Why Police Should Strike on May 1st

By Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News

14 April 12

t was the summer of 2008, right before Barack Obama's coronation as the Democratic presidential nominee. Outside the DNC in Denver, a battle raged between a crowd of protesters and police. In the heat of an argument, a CodePink activist was shoved to the ground by a policeman's baton. She was later whisked into a crowd of riot police, while in the midst of an interview describing the incident to media.

Obama would eventually be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States, signing into law a bill allowing the arrest of protesters for expressing their First Amendment rights around anyone with secret service protection, anywhere in the country.

After the DNC, the Denver Police Department made and sold commemorative t-shirts that show a club-wielding cop wearing a sinister grin with the caption, "We get up early to BEAT the crowds." On the front is the number 68 with a slash through it, in defiance of protesters who promised to bring the spirit of the 1968 Democratic National Convention to Denver 40 years later.

There's one giant elephant in the room in the midst of the Trayvon Martin saga. While we celebrate George Zimmerman's arrest, the murderers of Rekia Boyd and Ramarley Graham are free because they're police officers, not neighborhood watchmen.

Ramarley Graham was an 18-year-old, unarmed black man who was seen adjusting his waistband by NYPD. Police followed him home and shot him while he was attempting to flush a bag of marijuana down the toilet, because police thought he may have had a gun. An off-duty Chicago police officer shot and killed 22-year-old Rekia Boyd in March, alleging that someone she was with advanced on him with a gun. The man accused of accosting the officer was only charged with a misdemeanor, as police didn't find a weapon on the scene. Witnesses at the scene allege the officer fired at least 10 shots.

However, it's a mistake to paint all cops as unthinking brutes. Police are also victims of the greed perpetuated by the 1%. Billionaires and major corporations that get away with skirting around federal tax laws deprive the government of revenue, which translates into budget cuts at the local and state levels. And when those budgets get cut police lose their jobs and pensions, just like other public employees.

One of the most courageous acts that defined the Occupy Wall Street movement at its peak in 2011 was when Ray Lewis, a retired Philadelphia Police Department captain, joined the movement in full police uniform, was arrested, and called on his former colleagues to reject the greed and abuse of the 1% and join him in the protests. Lewis was labeled a hero by many in the Occupy movement, and should serve as an example to other officers who may be thinking twice about unconstitutional orders to arrest nonviolent protesters in public spaces.

What if just 100 police officers choose to take after Captain Lewis' example to strike with Occupy Wall Street on May 1st? It would send an undeniable message: Police and protesters alike reject the greed of the 1%, which has bankrupted the economy and ruined the livelihoods of millions. It could be the spark that inspires hundreds of thousands of officers to reject the orders of their chiefs and mayors, put down their badges and join the cause, which is their cause too. It always has been.

Carl Gibson, 24, of Lexington, Kentucky, is a spokesman and organizer for US Uncut, a nonviolent, creative direct-action movement to stop budget cuts by getting corporations to pay their fair share of taxes. He graduated from Morehead State University in 2009 with a B.A. in Journalism before starting the first US Uncut group in Jackson, Mississippi, in February of 2011. Since then, over 20,000 US Uncut activists have carried out more than 300 actions in over 100 cities nationwide. You may contact Carl at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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