The State vs. The People: Government Strategies to Eliminate Protest and Responses from the Movement

Given my own belief that protests are a profound way of bringing about social change, I was interested in this panel hosted by the Beyond the Bars Conference a week ago, which discussed past government strategies to obstruct and end protests and any form of resistance.

This is what they had to say:

Fred Hampton of the Black Panther
Party

G. Flint Taylor, Human/Civil Rights Attorney and Partner at People's Law Office started the discussion by giving a history of past governmental strategies. During the Edgar Hoover Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was established in the 1920s. Towards the end of the 20th century, the FBI began the Cointel Pro, short for Counter Intelligence Program, to initially disrupt the Communist Party in the US and later expanded to include the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panther Party. Flint stated that during these times there were certain code words used by them such as "Neutralize" which reportedly meant "to kill" when attempting to destroy coalitions such as the Rainbow Coalition and Activist and Chairman of the Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton, who was "assassinated" in a police raid in Chicago in 1969. Flint believes that the current government could employ similar strategies to dismantle activist groups and coalitions aligned with obstructing government policies.

Sting Ray Machine

As seen from an x-ray van

Erin Beth Harrist, Senior Staff Attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union primarily represents individuals in cases of repressed First Amendment rights, in other words, free speech. She provided possible techniques and instruments that the government, through law enforcement, could deploy when dealing with protesters. This included sting ray (portable machines which can intercept information off of an individual's phone), x-ray vans, also known as Z Backscatter vans (vehicles which can reportedly scan into vehicles and even individuals), sound cannons, also known as Long Range Audio Devices (LRADs), (a device which can fire noise of upto 150 dB - where an eardrum could break at 160 dB), and the use of drones. Erin further warned that there could be police infiltration into communities and coalitions associated with resistance and conduct mass arrests (for obstruction of vehicular roadways).

Erin added that individuals have a constitutional right to video/record police activity as long as you are in a public space. This goes along way in acquitting individuals who are unlawfully arrested. NYCLU, along with ACLU conduct many 'Know Your Rights' workshops to prepare individuals when encountering law enforcement agencies. 

Radhika Sainath, Staff Attorney at Palestine Legal, spoke about the 'Palestine Exception' for free speech. She played a powerful video of students and other activists around the country who have experienced backlash for engaging in Palestine advocacy. The video, provided here, portrays students speaking of how they abandoned their involvement/association with the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement (which works to end international support for Israeli's oppression of Palestinians) or the Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) in fear of being arrested for allegedly being a terrorist, as many of them are reportedly being labeled. 

The panelists however concluded that despite the risk that comes with protesting and advocating for justice, social change historically comes about as a result of civil disobedience. As Radhika rightly noted, "I don't think there would have been such an immediate response to the recent 'Travel Ban' had it not been for people unexpectedly mobilizing and protesting at JFK and other areas of the country." 

How Do We Respond to Violence? Strategies for Transcending the Punishment Paradigm

At the Beyond the Bars Conference 2017 on March 04, 2017, I attended a panel discussion from individuals discussing the punitive response to violence in this society and underscoring rehabilitation instead.

Panelists included:

Mariame Kaba: Organizer, Educator and Curator 

Ayoola Mitchell: Community & Survivor Outreach Specialist, Insight Prison Project 

Vincent Schiraldi: Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School Program in Criminal Justice                                     Policy and Management

Danielle Sered: Director, Common Justice, Vera Institute of Justice 

Moderator: Marlon Peterson, Founder, The Precedential Group & 2015 Soros Justice Fellow

Ayoola started the panel by detailing out her experience with violence. Her 23 year old son was shot 17 times. A few years later, her 19 year old son was shot and murdered. She found out last year that the individual who murdered her son died last year. She remembers feeling sad and not at all vengeful when either of her sons were shot. She stated not wanting the perpetrator to go to prison and instead to be rehabilitated appropriately. "This is the power of forgiveness." 

Mariame has lived in Chicago for 20 years and identified as a victim of violence. She stated that education is of utmost importance. And yet if you are poor you cannot be educated. "And you can't end poverty without ending capitalism." 

Danielle also reported being from Chicago and a victim of violence. She stated that the incarceration of her perpetrator did not deliver healing. She placed importance in Alternative to Incarceration (ATI) programs in addressing violent acts. She discussed the disproportionality in how ATIs are offered to perpetrators of violence in the criminal justice system. "We all know that Whiteness is the oldest form of ATI in the US." When working with perpetrators of violent acts, Danielle stated she saw three common denominators, "Shame, isolation, exposure to violence and inability to meet one's economic needs."

Vincent stressed the importance of "youth first." He stated that youth should never be sent to prisons or jails regardless of their alleged crime. He discussed that these are no place to rehabilitate youth and have vast consequences to their physical and mental health. He spoke about Khalief Browder's case as unfortunately not being one of a kind. He added that violence by Correction Officers are extremely under-reported by male youth. 

This session profoundly impacted me and I think to many others as these panelists spoke about forgiveness. Most of them identified as victims of violence and yet, they spoke about rehabilitation versus punishment. I found this amazing and extremely humbling. 

The US criminal justice system certainly needs to move away from punitive measures in addressing violent acts. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."