Civil Rights/Equal Rights

On the 17th of January, during the MLK holiday weekend, cops in DC held what was effectively a counterprotest against DC Ferguson and the rest of the new civil rights movement. Their "sea of blue" march featured some participants looking like motorcycle gang members, and speakers advocating an "us vs them" approach to policing. This can be considered a protest in favor of police shooting people who don't "show the proper attitude" and in favor of jump-outs and Stop and Frisk style policing, given the context.Especially galling was the large number of participants wearing clothing calling themselves "peacemakers" when police misconduct has triggered more civil unrest than any other issue in many years.

Code Pink joined Saudi human rights activist Ali Al-Ahmed of the Gulf Institute in front of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington DC to protest the US's continued support for the regime despite continuing egregious human rights abuses, including the ongoing flogging of Saudi blogger Raid Badawi for questioning the role of religion in supporting the Saudi regime.

Al-Ahmed reports that Saudi Arabia flogs three thousand prisoners daily, as well as carrying out daily beheadings.

On the 5th of January, a die-in at Dupont Circle remembering the victims of killer cops was followed by a "Dance for Justice" event. Simple dance moves and chants demanded an end to killer cops and reinforced particpants commitment to fight for justice and against police murder.

Video highlights of Dance for Justice 1 min 45 sec

The Unification Church(Rev Moon)-controlled Washington Times is claiming that DC Police have spent $3M because of the DC Ferguson protests. I can say from personal experience that this consists of following DC Ferguson protests through the streets and redirecting traffic to isolate protests. Perhaps police chief Cathy Lanier should think of this as a $3M fine against the DC Police for violating the rights of African-American city residents with jump-out tactics and illegal searches stemming from them.

washingtontimes(dot)com/news/2014/dec/28/in-dc-ferguson-inspired-marches-cost-police-3-mill/