This past week the Coalition has been busy reaching out and raising awareness in diverse communities on how the Los Angeles Police Department spies on and criminalizes people through programs like Suspicious Activity Reporting and Special Order 1.
On Wednesday, November 6th, Coalition member Hamid Khan participated in a public forum, “LAPD Spying: Civil Liberties, Homeland Security, and the Israel Connection,” with investigative journalist Max Blumenthal at the Levantine Cultural Center. Both speakers highlighted the use and rapid growth of surveillance tactics, expansion of the police state, and its violent enforcement on local communities. The coalition encourages those who attended to get involved in taking action on the concerns people expressed.
The Coalition attended the monthly Human Relations Commission meeting on Thursday, November 7th. Members informed the commissioners that the coalition would be submitting a proposal shortly, with recommendations for the development and implementation of the hearing process. The proposal will be discussed and developed collectively at the next general Coalition meeting on Tuesday Nov 19th.
That same evening, Coalition members made their presence known both outside and inside an event at the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo where former head of the LA, NYC, and Boston police departments, Bill Bratton spoke. As expected, Bratton’s speech was full of rhetoric and self praise. Coalition members Jaime Garcia, Esteban Gil, and Hamid Khan, exposed his misrepresentations, hypocrisy and the impact upon communities in Los Angeles of policies like SAR during the question and answer portion. The Coalition can demonstrate the reality of the negative impact of predictive (or more aptly speculative) policing through public records, government audits, political analysis, and community feedback. It promotes racial profiling, invades privacy, has meaningless standards, and is a waste of resources.
Surveillance in the Media
NSA’s Phone/Internet Spy System = Electronic “Stop and Frisk”
The general counsel of the National Security Agency on Monday compared the agency’s telephone metadata collection program to the highly controversial “stop-and-frisk” practice used by law enforcement officers, saying the agency uses that same standard to choose which phone numbers to query in its database.
A panel on the impact of government surveillance of communities of color that took place at Washington DC’s BusBoys & Poets on October 24th featuring Dhoruba Bin Wahad (leader of the Black Panther Party), Adwoa Masozi (Bill of Rights Defense Committee), Fahd Ahmed (Desis Rising Up and Moving), Seema Sadanandan (ACLU DC) and Alfredo Lopez (May First People Link)is now available on YouTube. You can also watch it below.
Upcoming Events
Teach-ins:
Thursday November 14th 6:30 pm: Community event – “LA vs NSA – How to Push Back Against Warrantless Spying.” Huntington Center at St. Sophia Cathedral, 1324 Normandie Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90006 – Free entrance
Friday November 15th 10:15 am: Asian Americans Advancing Justice Conference at Biltmore Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles – Registration required
Opportunities for Advocacy
Thursday Nov. 14th 10am – Lincoln Heights NC Executive Board will be reviewing our petition to present as a community based organization at Aztec Rising 3516 N. Broadway Los Angeles,CA 90031
Tuesday Nov 12th 6pm – Rampart Village NC Executive Board will be reviewing our petition to present as a community based organization St. Anne’s Residential Facility, RVNC Office, Suite #236, Mary Winifred Wing, 155 N. Occidental Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026