Police

Leaflet first published on June 29, 2023 A young man of 17, Nahel, was shot dead by a cop the day before yesterday, June 27, in Nanterre, a summary execution for something that has come to be called “a hit-and-run” or “refusal to comply”, for something that appears to be trying to escape so as not to remain at the mercy of two cops ready to kill. We don’t have the words – we’re still looking for them – to express our anger and total solidarity, unconditionally and even before we know more details about what happened the press has been spewing out rumors straight from the police precinct. Here are just a few thoughts, since we feel it’s necessary to express ourselves. ...

“S— / S— / P-V-M ! Po- / lice / politique!” goes the chant. I heard this a lot in 2012, when I was a baby anarchist, new to the raucus culture of the Montréal manif. Back then, the chant was often accompanied by a bevy of ironic sig heils directed at the police. It always felt a bit uncomfortable to find oneself in a crowd of largely white people making Nazi salutes, and eventually those ironic sig heils even caused a minor scandal in the anglophone press. The media uproar surely involved a great deal of bad faith, navel-gazing, and quotes from centre-right advocacy organizations, but at the end of the day it’s hard to argue that Nazi salutes (ironic or not) are anything but a bad look. ...

Your browser does not support the audio element. Download the episode Music Cruelle - “Le temps qui nous reste”, from the demo, 2023, https://youtu.be/kYANtJ5tq_0 Excavation & Poésie - “Mal au ventre”, from the album “Ranger l’hiver”, 2023, https://excavationetpoesie.bandcamp.com/ References Transformative justice process in Rojava: https://armsforrojava.wordpress.com/2014/10/21/consensus-is-key-new-justice-system-in-rojava/comment-page-1/ Transcription Before we start, we would like to dedicate this episode to Nicous D’Andre Spring, a young black musician murdered by correctional officers this Christmas eve, while unlawfully detained at the Bordeaux prison in so-called Montreal. Rest in power Nicous. ...

In 1851, Victor Hugo wrote what would become the well-known slogan: “Police everywhere, justice nowhere”. We have to admit that he was right, and that his words are still relevant today. The function of the police is not and has never been to serve and protect; nor is that of the prison to help the offenders to repair the harm (when there is harm!) and to reintegrate society. The police and prison apparatus are part of the repressive machine of the state, which has the primary function of maintaining the established order and allowing capital to profit, and only secondarily of preventing violence and abuse. No wonder it is so inefficient. ...

Montréal Antifasciste monitors hate groups whether they are active in the real world or online. In recent years, the radical fringes of the far right have tended to leave traditional platforms like Facebook and Instagram in favour of platforms that they judge to be less regulated (e.g., GAB) or more secure (e.g., Telegram). That has not prevented us from continuing our surveillance work, as has been the case this year with the Québec section of the nebulous White Lives Matter . ...

The Whole Orchard launches its third episode of the second season. This month, the podcast addresses the stakes surrounding the police in Indigenous territories, whether led by native people or settlers. We talk about the Kanien’kéha language camp in Akwesasne and the relation of Indigenous communities with police forces with one of the founders of the camp. ...

Early on the evening of Tuesday March 15, anarchists and anti-authoritarians converged in the historic working-class neighbourhood of St-Henri, Montreal, for the 26th annual International Day Against Police Brutality. This year, in addition to venting their hatred of the SPVM (the Montreal police), a central theme of the march was the colonial repression faced by Wet’suwet’en land defenders and their supporters at the hands of the RCMP. ...

The evening of March 15th, was the 26th annual protest against police brutality. 26 years of marching, 26 years of systematic repression by police brutality, like an annual tradition that leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. The demonstrators decided to keep control of the sidewalks rather than be chased off the streets by violent and insulting police officers, and attacked the neighborhood’s worst businesses: Dollarama and the National Bank. Let’s remember that if Dollarama is a grocery store of last resort for the poor, it still sells unhealthy crap and is one of the worst companies in Quebec for abusing its workers. And on the other side, the National Bank is investing billions in several important oil projects. In the face of this self-defense of the poor against their oppressors, the police violently attacked the demonstration: truncheons, gas and beatings were the order of the day. ...

Here is the newspaper “POLICE STATE” with 2 types of PDF files. You can print it and distribute it widely. The paper version of the newspapers are available in several student associations and at the AFESH information table at UQAM. Also at DIRA and L’Insoumise . Enjoy reading it! PDF (to read) PDF (to print)

The second season of “The Whole Orchard” podcast will soon be available! This year we’ll talk about anticarceral feminism, police forces on indigenous territories & transformative justice, amongst other subjects. Until then, you can listen to the five episodes of the 1st season by searching “Le verger au Complet” on your favorite podcast platform or by going to the web site . Love & Rage, The CLAC.

Here as elsewhere in the world, the Police play a determining role in repressing anti-colonial, indigenous, environmental, immigration, etc. struggles. The struggle and resistance of Indigenous First Nations around the world will always be present at the front lines to counter capitalist interests and will be supported by international movements and solidarity links. The theme for 2022 will be: “La police c’est colon en criss”-“shutdown the colonial police”. ...

It is difficult to look at what is currently happening in the Yintah, the Wet’suwet’en territory, without reflecting on the role of the RCMP in the Canadian colony. What eventually became the RCMP was founded in 1873, partly in response to the Red River Métis Rebellion of 1869-1870. The primary objective of the RCMP, from its inception, was therefore to maintain imperial hegemony over the territory in order to open it up to capitalist exploitation. ...