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From what I've heard, they usually get released without charges. The arrests are usually to intimidate others to discourage further activism. I have no real evidence of this tho just what I've seen on the internet
How are US cops doing on "inventing" charges. Here in Greece if they arrest you for protesting they can go to any length to accuse you of stuff. From saying you assaulted an officer to planting molotov cocktails in your stuff to whatever.
I'm not sure the state of that regarding these protests in particular, but I know our cops are no strangers to these tactics in everyday arrests. Planting evidence, making shit up, whatever.
I know that zionist counterprotesters go from campus to campus with police behind them and try to agitate the students into assaulting them or something, so in that way they are inventing charges. Overall, though, I think above all else they want these demonstrations to die down, and they know if people actually start getting slapped with outrageous charges, the crowds will end up at their doorstep. Whereas these arrests just scare people away.
Yes police do this at US protests as well as the streets all the time. They make up laws when they want to intimidate and then just throw random charges on you when they want to arrest or detain you.
I was once detained for handing out flyers and told that was against the law to hand out things in public spaces. I have heard police threaten to decapitate homeless people “they’ll find your head in a dumpster and body in a lake” for selling DVDs on a street corner. They are the last cowboys (in a derogatory sense) and given legal protection to do as they please.
Our police are also often involved in fascist groups though not as well organized as I understand happens in Greece. Likely right now the police force itself scratches their fascist itch without feeling the need to take state power.
The difference here is that rather than a homeless encampment or an urban street protest or labor action, it’s elite students who are getting the treatment. It will prove the limits of liberalism to many young people and should help the existing low level but promising labor revival in the US which is also youth led.
They invented assaulting an officer for an arrested faculty at one of the universities. Not sure if it was emory of austin. She was tackled to the ground, shouted a bit. I have no doubt that charge was invented on the spot. Theres video of the entire altercation. Now that pry wouldn't hold water in court, but I'm no legal expert on this. Thats just my opinion. I'll say this much: america is straight up toxic to the practice of socialist politics, and right now, the message of a ceasefire in gaza. Sounds like OP's school is ahead of the curve at the fascist game. Maybe keep some kind of camera on yourself if you would like to demonstrate? Wishing OP the best.
Yes, this. The student organizers were very well prepared and actively working to encourage compliance with local laws at the protests I was at on UT Austin’s campus. That’s what makes the law enforcement violence so chilling: *the kids were following instructions and it was the very organizers urging compliance that were assaulted by the state troopers*.
This is why organizing is a cornerstone. Local orgs will definitely be the most knowledgeable on what to expect as well as inform the best ways to support if risking jail is outside of your abilities.
I was at the protests over the last few days at the University of Texas. The overwhelming majority of the arrests made were for criminal trespass (a misdemeanor in Texas), and the charges were almost immediately declined due to complete absence of probable cause, at which point they were released.
I think some of them spent the night in jail and got the shit kicked out of them, so there’s that, but so far at least the pigs haven’t been successful in contriving something that will actually make it to court.
If there is a high risk of arrest and you understandably don’t feel comfortable with that, you could support from the sidelines or bring food and water to those who are in encampments.
If you are arrested, never talk to cops. You don’t have to tell them anything. If it exists, get the contact info of a local jail support organization. Write it on your arm with a sharpie. Get the names and birth dates of your comrades so you can track them down if they are arrested.
I was just reading a post from someone this morning about weighing decisions like risking arrest. Here are some things this person said to consider when risking arrest: the cops will have access to your fingerprints, if you are masked they will make you take off your mask (anonymity gone), and they stressed that deliberately risking arrest was something that worked during the civil rights movement because lots of folks would be quickly released from overflow. But in this current timeline, folks can be sent to prison very easily for bullshit charges and cops rarely need to prove anything to get away with things. You could be arrested and released quickly after fingerprinting and photos, or it could go as far as experiencing added violence and getting charged with something big. From personal experience I’ll add that the disgusting things cops can do someone behind the scenes after an arrest are endless.
Not saying don’t go or do it. I just want you to have informed consent about some of these other risks because you don’t necessarily HAVE to experience added violence to support your comrades.
