Video: celebration on BLM Plaza 36 sec
On the 20th of April, the verdict came back in Derek Chauvin's case for murdering George Floyd: GUILTY on all counts. As he was led away to jail to await sentencing, celebrations broke out coast to coast. DC's Black Lives Matter plaza was no exception. Music played, people cheered, and a groups of bicyclists came through. Had Chauvin walked this would have gotten quite rough instead.
Update: verdict reached, Chauvin GUILTY on all counts, taken to jail
On the 20th of April,about 250 National Guard troops were activiated to "assist law enforcement" against BLM protests in the wake of the coming verdict in the Chauvin case. Already police have been meeting protests for Duante Wright with insane numbers of police and wrongful arrests followed by dropped charges. Mainstream media is predicting another "long, hot summer" and they are NOT talking about the weather.
Black House News video of sudden police attack as marchers dispersed at end of march 1 min 29 sec
On the 17th of April, the second of three DC marches for Duante Wright and others murdered by police made a beeline to Union Station from their stepoff, and covered it with anti-facist graffiti upon arrival. With Chauvin's trial about to end in MN and huge protests expected, the question of what to do with statues of racist murderers is now back on the table.
Video of the march 5 min 22 sec
On the 17th of April. a large and furious crowd gathered at BLM Plaza for a march against the police murders of Duante Wright, George Floyd (whose killer may be acquitted in days), and so many more. Wealthy diners were confronted and in one incident a powerful firework landed in or near them. Later, as the march descended on MPD's 3D headquarters, cops began shoving protesters and at least one arrest was reported.
POV video of Duante Wright March in DC, w analyis of police tactics 2 min 23 sec
Police in the suburbs of Minneapolis killed another young Black man on the 11th of April, Duante Wright. He was pulled over for an air freshener dangling from his car mirror, cops escalated and in the end he was shot and murdered. Fighting erupted that night in MN, and on the 12th of April marchers took to the streets in DC in solidarity.
Video-noisy pot and pan banging outside DC Jail 23 sec
On the 11th of April, a noisy, pot-and-pan banging protest at DC Jail demanded that prisoners be released. The indefinate delays of trials due to COVID-19 was cited as making pretrial detention and felony holds on bail unconstitutional (speedy trial). This was combined with a teach-in on the Lucasville (Ohio) prison uprising of 1993, where many gangs combined and rose in revolt for 11 days.
Fascist "White Lives Matter" groups had announced plans over Telegram for April 11 marches in many major cites. For a month, Richmond was to be targetted, until their organizing chats turned chaotic. They whined on Twitter that antifa had taken over these chats, and attempted to salvage the DMV plans with a hasty plan to march on DC instead. That too fell apart, and on April 11 there were no signs of them in DC and no reports of them in Richmond either.
On the 10th of April, a Fuck the Police (FTP) march gathered at Takoma Park Metro, then crossed into MD and marched through Takoma Park and Silver Spring to protest Montgomery County police officers Dionne Holliday and Kevin Christmon handcuffing a 5 year old boy and threatening him with a beating for wandering away from school. The march faced little police opposition, perhaps out of shame.
The Development Committee, a ministerial-level consensus building and policymaking body for the World Bank and the IMF, met as part of the Spring IMF and World Bank Meetings.Eric LeCompte the Executive Director of the religious development organization Jubilee USA, a UN expert who monitors IMF and World Bank meetings, releases the following statement on the meetings and World Bank Development Committee Communiqué:"While we've made some significant progress in combating the coronavirus crisis, this week's meetings lacked ambition and should be defined as a lost opportunity."IMF and World Ba
World leaders, finance ministers, heads of corporations and development groups are meeting virtually for the World Bank and IMF Spring Meetings.
On the 5th of April, Jubilee USA reported that the IMF has agreed to suspend "debt" repayments during the pandemic from 28 of the world's poorest countries. While this falls far short of the original and ongoing demand of full debt cancelllation, there is no way the pre-A16/April 2000 IMF and World Bank would have done this. A decade of protests mostly in DC came in between.
As G20, IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings convene virtually on global COVID response, 260 groups call for developing country aid and policies to prevent future crises and protect the environment.Organized by Jubilee USA Network, 260 religious groups, anti-poverty organizations, labor unions, environmental and human rights institutions signed a letter on coronavirus crisis response to the White House, G20 and IMF. “World leaders worked hard over the last year to tackle the health and economic crises spurred by the COVID pandemic," said Eric LeCompte, a UN finance expert who heads the
Video-atmosphere on 18th st as march comes through 1 min 23 sec
On the 3ed of April, anti-capitalist activists combined with La Raza DC to organize a night march demanding nothing less than the total abolition of ICE. The march went through dining areas, getting cheers from many but jeers from the wealthy. Large numbers of bike cops shadowed the march but made no attempts at snatch-and-grab arrests or kettles.
Video-Black Snake slithers through Washington DC before being "killed" at White House 2 min 53 sec
On the first of April, Lakota, Anishabe, and other Indigenous activsts from the frontlines of such pipeline fights as DAPL, Enbridge Line 3, and many others gathered at the US Army Corps of Engineer. From there they marched a 300 foot long rendition of the Black Snake of prophecy to the White House, where two tripod sitters waited. On arrival, the "Black Snake Killaz" went to work.
On the 27th of March, Extinction Rebellion-DC first took a mock pipeline/Black Snake into Chase Bank, then dumped mock "oil" on the sidewalk outside the bank.Chase Bank, like Citibank and Bank of America (also called out on March 27) is a major funder of Enbridge, builder of the "Line 3 replacement" pipeline threatening to destroy Chippewa land in Minnesota.
Video-getting inside, then dumping "oil" outside Chase Bank 2 min
On the 27th of March, another round of Stop Asian Hate protests were held all over the so-called United States. One of them was ANSWER's DC rally under the Chinatown arch between 6th and 7th st NW on H st, site of so many Black Lives Matter protests in the past. Again the subject is people being killed for the color of their skin, anti-Asian hate crimes and murders have skyrocketed in the past year.
Video featuring tenant organizer telling of Ms Woodner's expensive horses and art shows 1 min 26 sec
On the 26th of March, tenants of the Woodner, the Oaklawn, and other Van Metre properties protested in front of their buildings demanding back rent and rent be cancelled in the face of the majority of tenants losing their jobs to the COVID-19 pandemic. While tenants starve, Ms Woodner rides $100,000 horses and sponsors art shows!
