Hundreds of New York City protestors have taken over City Hall on Monday (Aug. 1) to demand reparations for the black and brown community. Organized by multiracial grassroots collective Millions March NYC, #ShutDownCityHallNYC commenced at 9 a.m., and protestors are ready to take a stand until all demands are met.
Is this the start of Occupy 2.0? Protesters say they’re not sure how long they’ll be here. #SHUTDOWNCITYHALLNYC pic.twitter.com/9Y1mTiqqi4
— Stephen Nessen (@s_nessen) August 1, 2016
According to data, minority communities are disproportionately targeted by police officers. Black and brown people, in particular, are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people.
With this in mind, Millions March NYC is calling for NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s immediate resignation in light of his Broken Windows policing, a model that led to NYPD’s arrest of 26,678 black, Latino and Asian people on the charge of theft of services compared to 2,291 whites in 2015.
Some protesters and signs here at #ShutDownCityHallNYC pic.twitter.com/pzjlpClene
— Alexander Rubinstein (@AlexR_DC) August 1, 2016
“Broken Windows policing is a type of policing where people in urban environments are heavily monitored and targeted for so called quality of life crimes,” Millions March NYC organizers wrote in an orientation guide for #ShutDownCityHallNYC. “Generally, these are very small infractions ranging from subway related behaviors—performing in subway cars, panhandling, asking for subway fare—to riding bikes through stop signs.”
During the demonstration, which is expected to attract over 1,000 participants, protestors are also calling for reparations for police brutality victims in addition to a reinvestment into minority communities in their effort to defund NYPD’s $5.5 billion budget.
Solidarity at #SHUTDOWNCITYHALLNYC pic.twitter.com/CszVyk5k8w
— Nick Pinto (@macfathom) August 1, 2016
In an interview with ABC, Millions March NYC activist Vienna Rye spoke on the overall purpose of the ongoing demonstration: “We’re here to get organized, we’re here to build a network of abolitionists and really drive home the point that there is no reforming the police, no reforming the system, no elected politician that will come in and hold the state accountable.”
“No necesitamos la policia!” – #ShutDownCityHallNYC says divest from NYPD & invest in communities of color. pic.twitter.com/PZNZ62wGH4
— Ash J (@AshAgony) August 1, 2016