MEDIA ADVISORY
For immediate release: April 30, 2014 (Wednesday)
Contact: Kimber Heinz, Facing Tear Gas campaign
Cell: (919) 666-7535
kimber [at] warresisters.org
One year after the police lockdown of Watertown following the Marathon bombing, Bostonians who live and work in neighborhoods and communities facing SWAT raids and surveillance will testify at a “speak out” against police militarization on the weekend of the Urban Shield SWAT training in Boston. Speakers will be available on-site for interview, and by phone before Sunday.
BOSTONIANS HOST SPEAK OUT AGAINST MILITARIZED POLICE AND SURVEILLANCE IN ROXBURY THE WEEKEND OF URBAN SHIELD SWAT TRAINING IN BOSTON
WHO: Leaders of Boston community organizations and advocacy groups, including Families for Justice As Healing (Roxbury), Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice, and the Environment, and the ACLU of Massachusetts [see full list of groups and speakers below]
WHEN: Sunday, May 4 – 4pm
WHERE: Roxbury – Office of Families for Justice as Healing, 197A Humboldt Ave.
WHAT: Community groups and advocacy organizations across Boston have formed a new coalition, Stop Oppressive Militarized Police (STOMP) to call for a stop to militarized police raids and surveillance targeting Boston neighborhoods and communities. Sunday’s speak out will create a forum for Bostonians to dialogue about police militarization primarily targeting poor people, people of color, and Muslim and activist communities in Boston. The event is timed to coincide with Urban Shield, a highly militarized SWAT training taking place in Boston this weekend.
More information: http://www.facingteargas.org/p/119/stomp-stop-oppressive-militarized-police-coalition-forms-boston
FEATURED SPEAKERS:
Andrea James - Families for Justice as Healing
Laila Murad - Free Tarek Mehanna Campaign
KC Mackey - Black and Pink
Kade Crockford - ACLU Massachusetts
Gabriel Camacho - American Friends Service Committee, Watertown resident
Ali Issa - War Resisters League, Facing Tear Gas Campaign
Co-sponsors: ACLU of Massachusetts, Black and Pink, Boston Feminists for Liberation, Dorchester People for Peace, Families for Justice as Healing, International Socialist Organization - Boston, War Resisters League - Facing Tear Gas Campaign, Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice and the Environment, Youth Against Mass Incarceration
###
