By Guest Contributor, on August 18th, 2015 
Cross-Posted from the DC Independent Media Center Written by Luke
On the 15th of August, Blackout DC staged what was announced as a march from the White House to the Capitol to protest police murder of Black and Brown people.
Cops expected a direct march but got a surprise! The march diverted from Pennsylvania Ave, north up 7th Street to Chinatown, then proceeded east to block the I-395 tunnels before finally going to the US Capitol. At the Capitol, offerings for those murdered by police were placed in a cardboard coffin. This was intended to take place on the Capitol steps, but US Capitol police blockaded the top exits from the Capitol West Lawn against protesters—and only protesters. As a result, the offering ceremony took place on the spot where people were blocked.
The march began for many at Lafayette Park, but was joined by a second march to the White House from the Department of Justice. Once merged, the march headed back out and initially down Pennsylvania Avenue, the route most marches take when going from the White House to US Capitol. At 7th Street, marchers pulled a surprise left turn. It appeared the target would now be the 7th and H Street intersection at Chinatown, but protesters didn’t stay there long. Soon the march headed east on H Street. From there the march went down the ramp to I-395 and blocked both sides of the road. It took quite a while for the police to reach the march. At least one police car went the wrong way back up the freeway. As police started building up, marchers withdrew, heading towards the Capitol after all.
At the Capitol, a coffin was brought up as the march crossed the Capitol West Lawn, only to encounter a police barricade at top of the paved walkway on the south side of the Capitol lawn. Tourists walked freely behind the police lines, having entered by another route. The coffin, with a teddy bear in it for a 7-year-old murdered by police, was brought right up to the front line but police simply would not allow a remembrance for the fallen to take place on the Capitol steps. At that point marchers drew back a few feet and conducted the ceremony at the top South corner of the Capitol lawn.
Tributes given included a teddy bear for 7 year old Aiyana Jones, cigarettes and a turn signal for Sandra Bland, Skittles for Trayvon Martin, a cross for those murdered in Charleston, and so many others. Near the end of the program one speaker warned “Get ready for war.”
By Grassroots DC, on August 7th, 2015 
Cross-posted on behalf of the Stop Police Terror Project DC
August 9th will mark one year since 18-year-old Mike Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Mike Brown’s death, and the subsequent non-indictment of the officer that killed him, resulted in a shockwave of marches, rallies, shut downs and die-ins all across the country. The recent deaths of Sandra Bland in Texas and Kindra Chapman Alabama, both at the hands of police, show the need to continue struggling against racist police terror and to show that we will not stand for the ongoing brutalization and killing of Black people in America. Join Stop Police Terror Project DC on Saturday, August 8th at the African American Civil Memorial to rally and march in the memory of Mike Brown and other victims of police killings past and present.
SHUT IT DOWN FOR MICHAEL BROWN! Rally and March in Memory of Mike Brown and other police terror victims. August 8th, 2015, 7:00 p.m. African American Civil War Memorial
DCFerguson, a group that’s done a great deal to confront police terror, has changed their name and expanded their mission. Learn more about the new organization Stop Police Terror Project DC below.
Formal statement on the dissolution of DCFerguson:
DCFerguson first emerged during a vital and spirited time in the burgeoning national anti-racist movement. The deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York, and the subsequent non-indictment of the policemen that killed them galvanized the country, and after several successful actions, the organizers decided to form a coalition to address police terror locally. The organization was able to raise awareness about the jump-out squads and other militarized police tactics, collected testimonies of local police terror victims, and demanded that city funds being used to increase police presence on the street be redirected to community-led security efforts.
Recently, due to pressures created in part by our efforts, the Metropolitan Police Department, under the leadership of Chief Cathy Lanier, has shifted its tactics. The department will reorganize the seven individual vice units that are currently responsible for most of the recent misconduct, and create a central Narcotics and Special Investigation Division along with a Crime Interdiction Unit. Lanier claims these changes are a part of a shifting focus in the MPD from low level dealers to suppliers, along with a new focus on synthetic drugs, but we believe this is simply a cosmetic change being made to avoid changing the lethal tactics that lead to the death of people like Ralphael Briscoe and DeOnte Rawlings.
As they change and adapt, so do we, and as such, DCFerguson has decided to reorganize under a new name with new leadership. Ferguson brought us to where we are, but at this juncture so many tragic incidents nationally and locally have illuminated our understanding of these issues. As such we wanted our name to reflect that expanded reality.
The new organization, Stop Police Terror Project, D.C. (SPTP), will continue to function as an organization dedicated to ending racist militarized policing in our region. SPTP will continue to be structured as a set of volunteer committees who meet independently to complete tasks for the organization’s different projects. Everyone who was active on these committees in DCFerguson is encouraged to continue their work in SPTP as we intend to move forward with our plans as outlined in the last few months.
Since the state has reorganized itself in a fraudulent way for the problem to continue under a new guise, we intend to reorganize in a genuine way in order to put a stop to these abuses. So with a history rooted in addressing racist police tactics in a concrete way, SPTP will continue to expose the institutional violence perpetrated upon poor and working Blacks in the area, will continue to highlight the interconnectedness of forms of oppression related to police terror, and of course, will continue to be in the streets. The struggle continues.
