Seattle riot: abolish police, release part of prisoners

US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — In deference to the people who liberated Capitol Hill, this list of requirements is neither short nor overly simple. This is not a simple request to put an end to police brutality. We demand that the city council and the mayor, whoever they are, implement these political changes for the sake of the cultural and historical prosperity of the city of Seattle and to facilitate the struggle of its inhabitants.

This document represents the position of black people who talked about winning the intersection of 12th Avenue and East Pine Street after nine days of peaceful protests, despite the ongoing nightly attack by the Seattle Police Department. These are the words that sounded that night, June 8, 2020.

For convenience, we categorized these requirements into four categories: the judiciary, healthcare and social welfare, economics, and education.

Given the importance of this historic moment, we will start with our requirements regarding the judicial system.

1. The Seattle Police Department and its related ship system are incorrigible. We do not ask for reforms, we demand their abolition. We demand that the Seattle City Council and the mayor stop funding and abolish the Seattle Police Department and its associated criminal justice apparatus. We mean 100% financing, including pensions for Seattle police officers. With the same level of priority, we demand that the city authorities ban the work of the immigration and customs police in Seattle.

2. During the transition period, that is, from now until the abolition of the Seattle Police Department, we demand that the use of military force be completely prohibited. No firearms, no batons, no police shields, no chemical weapons — especially against those who exercise their right to protest under the First Amendment.

3. We demand an end to the “school to prison” flow mechanism and the abolition of juvenile prisons. Release children from prisons, remove cops from schools. We also demand that the new juvenile prison, which is now under construction in Seattle, be redeveloped.

4. We demand that it is not the city authorities, not the state authorities, but the federal authorities that initiate a full investigation of past and current police brutality in Seattle and Washington, and also resume investigations into all closed cases reported to the Office of Oversight police activities. In particular, we demand the resumption of investigations in cases involving Seattle and Washington in which justice has not been established, including the cases of Josiah Faletogo, Damarius Butts, Isaiah Obet, Tommy Le, Shaun Fuhr, and Charleena Lyles.

5. We demand compensation for victims of police brutality – later we will decide in what form.

6. We demand that Seattle city officials disclose the names of those brutal police officers. Anonymity should not be a privilege of public service.

7. We demand re-investigations of all people with a different skin color who are currently serving prison sentences for violent crimes, and we demand that they be tried by jury members of their community.

8. We demand the decriminalization of protests and amnesty for protesters in general, especially for those who participated in the so-called “George Floyd riot” against the terrorist cell that previously occupied the area and called itself the Seattle Police Department. This includes the immediate release of all the protesters who are currently in prison, where they were arrested at the intersection of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street on June 7 and 8, and all other protesters who were arrested in the past two weeks – immediately comes to mind the name of Evan Reh (Evan Hreha), who filmed on camera how the Seattle police used tear gas against the girl, and who is now in prison.

9. We demand that Seattle and state authorities release all prisoners who are currently serving prison sentences for marijuana crimes and remove all charges against them.

10. We demand that Seattle and state authorities release all prisoners who are currently serving sentences for resisting arrest if no other charges are brought against them and that all guilt be dropped from them.

11. We demand that all prisoners currently serving sentences be given full and unrestricted voting rights, and that Washington enacts a law that repeals federal law prohibiting convicted criminals from voting.

12. We demand the lifting of immunity from prosecution for all police officers for the entire transition period, that is, from now until the abolition of the Seattle Police Department and the existing judicial system.

13. We demand the abolition of imprisonment in general, as well as the abolition of prisons for minors and private, commercial prisons in particular.

14. We demand that instead of the existing criminal justice system, rehabilitation and re-education programs be created that should replace imprisonment.

15. We demand that people be granted independence in the creation of local anti-crime systems.

16. We demand that during the transitional period, that is, from now until the moment it is abolished, the Seattle Police Department return all property belonging to the residents of the city.

17. We demand justice for those who have been sexually abused by the Seattle Police Department and prison guards in Washington State.

18. We demand that during the transitional period, that is, from now until the Seattle Police Department is abolished, all department officers, without exception, turn on their lapel video recorders and that all videos made by these lapel video recorders become publicly available.

19. We demand that funds previously transferred to the Seattle Police Budget be redirected to: a) Seattle City Health Services; b) to provide free municipal housing, because housing is a right, not a privilege; c) the state system of school education, which will reduce the average number of students in classes of city schools and increase teacher salaries; d) to provide citizenship services to immigrants who live in the United States without documents (we require that they be called “undocumented people” because no one can be “illegal”); e) for the development of public infrastructure – parks and so on.

In addition, we have economic requirements that must also be met.

1. We demand Seattle’s de-gentrification, starting with rental regulation.

2. We demand that we again begin to finance the development of culture and art from the city budget in order to restore Seattle’s once rich cultural identity.

3. We demand free college education for Washington residents — due to the significant positive impact that education has on economic success, and also because of the significant negative impact that poverty has on people of color — as a form of compensation the treatment to which black residents of this state and country were subjected.

4.We demand that, from now until the abolition of the Seattle Police Department, police be prohibited from raiding the homeless, which creates problems for our homeless neighbors, and we demand an end to evictions.

5. We demand that the election process be decentralized so that Seattle residents are given the opportunity to choose candidates for official positions so that they do not have to make choices between equally unacceptable candidates during a vote. Currently, there are a number of schemes and mechanisms that prevent representatives of the working class from being elected to official positions, and these mechanisms should be abolished – starting with the abolition of fees that must be paid for the right to participate in elections.

In connection with economic requirements, we also put forward requirements related to healthcare and social security.

1. We demand that Seattle’s hospitals and other medical facilities hire black doctors and nurses specifically to work with black patients.

2. We demand that Seattle residents seek and proudly support black and medium-sized enterprises and small businesses. Your money is our strength and self-sufficiency.

3. We demand that the city authorities create a completely separate service, where experts in the field of mental health will work, who will answer calls to 911 related to psychological crises, and we insist that all employees of such a program undergo a thorough, full-fledged conflict resolution training.

Finally, we move on to our educational requirements in Seattle and Washington.

1. We demand that the history of Blacks and Native Americans receive much more attention in the Washington state curriculum.

2. We demand that the passage of full-fledged trainings directed against the formation of bias become a mandatory requirement for getting a job in the field of education, as well as in the field of healthcare and the media.

3. We demand that the authorities of Seattle and Washington state demolish all the monuments dedicated to the Confederates, whose treacherous attempts to build an America for which slavery would be the norm, became an insult to the whole human race.

These requirements were recorded by @irie_kenya and @AustinCHowe. Special thanks to Magik for initiating and facilitating discussions to compile this list of requirements, Omari Salisbury for suggesting categorization of the requirements, and Kshama Sawant, who became Seattle’s only official to engage with people on free Capitol Hill the night he was released.

Although we liberated Capitol Hill in the name of the people of Seattle, we must not forget that we are on the land that was once stolen from the Duwamish people, the first inhabitants of Seattle whose brother John T. Williams from the Nuu Cha Nult tribe was killed by Seattle Police Department 10 years ago.

The lives of blacks are important – always.

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