FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
JULY 29, 2020
OCCUPIED TIWA TERRITORY, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO.
WHO
The Red Nation Albuquerque Freedom Council, Indigenous Women Rising, Pueblo Action Alliance, YUCCA Action
WHAT
CALL TO ACTION! No Fash! No Feds! No Cops! No ICE! LANDBACK!
Thirty-five federal agents have been deployed to Albuquerque as a part of Trump’s Operation Legend, and the Albuquerque Police Department has received a significant budget increase amidst calls to defund the police. What we are seeing is a literal occupation in the style that the U.S. has carried out in their imperialist interventions all over the world. Their infamous scorched earth tactics that form the foundation of U.S. imperialism were developed through the genocide of Native people all throughout Turtle Island. Make no mistake; this is fascism. It has never been more urgent for us to make it clear that the people hold the power and that we must challenge this cancerous fascism at all turns. Let us continue the momentum of the movement against police violence, and policing as we know it, that our Black and African relatives have ignited in our hearts. Let us continue the traditions of resistance to colonialism that our ancestors laid out for us. We have never been closer to creating a truly life-affirming world.
We’re calling on all to support this action! Let’s make it clear that Burque has power in numbers!
As the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies we are centering healthcare workers and teachers because they are on the frontlines of this crisis and made to be disposable under Trump’s regime.
WHEN
Friday, July 31, 2020 @ 6PM
WHERE
Downtown Albuquerque, NM @ 4th & Lomas.
WHY
The origins of police in the U.S. are rooted in systemic racism, slavery, and land dispossession. Volunteer militias composed of white settlers hunted and captured enslaved Africans attempting to escape bondage. They slaughtered Indigenous people to clear the land for more plantations. Their function has always been to wield violence to protect capital and private property. They didn’t even bother to change the famous star-shaped badge that the early catchers of enslaved Africans and Indian killers were given.
Today, militias have sprung up again to terrorize oppressed communities all over the U.S. in the name of keeping “order” and protecting private property. In New Mexico, some of these militias and groups are the New Mexico Civil Guard, Proud Boys, Three Percenters, and Oath Keepers. These groups create themselves in the image of these early volunteer militias. They are not confused about their origins and purpose. In the many uprisings that are taking place all over the U.S. in response to police violence, it is difficult to even visually distinguish police, federal agents, and militia members from each other. They work and move together, and aid in the brutalization and killing of protesters and even random bystanders.
Trump’s Operation Legend is an occupation reminiscent of the way the U.S. occupies so many parts of the Global South, stealing land and resources, overthrowing democratically elected leaders, and suppressing revolutions, all in the name of securing its imperialist stronghold. We know that nearly every instance of fascism throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries has been directly influenced by the scorched earth tactics of the U.S., most famously genocidal tactics that inspired Hitler’s Nazi Germany.
What we are seeing today is fascism in its most blatant and simple form. We must understand that what is at stake is not isolated to the U.S. or to the Global North, but the whole world. As COVID-19 continues to skyrocket, climate change devastates eco-systems beyond repair and the world stands on the edge of complete devastation. It is apparent that what is at stake is all life on Earth. Now is the time to have courage and rise up to confront the harsh truth of our times: decolonization or extinction. Join us as we fight for the future.
CONTACT INFORMATION
EVENT ON FACEBOOK
https://www.facebook.com/events/652936235575634/
SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS
Twitter: @The_Red_Nation
Instagram: @therednationmovement
Facebook: The Red Nation
DEMANDS
- No Fash:
Fascists have hit the streets in major cities all over the world and are emboldened to enact violence, incited by Trump’s white supremacist narratives and attacks on political opponents. Here in New Mexico, the NM Civil Guard is responsible for assault, terrorism, inciting violence amongst community organizers, and the attempted murder of one local activist. We demand that all Fascists be ousted from our communities and that this be done by any means necessary!
2. No Feds:
Federal agents have already been deployed to Albuquerque as part of Trump’s Operation Legend. APD has also received a significant budget increase amidst calls to defund the police. Trump claims that he is deploying these federal agents to quell crimes, yet we have seen that operations like Legend have a clear purpose of inciting violence, as exemplified by the kidnappings taking place in Portland that violate the Geneva convention. We demand an immediate withdrawal of all federal agents from Albuquerque and every city they have been deployed to!
3. No Cops:
Albuquerque is a notorious violent bordertown where generations of Native people have experienced extreme police brutality, vigilante violence and displacement. We understand that bordertown violence is simply a continuation of the frontier violence that eliminated Native people and institutionalized genocide to make way for settlement. This frontier violence, as well as the slave patrols used to police enslaved African people, are the legacy of the modern police state as we know it. Black and Native people remain those most likely to be brutalized and murdered by police today. The police are a fundamentally oppressive force and cannot be reformed. We demand the complete abolition of the Police as we know it!
4. No ICE:
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has only existed since 2003. It was established in response to the xenophobia perpetrated by the Bush administration after September 11th, 2001 (9/11). Since then it has carried out some of the most brutal and inhumane immigration policies, most notably the creation of concentration camps at the border. In ICE and Customs Border Patrol (CBP) facilities, families are broken up, children are stolen and disappeared, and COVID-19 is spreading at alarming rates with no protections or safety equipment being given to stop the spread. We demand that NM divest from all private detention centers! We Demand the abolition of ICE and CBPl!
5. Land Back:
Albuquerque is an occupation of Tiwa Territory. Since Spanish colonization, Albuquerque has served as an outpost for European military power. Projects of U.S. Militarization such as the presence of Sandia National Labs and Kirtland Air Force Base continue this legacy of militarization and settler colonialism today. As long as Native people are displaced from their homelands, decolonization is not possible, and human and non-human relatives alike will continue to suffer from violence and environmental destruction at the hands of US Imperialism and Colonialism worldwide. We demand that Land be returned to all Native Nations in New Mexico and across the world!
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