Sincerely,
Tiffany Flowers Sean Blackmon Yasmina Mrabet Eugene Puryear
By Grassroots DC, on June 19th, 2015 
Cross-Posted from DC Independent Media Center Written by Luke
On the 16th of June, DC Ferguson returned to the streets and shut down Chinatown, demanding not only that Police Chief Lanier keep the de facto promise she just made to end jump-outs, but also an end to gentrifcation and homelessness. The 16th of June was the 39th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising a crucial event in the movement that ultimately ended Apartheid in South Africa.
A few days earlier, DC Police Chief Lanier said that the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) would be switching focus from “low-level drug dealers” to major suppliers. According to the Washington Post report, the city’s vice squads are to be finally eliminated. Not once was the word “jump-out” used in any mainstream media story, but it is clear this is in response to growing pressure to end this tactic. When DC Ferguson began organizing against jump-outs, MPD first claimed to have discontinued the tactic during the 1990’s, then claimed only vice squads did anything like this. Now they say they will abolish the vice squads, but will the jump-outs really end or some other or renamed part of MPD continue business as usual?
Jump-outs are essentially when undercover cops swarm onto a block and attempt to intimidate every young Black male into submitting to an illegal search. Presumably MPD hopes to catch street corner drug dealers by searching everyone on the corner in this way. Jump-outs are seen in gentrification front-line areas and in Wards 7 and 8, which are African-American majority neighborhoods. Police deny they do this, yet everyone on some blocks I know well knows exactly what a jump-out is.
Since Lanier’s statement, FAUX (known by most as Fox) News has been running nonstop crime stories, along with interviews with masked cops complaining about the shift of focus. Faux is yakking every day about overdoses of a bad batch of “synthetic pot”-just after real pot has been legalized. Most likely FAUX has another agenda behind supporting jump-outs, a pro-gentrification one. This is in itself evidence that as protesters charge, jump-outs are about social control and racism, not about drugs at all.
By Grassroots DC, on February 4th, 2015 
How much longer will you be able to afford to live in Washington, DC? The Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development believes all District residents deserve decent, quality housing at a price they can afford. Join them at this Saturday’s Housing For All Rally and find out what you can do to stop your impending displacement, because DC is our home.
By Malik Thompson, on October 20th, 2014 
On August 9th, 2014, eighteen year-old Black male, Michael Brown, was shot six times by Ferguson Police Department officer Darren Wilson, later dying from his injuries. In response to this tragedy, Brown’s community members constructed a memorial for the young man at the place of his death. However, the memorial was soon destroyed by Ferguson police officers. With unresolved racial tensions setting the stage, Ferguson community members unleashed their frustrations with the authorities’ lack of respect for Brown and his family through protests.
The Ferguson rebellions began the day after Brown’s murder, on August 10th. Gathering at the site of Brown’s death, later taking the protests to police headquarters, the Ferguson police department responded to the community members with military-grade riot equipment.
With the Ferguson community member’s protests continuing for days after Brown’s killing, and increasing brutality of police backlash, activists, organizers, and everyday people across the nation reacted swiftly to the struggles of the Missouri residents.
In a flurry of press releases, art, and rallies, a nationwide call to recognize the value of Black lives was sounded and echoed across the country. Not at all an exhaustive list, here are a sampling of the national and global acts of solidarity sparked by the events in Ferguson.
Starting on the West coast, in Phoenix, Arizona, more than one-hundred people gathered in the city’s Eastlake Park protesting police brutality. Fortunately, no police officers were in attendance to harass the protesters.
Protesters in Oakland, California held mirrors in front of officer’s faces because they wanted the officers to “just look at themselves”, a protester named Nichola Torbett told local radio station KPIX 5.
In Los Angeles, with it’s long history of police brutality, one-thousand people gathered outside of LAPD headquarters, linking their struggles with police brutality to the violence experienced by the people in Ferguson.
On the East Coast, residents of West Philadelphia rallied on the corner of 52nd and Market streets in protest of happenings in Ferguson, speaking out about their own experiences with police brutality in Philadelphia.
After the murder of 43 year-old Eric Garner at the hands of Staten Island police, high racial tensions between NYC residents of color and police simply swelled. Building off the momentum from those protesting in Ferguson, thousands of people from all over the NYC-area flooded the streets of Staten Island in protests of local and nationwide police brutality.
Similarly, after holding a vigil for Michael Brown, Renisha McBride, and other Black people slain by police and vigilantes, protesters in Washington, DC marched to the downtown area by the thousands, one of many protests held in the DC-area.
On the global stage, those struggling against oppressive regimes in Palestine and Hong Kong are using Twitter as a medium to link their struggles with those in Ferguson, offering helpful tips on dealing with a militarized police force during protests. A letter of solidarity published by the Mexico Solidarity Network hints at an even larger global awareness of the significance of the Ferguson rebellions than first thought may suggest.
With the recent events of Ferguson October, including the arrest of prominent Black intellectual Dr. Cornel West, a fresh wave of actions protesting anti-Black racism and police brutality may soon be upon us.
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