Text / "Police Riot"

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Title: "Police Riot"
Creator: Third World Liberation Front
Date Created and/or Issued: 1969
Contributing Institution: UC Berkeley, Ethnic Studies Library
Collection: Third World Strike at University of California, Berkeley collection, 1968-1972
Rights Information: Copyright Unknown
Rights Notes: Copyright status unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Type: text
Identifier: CES ARC 2015/1 Carton 1 Folder 3
CES0004
Subject: Student movements
Student strikes
Third World Liberation Front
Place: Berkeley, Calif.
Source
Location: UC Berkeley Ethnic Studies Library
Transcription: POLICE RIOT The Third World Liberation Front has been accused of acts of violence and destruction on campus. It is true that some people have thrown rocks and bottles and have broken windows of buildings. But the question that must be answered is where the violence originated. Clearly, the violence on this campus has originated with the police who were called in by Chancellor Heyns to resolve the strike and who now have complete control over the functioning of the campus. They are the ones who have provoked the violence by disrupting peaceful, informational picket lines. They are the ones who have provoked the violence by declaring people in the Sproul Plaza to be an illegal assembly. They are the ones who have provoked the violence by brutally attacking strikers and bystanders. They have tried to intimidate strikers by arbitrary arrests and warrants. The violence of the strikers, on the other hand, has been a defensive reaction to the initial violence of the police. We have had to move our legal, peaceful picket lines so as not to be beaten up or arrested on charge 647c, obstruction of a public thoroughfare. We have had to stand by helplessly while our brothers and sisters have been clubbed and then arrested for felonious assault with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest. Yesterday, 26 people were arrested. Most of those people are still in jail, because we do not have enough money to bail them out. The police are not here to effect reforms or to negotiate about our demands; they are here to prevent change and to uphold the status quo. That is why some people, frustrated with our lack of power, have resorted to acts of destruction. In addition to the police violence which we must face daily, our civil liberties are being violated. Students who are arrested still face double jeopardy--the possibility of interim suspensions, as well as court trials. The Administration has continued to cancel rallies on the basis of prior restraint in yet another violation of our rights to free speech and assembly. The police state on campus has polarized the situation. It is obvious that this campus cannot return to normal functioning until the police are removed and the state of emergency is lifted. People must take a stand on the strike. The police do not discriminate; they attack all students in the Plaza, whether they are on the picket line or are observing on the side. Neutrality is not possible. Either you go to class or you strike. Some people have argued that they agreed with the ends, but not the means of the strike. It is not possible to differentiate between the two. The only way in which the strike demands will be implemented is by winning the strike. We have tried all of the regular channels, but all we have obtained are proposals for a tokenist, non-autonomous Department of Black Studies and College of Ethnic Studies. Our central demand for self-determination has been answered with liberal formulations of paternalism. We recognize that we cannot expect the Administration to grant our demands without a struggle, because our demands challenge the power of the authorities of this state. Moral pressure is not enough or we would have had our demands granted a long time ago. We do not have the power of money or of traditional political backing. The only power that we have is the power of numbers. People can build their power by participating in a mass movement like the strike. The attempted repression of the strike attests to our effectiveness. The power of the people is threatening the authorities' control. At first, the authorities tried to buy off the strike by superficially granting some of the demands but when the strikers held out for self-determination over the Third World College, the Administration called in the police to break the strike. However, support for the strike is increasing. The growing support from unions has been important in expanding our base of support and of power. AFT Local 1570 (teaching assistants) has voted to strike until there is a just resolution of the TWLF strike and of the AFT demands. Local 1570 is also requesting strike sanction from the Alameda County Central Labor Council. If they get strike sanction, no other AFL-CIO union member can cross their picket lines; they, in turn, are supporting our strike by sending their union members to our picket lines. AFSCME 1695 voted to honor the AFT picket lines for the duration of the strike and is calling a strike meeting for Friday. The Oil Workers Union Local 1-561 of Richmond has also signed a "mutual aid pact" with the TWLF. We are supporting their strike by sending people to their picket lines; they, in turn, are supporting our strike by sending their union members to our picket lines. Together we will win! TAKE A STAND - JOIN THE STRIKE! TWLF

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