Cooperation against police violence

A lot has happened in recent weeks and months. The publication of the AFD's deportation plans led to a huge wave of protests that continue to this day. But while society at large is rallying against racism and exclusion, the current government is passing a new deportation law, threatening the livelihoods of many people seeking refuge in Germany. Right-wing agitation and the narratives of the AFD are having an effect and, for fear of losing voters, the major parties are joining the shift to the right and fueling it even more. It seems as if an authoritarian turnaround is just around the corner. The rights of refugees in Germany are being increasingly curtailed, they are being monitored using modern technologies such as payment cards, and the German deportation apparatus is being strengthened in order to pursue racist ideals even more efficiently and brutally.

And who is at the forefront of this? The police of course, friend and helper of the rich and white citizens in this country, preferably heterosexual, Christian and conforming to the norm.

It remains an open secret that the authoritarian structures of the police apparatus and the lack of checks and balances are a breeding ground for racist, xenophobic police officers. Nothing is changing. Systematic discrimination and murders by the police are dismissed as isolated incidents, it's not as bad as it looks. So the racist police officers can really let themselves go and, for example, after the Hanau memorial rally in Chemnitz, break and smash the flower wreaths and candles - the temporary memorial for the victims of the attack in Hanau - and throw them in the garbage with an unimaginable lack of respect and impiety in front of the participants of the memorial event.

It is therefore not surprising that there are once again several suspected cases of right-wing extremism in the police force in Saxony. It comes as no surprise that a police officer has been suspended for stealing cheese, while the murderers of Oury Jalloh have been allowed to carry on for years as if nothing had happened. It is therefore not surprising that the police are investigating journalists who document the activities of Nazis and fascists instead of targeting the actual Nazis. It is therefore not surprising that the investigations into the NSU 2.0 case were closed. It is therefore not surprising that at least 16 people were killed by the police in 2023.

At the same time, the police are targeting those who campaign against racism and xenophobia. Repression against the left-wing scene is intensifying. The confiscation of around 380 telephones on a single day in the 11-hour police kettle in Leipzig around X day is an expression of this - and will have far-reaching consequences that we cannot yet assess.

For all these reasons, we are calling for decentralized actions around the International Day against Police Violence. Police violence is unacceptable. We believe that social and economic problems should not be solved with police, but through solidarity and community and equalizing processes.

Organize events in your city about this problem, take action or join others in their struggles. Together we can not only stop police violence, but also ensure that it never happens again in our society.

#15MRZ #polizeigewaltistalltag

Call for participation in actions around the International Day against Police Violence.