Intv w/ Rodney Floyd | Youth Organizers In Antioch demand defund Police

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.4.8″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″][et_pb_code _builder_version=”4.4.8″][/et_pb_code][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.4.8″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.4.8″ text_font=”Georgia||||||||”]HKR-06-24-20: We talk to Rodney Floyd, the younger brother of George Floyd. He talks to us about where the current case to get justice for his brother stands. He talks to us about the the things his older taught him and their other siblings. He talks about Floyd’s sports career and his music career. We speak with youth leaders from Antoich, California Ty and Zoe about organizing to stop police violence in their community. So far these kids have organized a couple of the biggest protests Antioch has ever seen and they marched from the high school to the police station and blocked a main intersection outside the high school for 8 mins and 38 seconds in honor of George Floyd.. They are for defunding the police and redistributing the funds to social programs. We talk about the various challenges they face in organizing in Antioch and the hostilities they face as more and more Black and Brown folks are displaced there from Oakland and San Francisco. They say there is alot of resentment and racism by long term white residents upset that these areas are changing. We also talk about the brutality of cops in that area including a couple of cases.

Antioch’s “I Can’t Breath” case in Antioch was Rakeem Rucks in 2015. One year after Eric Gardner. Rakeem called the police on himself because he was suffering from hallucinations. He was handcuffed then beaten and held down till he died. The neighbors said they heard him say I can’t breath.. Here is a link to a short article..

https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/i-cant-breathe-family-sues-antioch-police-over-in-custody-death/2002200/

A year later in 2016 Wendell Celestine was asphyxiated at the end of a dark downtown street from a police choke hold..

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/10/06/antioch-man-put-in-police-neck-hold-died-of-asphyxiation-jury-rules-it-an-accident/

There are many more.. and the history goes a long way back. But one fight the kids are fighting at this time is to have officer Michael Mellone removed from APD. Mellone was recently hired after he resigned from SFPD under investigation for escalating a situation and then killing a mentally unstable homeless immigrant from Guatemala named Luis-Gongora Pat. There were protests in SF surrounding the case. Here is a short article..

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/sf-officer-involved-in-shooting-death-of-homeless-man-quits-while-facing-discipline-lands-new-job-in-antioch/

And lastly, we listen to a number of people speak about the upcoming school board vote to dismantle the OUSD police department.

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