Some newspaper clippings regarding the police brutality case of Rufus T. Fairwell. Articles are listed in a semi-chronological order. Some may be out of place.
Submitted by William Klare / Christopher Snyder on Tue, 2022-02-01 19:00
The pandemic has placed a heavy burden on poor and working people all over the world. The effects have been especially tough for those incarcerated here in the so-called United States. The following Narrative relates the experiences of an Incarcerated Individual from their incarcera the Fall of 2021. It offers a unique insight into the life of an incarcerated worker and I am sharing these words as an act of solidarity. For more information please contact me at iwocroc@gmail.com.
The Rochester Police Department shot and killed 28-year-old Mark Gaskill of Rochester early Friday morning. After the shooting, the RPD claimed that Gaskill was "brandishing" a handgun, but it's unclear what that means. Are they saying that he was he holding the gun or that a gun was visible in the car? An analysis of the BWC video seems to indicate that Gaskill was still holding his cell phone when the officers began yelling "gun"
Earlier this month, the NY state Attourney General's office released the transcripts of the grand jury trial investigating the death of Daniel Prude. While reading through them, I was reminded again and again of a Noam Chomsky quote: "In political discourse every term has two meanings: an official meaning and it's opposite and it's the opposite meaning that's normally used".
Submitted by Christopher Snyder on Mon, 2020-12-21 21:46
In the discourse of the libertarian left, there is a general aversion to what is called the "great man" theory of history, the interpretation of history in terms of the decisive actions of great leaders. You might say that there is an exception made for Kropotkin, the great white bearded Saint (as described by Oscar Wilde).
Born into privelege as the son of a minor landlord in Russia, Kropotkin would eventually assume the role of class traitor, moving over the course of a lifetime from the Tzar's court to the Tzar's prison.
Almost entirely based on Facebook posts, a protester who attended Justice for Daniel Prude events was charged with Federal rioting charges. The charges, which carry the potential of 5 years in prison and $250,000 in fines, are part of an effort to expand the use of the federal rioting act and limit freedom of speech protections.
Submitted by Robert Meek (photo: Democrat & Chronicle) on Thu, 2020-09-24 11:05
During a summer of citizens uprising against the racist Rochester Police Department, as well as against police departments across the world, Rochester's Democrat & Chronicle is demonstrating whose side they are on. On Aug. 22, Rochester's only daily circulated newspaper published a story by James Johnson on two youth sports organizations who reached out to, rather than turned their backs on, RPD officers.
An interesting point about this file is that it starts AFTER he was acquitted of brutality and civil rights abuses and retrained. It is NOT his whole personnel file.
There is an astonishing amount of activity surrounding Justice for Daniel Prude going on in Rochester right now. I thought it could be nice to produce a summary of everything happening, since it can be overwhelming trying to track it all. Please comment if this is useful, and we can do more regular summaries and updates. Also if anyone is interested in joining in, or already doing similar work and wants to collaborate, please send me a message and let's talk.
Wednesday night marked the 8th straight evening of protests in response to the murder of Daniel Prude, which are part of over 15 weeks of sustained black lives matters demonstrations organized by Free the People Rochester. The initial nights were marked with extreme aggression and violence from the police, including shooting pepper balls and tear gas into the crowd. Starting Sunday night, the police backed off their attacks, which has allowed for peaceful demonstrations.
A crowd of about 45 people met on Saturday morning, August 22 2020 in front of the Metro Post Office on West Main Street to show their support for the US Postal Service. The event coincided with three others in Monroe County and over 800 nationwide.
Speaking was Jeremy Cooney, candidate for New York State Senate in district 56.
President Donald Trump's hand-picked Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is accused of intentionally sabotaging the Postal Service to make it more difficult to cast ballots by mail in the upcoming election.
Both the 'outsiders' who 'agitate,' and the Family Dollar remarks are problematic. The former is doublespeak, or an attempt to shuffle the meaning of words to shift the systemic failures of the state onto the community. By spouting the lie of blaming 'outsiders' for the violence, Mayor Warren attempts to invalidate the uprising by claiming that the riot was somehow an outside plot, rather than the oppressed demanding that their voices be heard against the racist and violent police. The latter reeks of ignorance of Family Dollar's role in the destruction of urban communities, given the daily hoarding and looting that Dollar Tree Stores Incorporated exhibits in its business endeavors throughout communities across the nation.
Rochester Indymedia is now requiring editor approval for account creation.
We came to this decision after we had repeated spam posted to our website that caused difficulty with the website's functioning. We will still have open publishing and keep our site as nonrestrictive and accessible as possible.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us. As before, we will continue to be Rochester's grassroots news and education site. Thank you for your continued support and remember, "Don't hate the media, be the media!"
Editorial Meeting Times / Locations
The Rochester Independent Media Center (R-IMC) is no longer meeting regularly. We will set up meetings by necessity and appointment. Please contact us at rochesterindymedia@rocus.org. Our home is still the Flying Squirrel Community Space at 285 Clarissa St. Occasionally, we hold meetings at RCTV located at 21 Gorham Street.
