A.C.A.B.

Two taser jolts, a handful of punches/elbows to the head and a dozen knees to the body. Maybe that skinny punk kid will think twice about giving up peacefully next time. The victim in the video is 19-year-old Cody Bousquet. He stole a car and led police on a high speed chase. One of the boys in blue you see in the footage is Ryan Law, nephew of Winnipeg Police Chief Keith McCaskill. I had seen this story covered in the news, but had never actually watched the raw footage before I started doing some research for this post. I don't know how anyone can watch it and say that the police were justified in their use of force. Watch carefully and towards the end you'll see one of the cops stare right at the camera. Is that the way innocent people behave? (more info)

Eric Russel Daniels is another recent victim of police brutality and has joined the list of people who are now dead thanks to our City's Finest. (details)

Pantera - The Badge

Young and dumb, truth and justice fantasy.
Fresh out of the academy.
Five time loser bust his head, make your day.
Unless you're paid off to look away.
Do you think this corruption will ever stop?
What makes a person wanna be a cop?
Ran a red light, storm the house and bust the guy.
Do you like to see his children cry?
Pick-up a hooker, take her for a little ride.
But get sucked off on the side.
Sworn to serve and protect, forget the killing,
Badge wearing fascist villain.
Pissed in the street, you bust the guy.
Do you like to see his children cry?

The badge means you suck, a child lays there dead.
As you look back, what goes through your head?

Some still call him pig.
Some still call him pig.


On a lighter note, the International Day Against Police Brutality rally that took place in Winnipeg on March 13th was a tremendous success. All the hard work that members of Copwatch and other organizations put into the event paid off. It was a beautiful sunny day, a healthy crowd of ~75 showed up, there were poignant and powerful speeches, delicious food was provided by Food Not Bombs and the fuzz left the marchers unmolested. I don't think it could have possibly gone much better.

I was originally opposed to the idea of doing the march without a parade permit from the police. The justification that it was symbolically hypocritical to ask our oppressors permission to protest them didn't outweigh my percieved risk for violence caused by inciting the police by stopping traffic without giving fair warning. In the end, not getting a permit was definitely the better choice. Apart from marching past a few cop cars, we didn't see any police officers and I felt safe and sound the entire time. From now on, I might insist that any rally be done without a permit. These are our streets, not theirs.

Check out the Winnipeg Copwatch website and facebook group.