
– Jon Tevlin (Star Tribune, April 3, 2016).

• Expert: DNA No "Truth Serum"
Despite Conclusion in Clark Shooting
– Cathy Wurzer and Riham Feshir
(MPR News, April 6, 2016).

• Minneapolis Police: Internal Probe
Clears Cops in Jamar Clark Shooting
– MPR News Staff
(MPR News, October 21, 2016).


Related Off-site Links:
No Indictment for Officers Who Killed Jamar Clark – Kenrya Rankin (Color Lines, March 30, 2016).
Prosecutor Won't Charge Cops in Jamar Clark Shooting – MPR News (March 30, 2016).
Protesters Take to the Streets After Jamar Clark Decision – MPR News (March 30, 2016).
Officer Involved in Jamar Clark's Death Sued for Excessive Force 10 Days Before Shooting – Ted Haller (Fox 9 News, November 29, 2015).

See also the previous Wild Reed posts
• "We Are All One" – #Justice4Jamar and the 4th Precinct Occupation: Photos, Reflections and Links
• An Update on #Justice4Jamar and the 4th Precinct Occupation
• Something to Think About – January 4, 2016
• Something to Think About – December 29, 2015
• Quote of the Day – November 25, 2015
• Rallying in Solidarity with Eric Garner and Other Victims of Police Brutality
• "Say Her Name" Solidarity Action for Sandra Bland
• In Minneapolis, Rallying in Solidarity with Black Lives in Baltimore

Image: Michael J. Bayly.