Sudbury Police Violence Update

Received the following just now, re. the event that occurred on Monday, which I was at part of, and another court appearance -- this one probably the most important yet in terms of whether or not the charges against the two youth who were beaten up by the cops will go to trial or not -- on December 20th. Here it is:

Can people please help spread the word and forward this email to others

The Pre Trial went well with about 15 people coming to show support. Upon arrival, we learned that not only was it closed to the public, I was not allowed into the meeting with the Judge, Crown, and lawyers. The purpose of this meeting was to determine if the crown and defense could resolve the case before it went to trial (it's also a place where they can speak without constraint because it is ‘off the record’).

We sure surprised the lawyers with our presence in an otherwise empty courthouse! Not only did we make our presence known to the lawyers, we reminded police and other courthouse personnel that there are still a lot of people who are angry about police violence and harassment who are continuing to pay close attention to how this case is handled even though it has been out of the media for some time.

The upcoming courtdate is next Wedneseday, December 20th at 1:30 in courtroom B, which is open to the public. This is when the judge will read their final decision -- whether the charges against Shawn and I are dropped, or whether the charges stick and the case goes to trial.

This is probably the most important court date so far so we're trying to get as many people to come out to it as possible so that we can put pressure on the crown to drop all charges, and make clear to the media that people are angry with the routine Police Violence and harassment of poor people, native people, youth, people of colour, etc. that occurs so frequently in Sudbury and other communities.

Let's make them drop the charges!

in love and rage,
Ander
for S-CAP

Be there if you can!