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Lawrence Ronnell Taylor, 44, was shot and killed on August 1 by LA County Sheriffs near Compton, even though numerous witnesses said there was no reason for him to die. Huntington Beach Police recently shot a young woman on August 25 for carrying a knife, when she was raped the night before. In Los Angeles, a video recording of Elio Carrion (on leave from the Air Force) clearly shows a sheriff order Elio to “get up,” then the sheriff shot him three times as he pushed himself up with his hands in the air. 49-year old Cindy Conolly in Oxnard was killed while sunbathing on the beach when two police drove their vehicle over her. Cases of police murder have sprung up in cities across the nation, including San Francisco (Asa Sullivan & “Big O” Lefiti), Baltimore, New Orleans (tons of Hurricane Katrina victims), Miami (Rigoberto Alpizar, killed for supposedly having a bomb that never existed), Rhode Island (James Wilcox, killed for shoplifting baby formula), Las Vegas (Tarance Hall, killed by Vegas cops for playing his car radio too loudly)

All the officers remain free to kill more, while these stolen lives are gone forever. These outrageous scenes blip across the news for a few days, if they even are allowed on, and then are buried, not allowed to stay long in the national consciousness. But as the Stolen Lives Project of the October 22nd Coalition continues to document, police brutality and murder nationwide are on the rise.

And it is not just about murder, brutality, repression have also has been on the rise. The South Central Farm, the largest urban farm in the US run by local families to feed themselves, was sold by the City to a rich developer to build yet another warehouse, taking food out of the stomachs of the farmers and their families. Supporters of the farm are facing felonies for defending the farm and the communities, while they faced police brutality and economic racism. Gang injunctions across LA are still terrorizing our communities and youth of color through police-state oppression and occupation. Mayor Villaraigosa, who swore to stand up for the people of LA, has made a priority of adding 1,000 more police by raising taxes… but do we really want to pay for more people to brutalize us? This repressive atmosphere in LA is largely due to Chief Bratton’s oppressive policies that made him infamous in NY.

Across the Country, racist minutemen have been allowed to roam freely, terrorizing immigrants at the border and in communities of color. Police have viciously attacked counter-protesters at minutemen rallies, defending the racist, hate-filled ideologies of the minutemen. All while fascist politicians intend to pass laws that will further militarize the border and criminalize people who are forced out of their homelands by imperialism to come here to work.

Steps are even taken to grant more worth to a police officer’s life, with the “heroes law” in New York, which is basically a death sentence for anyone who shoots a cop. At the same time, the cop who killed African immigrant Ousmane Zongo in New York, was sentenced to only probation and community service.

Torture, brutality, detentions, domestic spying, profiling, and other attacks on human and civil liberties have been made part of the routine of daily life that we are asked to accept without question. Protesters in support of LGBT rights and reproductive freedom in Pennsylvania were charged for violating the USA PATRIOT Act after being beaten and arrested by police. A former NSA intelligence agent, Russell Tice, warned that the nation was decaying into a “police state,” while another NSA officer was a rewarded for his secret domestic spying by being made head of the CIA. The war abroad has its corresponding part in the war on people at home, where law enforcement agents step up their harassment and criminalization of certain neighborhoods and populations.

What can we do? Why should you come out on October 22, 2006?

We resist because we refuse to live in a police state. Our resistance gives other people courage to stand up. The work of the October 22nd Coalition over the last ten years has shown that when we expose what is happening and drag their crimes out into the light of day, it puts the spotlight back on them!

On October 22nd, we remember those whose lives have been stolen from us. Through our actions, we bring out the stories that have been covered over. Families speak out and tell the truth about so many cases that too many times people haven’t even heard of: 15-year old Brandon McCloud, shot by Cleveland police on his way to school; Michael Ellerbee, 12 years old, shot in the back by Pittsburgh police; and too many thousands more. The families of Susie Pena (1 1/2 years old), Devin Brown (13), Deandre Brunston (23), and Gonzalo Martinez (26), to name a few in Los Angeles, still have not seen justice for the loss of their children, but have not forgotten and continue to struggle and build against police murder.

October 22nd is the day when people all over the country come together to STOP police violence, repression, and the criminalization of a generation. Across the country, in different cities and through different means of expression, we raise a resounding “NO” to their steadily increasing moves towards a police state. Link up to the Los Angeles protest through www.myspace.com/october22nd_la. Organize an event in your neighborhood, school or church. Email information on your plans to october22nd_la@yahoo.com. Endorse this call, help organize the protest, give financially, and spread the word.

Join the struggle! Fight Back!

On October 22nd, wear Black!

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To make a contribution of $ or resources, please contact us at: october22nd_la@yahoo.com

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Dont miss the first Fightin Words of the year.

Sept. 21 and 28th at the chuco justic center at 7pm.

253 w. mlk, los angeles c.a (near broadway)

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