A Message from the Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee

Comrades and Friends,

As of 9am on Saturday, December 20, comrades of the Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee - NYC have surrendered to the custody of the NYPD, for their alleged involvement in an incident on the Brooklyn Bridge on the night of the Millions March.NYPD Detective William Aubry called the incident, in which one cop received a bloody nose and another a few bumps and bruises, "right up there with being one of the most violent acts that I've seen." Apparently Aubry and the NYPD have forgotten the meaning of the word "violent."  They have not once used the term to describe the police murder of Eric Garner, the execution of Ramarley Graham and Akai Gurley, or the countless others harassed and brutalized by the police.

For the past week—while Eric Garner's murderer, officer Daniel Pantaleo, has walked the streets a free man—the NYPD has pursued a vicious campaign of harassment and repression against NYC activists. Seemingly random visits to the homes of activists and their associates have involved raids by dozens of officers, threats of deportation, and beatings. The city has employed the lure of a $25,000 bounty in a desperate attempt to make arrests. Yet our movement remains unbowed.

The Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee - NYC commends all demonstrators across the country who refuse to leave their friends in the hands of murderous, abusive police. If this movement has taught us anything, it is that resistance is not only justified, but necessary. We will stand behind our comrades as they face whatever charges the city will throw at them. We know they are the victims here - not the NYPD. We are all victims at the hands of the white supremacist, capitalist state. For the same reason, we are the ones to overturn it.

We ask that you support our comrades too by donating to the Trayvon Martin Organizing Committee bail and legal fund. Our comrades have had our backs. It's time to have theirs.