“I’m afraid… I’m afraid of the police,” said Gary Bonaparte to a crowd of over 60 protesters in front of City Hall in Syracuse, NY. Protesters gathered in front of the “stone castle” in the city to voice their opposition to the police’s plans to install surveillance cameras throughout the city’s Westside and Southside neighborhoods. Bonaparte, a resident of the Westside, went on to say that “They [the police] are supposed to protect us. But what do they do? They beat us and kill us.”
 PSL photo: Ashley Sauers |
The rally was organized by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), League of United Latin American Citizens, New York Civil Liberties Union, Syracuse Peace Council, and was endorsed by Disabled in Action, NAACP, and Alchemical Nursery. It was an important step in organizing resistance to the police’s plans to place the city under constant video surveillance.
It was also a necessary rally because the police remain defiant, even after multiple community forums in which the majority of residents expressed opposition to the cameras.
ANSWER organizer Ashley Sauers emceed the multinational and multigenerational rally: “The Syracuse police and [police chief] Frank Fowler have been using the age-old ‘divide and conquer’ tactic in an effort to silence and break up this organized opposition,” she said. “But tonight, we are telling them that it won’t work.” Indeed, there was representation from all parts of the city.
Distrust of the police was a common theme throughout the rally. This is because police misconduct, harassment, and brutality are daily occurrences in Syracuse and cities throughout the country. The working class, poor and Black and Latino youth feel the impact disproportionately. Ed Kinane, a retired educator, told PSLweb that “I came out tonight to support those demanding accountability from our sometimes wayward law enforcement.”
Family members of Raul Pinet Jr., a young Latino man who was beaten until unrecognizable by police and later killed by jail deputies in August, were present at the rally. When asked why he attended, Andy Carrasquillo, Pinet’s cousin, said:“some of the police abuse their power. Raul should still be with us today.” Pinet would have turned 32 years old the day after the rally.
Speakers also pointed out that the cameras will be placed in predominately Black and Latino neighborhoods. Community organizer Julio Urittia told the crowd: “If you look at the map, you see that the cameras form an electronic wall surrounding the Latino community.Walls are used to divide and isolate,” he said.
Given the immense media coverage of the rally, it’s a given that the message was heard loud and clear by the police and Common Council. What is likely more significant, however, workers in Syracuse are becoming more and more conscious of their economic and social conditions and are beginning to organize and act to change them.
