Coalition to March on the DNC condemns police repression on college campuses

As the Israeli / U.S. war on Gaza rages on, with the number of  Palestinians killed now surpassing 35,000, U.S. college campuses have risen up to demand an end to the genocide and that those colleges divest from Israel. In response, the state has viciously cracked down on protesters. 

At Columbia University, police officers, militarized to the teeth, stormed the campus and brutalized everyone in their wake. At UCLA, police unleashed zionist mobs onto the encampment while watching from afar, before firing rubber bullets at students, faculty, and supporters alike. At USF, police officers have surrounded any peaceful assembly by students, fired tear gas – a substance banned in warfare by the Geneva Convention – and raided and brutalized them. One officer even tackled a protester and put his knee in the back of that protester’s neck, the same maneuver that Derek Chauvin used when he murdered George Floyd in 2020. We vociferously condemn these repressions.

While both the Democratic and Republican Party crusade on the world stage about human rights, they actively aid and abet a genocide in Gaza. While both the Democratic and Republican Party patronize other countries about free speech and constitutional rights, in the US they send their goons in militarized police and zionist mobs to crack down on anyone who dares challenge their genocidal order. History shows that in this country, when people protest U.S. policy, they get attacked and arrested. But zionists and reactionaries who support U.S. policy are allowed to commit violent crimes unabated. 

With clarity, we highlight the connection between all of the struggles brewing in this moment. While the Israeli Occupation Forces commit a genocide in Occupied Palestine, they train the very police forces that are brutalizing protesters on campuses. Meanwhile, those same police departments murder Black & Brown people in cold blood, people like Dexter Reed, Jr., who Chicago Police Department fired 96 shots at and killed. 

At the same time, when investigations of associations between police and far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys or Oath Keepers take place, leadership within police departments, along with politicians, collude to usurp any investigation. We see the Democrats, the Republicans, US police, and the IOF as part of a system that is an existential threat to humanity. We applaud all who have bravely stood up against these repressions. And we call on all progressive forces to unite and to continue to stand firmly in support of a Free Palestine.

All Power to the People!