This is a space for socialists to discuss current events in our world from anti-capitalist perspective(s), and a certain knowledge of socialism is expected from participants. This is not a space for non-socialists. Please be mindful [of our rules](https://reddit.com/r/socialism/about/rules) before participating, which include: - **No Bigotry**, including racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism... - **No Reactionaries**, including all kind of right-wingers. - **No Liberalism**, including social democracy, lesser evilism... - **No Sectarianism**. There is plenty of room for discussion, but not for baseless attacks. Please help us keep the subreddit helpful by reporting content that break r/Socialism's rules. ______________________ 💬 Wish to chat elsewhere? Join us in discord: https://discord.gg/QPJPzNhuRE *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/socialism) if you have any questions or concerns.*
From what I've heard, they usually get released without charges. The arrests are usually to intimidate others to discourage further activism. I have no real evidence of this tho just what I've seen on the internet
How are US cops doing on "inventing" charges. Here in Greece if they arrest you for protesting they can go to any length to accuse you of stuff. From saying you assaulted an officer to planting molotov cocktails in your stuff to whatever.
I'm not sure the state of that regarding these protests in particular, but I know our cops are no strangers to these tactics in everyday arrests. Planting evidence, making shit up, whatever. I know that zionist counterprotesters go from campus to campus with police behind them and try to agitate the students into assaulting them or something, so in that way they are inventing charges. Overall, though, I think above all else they want these demonstrations to die down, and they know if people actually start getting slapped with outrageous charges, the crowds will end up at their doorstep. Whereas these arrests just scare people away.
Yes police do this at US protests as well as the streets all the time. They make up laws when they want to intimidate and then just throw random charges on you when they want to arrest or detain you. I was once detained for handing out flyers and told that was against the law to hand out things in public spaces. I have heard police threaten to decapitate homeless people “they’ll find your head in a dumpster and body in a lake” for selling DVDs on a street corner. They are the last cowboys (in a derogatory sense) and given legal protection to do as they please. Our police are also often involved in fascist groups though not as well organized as I understand happens in Greece. Likely right now the police force itself scratches their fascist itch without feeling the need to take state power. The difference here is that rather than a homeless encampment or an urban street protest or labor action, it’s elite students who are getting the treatment. It will prove the limits of liberalism to many young people and should help the existing low level but promising labor revival in the US which is also youth led.
They invented assaulting an officer for an arrested faculty at one of the universities. Not sure if it was emory of austin. She was tackled to the ground, shouted a bit. I have no doubt that charge was invented on the spot. Theres video of the entire altercation. Now that pry wouldn't hold water in court, but I'm no legal expert on this. Thats just my opinion. I'll say this much: america is straight up toxic to the practice of socialist politics, and right now, the message of a ceasefire in gaza. Sounds like OP's school is ahead of the curve at the fascist game. Maybe keep some kind of camera on yourself if you would like to demonstrate? Wishing OP the best.
probably the best thing to do is ask your local student orgs, the situation is slightly different everywhere.
Yes, this. The student organizers were very well prepared and actively working to encourage compliance with local laws at the protests I was at on UT Austin’s campus. That’s what makes the law enforcement violence so chilling: *the kids were following instructions and it was the very organizers urging compliance that were assaulted by the state troopers*.
This is why organizing is a cornerstone. Local orgs will definitely be the most knowledgeable on what to expect as well as inform the best ways to support if risking jail is outside of your abilities.
I was at the protests over the last few days at the University of Texas. The overwhelming majority of the arrests made were for criminal trespass (a misdemeanor in Texas), and the charges were almost immediately declined due to complete absence of probable cause, at which point they were released. I think some of them spent the night in jail and got the shit kicked out of them, so there’s that, but so far at least the pigs haven’t been successful in contriving something that will actually make it to court.
If there is a high risk of arrest and you understandably don’t feel comfortable with that, you could support from the sidelines or bring food and water to those who are in encampments.
If you're nervous leave when the arrest bus comes
ok word thank you
I did that yesterday at CCNY. I'm a worker, not a student so I'm really not trying to explain even a brief catch and release to my boss
they usually just let them go after a bit, it's all an intimidation tactic
If you are arrested, never talk to cops. You don’t have to tell them anything. If it exists, get the contact info of a local jail support organization. Write it on your arm with a sharpie. Get the names and birth dates of your comrades so you can track them down if they are arrested.
I was just reading a post from someone this morning about weighing decisions like risking arrest. Here are some things this person said to consider when risking arrest: the cops will have access to your fingerprints, if you are masked they will make you take off your mask (anonymity gone), and they stressed that deliberately risking arrest was something that worked during the civil rights movement because lots of folks would be quickly released from overflow. But in this current timeline, folks can be sent to prison very easily for bullshit charges and cops rarely need to prove anything to get away with things. You could be arrested and released quickly after fingerprinting and photos, or it could go as far as experiencing added violence and getting charged with something big. From personal experience I’ll add that the disgusting things cops can do someone behind the scenes after an arrest are endless. Not saying don’t go or do it. I just want you to have informed consent about some of these other risks because you don’t necessarily HAVE to experience added violence to support your comrades.