Here is the text of a flyer that was distributed in the Côte-des-Neiges area on monday october 22nd by members and supporters of the COBP, in solidarity with the 12th National Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the Criminalization of a Generation that took place in about 15 cities across the USA. The people of CDN welcomed the flyer, as they know just too much what racial profiling and police brutality are.

OCTOBER 22nd 2007: FROM MONTREAL TO THE US,
STOP RACIAL PROFILING AND POLICE BRUTALITY!

Since 1996, October 22nd is the national day in the US to Stop police brutality, repression and the criminalization of a generation. This day, organized by the October 22nd Coalition, is reemphasized in 13 cities across the USA, endorsed by 18 victim's families of police killings and more than 90 individuals and organizations. Thousands of people in the USA are protesting every October 22nd to stop police brutality and the way young people are being treated like criminals, and to resist the policies that lead towards a Police State.

A demonstration had already been organized by the COBP on October 22nd 1997 in solidarity with the National Day Against Police Brutality in the USA. Alas, the situation of repression is comparable between Canada and the United-States. October 22nd Coalition write in their call for the 2007 October 22nd: "What happens when a government raises up law enforcement as an authority with unlimited powers that cannot be questioned, all in the name of "fighting terrorism"? (...) Searches and seizures, racial profiling, attacks on Arabs, South Asians and Muslims, raids on immigrants, security stops and bag checks, and police terror raids on certain neighborhoods are now the order of the day.
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Police killings and impunity, racial profiling and police harassment, downtown's social cleansing, racist immigration policies, and political repression are many reasons for participating to this Day of Protest to Stop Police Brutality, Repression, and the Criminalization of a Generation, in solidarity with the people who fight in the USA and elsewhere for justice, dignity and freedom.
STOP POLICE KILLINGS AND IMPUNITY!

In the USA, the October 22nd Coalition has documented more than 2000 deaths at the hands of the police in the 90's. Since the New York police has killed Sean Bell, a black young man of 23 years old, on the morning of his wedding in the Fall of 2006, by shooting 50 bullets, at least 10 people have been killed by the NYPD. Kathryn Johnston, a 92 years old grandmother, has been killed by gunshot by civil agents of the Atlanta police in her own home. A Pittsburgh police officer has also pointed his gun to the face of Joshalyn Lawton, a 7 years old kid, during a simple road control .

In Quebec, police officers have killed no less than 53 people and wounded 29 others since 2005 only. In Montreal, the COBP have documented at least 41 deaths at the hands of the police since 1987. Mohamed Anas Bennis, a young Muslim of Moroccan origins, has been killed in Côte-des-Neiges on December 1st 2005. His family is still demanding a public inquiery to make light of the circumstances surrounding his death, in front of the secret imposed by the minister of Public Security Jacques P. Dupuis, now also Minister of Justice. On July 9th 2007 in Montreal-North, an agent of SPVM has shot at least 3 bullets and killed Vianney Charest, a 51 years old man who was suspected of breaking in the Motel Bourassa, where he was working. The police says that he had a knife and was at 10 feet from them when they shot him down. Last week, Quilem Registre, a 38 year-old man, died after being shot with a Taser gun by police in St-Michel.

Experience has taught us to mistrust what the police says after they kill somebody. Police agents often agree on a version of the case where the victim is presented as the aggressor in order to justify "self-defence". Police officers from different units are protecting each other, supported by the direction of the police units and the police unions. The coroners, prosecutors, and the judges also protect the police who murder. The elected municipal representatives and the ministers then ensure the secret to guaranty the impunity of these crimes.

STOP RACIAL PROFILING AND POLICE HARASSMENT!

This summer, cases of racial profiling have multiplied, particularly in the Côte-des-Neiges neighbourhood. Many cases have been denounced by the Jamaican Association of Montreal, the Black Community Association of Côte-des-Neiges, and Kabataang, an organization of young Filipinos. Even Marvin Rotrand, the city counsellor, has said in August: " I have received more complaints (for police harassment) in these past six weeks than I've had in the past ten years"! The complaints often involve the police officers from headquarter 25 (the same who have killed Anas) and members from Advance Project, a squad supposedly created to fight against street gangs, for harassing the youth in parks or abuses against people of color. One of the cases is one of "driving while black" which solved into the brutal arrest of a youngster and his mother after the police officers had used cayenne pepper against both of them, and threatened the youngster by aiming their gun at him. In each case covered by the media, especially in The Gazette newspaper, the superiors deny that their agents acted badly and rather blame the victims.

STOP SOCIAL CLEANSING IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA!

In the downtown area of Montreal, social profiling or social cleaning, well, repression against street people (homeless, squeegees, sex workers) has continued with its lot of beat ups in alleyways and deportations towards the east of the city, or on Jean-Drapeau Island. Ville-Marie borough's mayor, Benoit Labonté, has passed another clearly discriminatory law against young punks from the street : the banning of dogs in two parks mostly frequented by them: Square Berri and Viger. Last year, Labonté was closing down downtown's last public night spaces.

STOP RACIST IMMIGRATION POLICIES !

On a national level, the conservative government has continued to worsen Canada's racist immigration policies. Per example, they promised to accelerate deportations (already at 10 000 per year); the agents of Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) get inside homes, workplaces, malls, metro stations and even in schools to detain immigrants; hundreds of thousands of non-status persons keep living in this country in extreme precariousness conditions which facilitate their exploitation; thousands of legal immigrants are treated like modern slaves with programs like the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program or the Living Care-Giver Program; close to a dozen of individuals and families are still refugees in churches across Canada to avoid deportation; five Muslim men are still aimed by unconstitutional security certificates which aims to their deportation towards torture based on secret proofs; about 400 to 500 people, including children, are detained in centers only because they don't have a status.
STOP POLITICAL REPRESSION!

On September 20, officers from headquarter 25 (them again!) have prevented the holding of a demonstration organized in Côte-de-Neiges by Kabataang, intimidating them and chasing them from their own community. This summer, a Mohawk activist, Shawn Brant, has been detained for about a month and is still charged with blocking a CN railroad to denounce the Canadian colonialism that is still going on, the living conditions on the reserves, and the slowness of the negotiations on many territory reclaims. We have seen another demonstration of political repression during the Montebello Summit between Canada, the United-States and Mexico. The opponents to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), who denounced this plan of more repression and exploitation, have been received by a fences, thousands of anti-riot police, cayenne pepper, teargas, and plastic bullets. The arrest of three agent provocateur from the SQ has put in light a common practice of the police, provocation, in order to justify the repression of mainly pacific protesters. The Police Fraternity of Montreal (FPPM) has made a new step to restrain freedom of expression by sending a formal notice to remove a COBP text from the alternative media center of Quebec website (CMAQ) which talks about 40 deaths made by the police, on the pretense that this text would be defamatory for the policemen.

For all these reasons and many more, join us to protest on October 22nd and fight to stop police brutality and impunity, racial profiling and police harassment, social cleaning in the downtown area, racist immigration policies and political repression.

*See the website of the October 22nd Coalition: wwww.october22.org

The Collective Opposed to Police Brutality (COBP) (514) 859-9065 c...@hotmail.com www.cobp.ath.cx