A Report-Back from the Rally Against Rapist Police

The following report back details a recent march in Brooklyn against rapist police officers. View the original call out here. 

In response to the neoliberal recuperation and commodification of “feminism,” we are calling for a prominent militant anarchist femme presence on the left. Feminist CEO’s and irony bros can fuck off. Combating patriarchy and sexual violence does not include whimsical “grlpwr” tote bags or chapo trash house donations. We uncompromisingly intend to liberate ourselves by supporting a diversity of tactics. This may manifest in a plethora of ways including: survivor support networks, safer spaces policies and survivor led accountability measures, rapist beat downs, and prison abolition to name a few.

Black, brown, indigenous, trans, and gender non-conforming lives are at stake. Sex workers and undocumented people’s lives are at stake. Physical and sexual violence are daily dangers to our comrades in the streets. The odds of experiencing sexual violence are only magnified for the incarcerated. It is imperative that we not only attack the systems that threaten our communities, but that we provide support through retributive and transformative justice to survivors.

Our aim is to build a large and uncompromising anti-rape campaign in NYC and beyond, because our liberation and our lives depend on it. For this reason, we responded to the repulsive but unsurprising news that an eighteen year old was handcuffed, raped in a parking lot, and pushed out of an unmarked vehicle by two NYPD detectives, Edward Martins and Richard Hall who are now on desk duty as paid rapists. Similarly, on October 10th, a Bronx police officer was indicted on charges for paying a 15 year old girl for sex and taping it. Just hours before our demo, another Bronx officer was arraigned in criminal court for flashing his junk to 7 and 12 year old girls. We know all of these officers will rape again. This is not just the NYPD. If reported assaults happen so frequently within just this one department, how many nameless survivors must exists from other departments? The police tradition of using sexual violence as tyranny dates back to its inception. They will not stop until we demolish them.

On October 17th, we arrived at Calvert Vaux Park where Anna Chambers was kidnapped and handcuffed by the two rapist pigs. Unsurprisingly, they had five squad cars in the parking lot along with unmarked vehicles and undercover rapists on foot patrolling the area. We unfurled our banners and read our statement in solidarity with Anna Chambers and all victims of police sexual violence. From there, we marched down Cropsey Ave, the road where the rapist pigs drove Anna, passing the parking lot where they raped her. The entire way, we read out the recent violent sexual abuses by the NYPD.

“In 2015 there were 131 allegations of sexual abuse against Riker’s staff. This year, New York City agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit brought by two female inmates who accused a C.O. of serial sexual abuse.” This is no isolated incident. This summer, at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, nine female inmates came forward to tell of their serial rape at the hands of two lieutenants and an officer. This report surfaced after MDC passed their audit for the prison rape elimination act “with flying colors.” We know that rape is rampant but underreported in the jails and prisons. We know that police threaten prisoners with deportation, extended sentences and continued physical and emotional abuse. We know reform is not going to stop the systematic sexual abuse by the rapist police. It was both empowering and blood boiling to hear their abuses echoing down the streets as the rapist police made attempts to contain our march. We amplified our voices in solidarity with the courageous femmes that have come forward and for those who have been silenced. We want all victims of sexual violence to know that we believe you.

They knew where we were headed. They were hosting an “open community meeting” at the 60th precinct, (the precinct responsible for patrolling the area of the recent rapes by rapist detectives Martins and Hall) where they could railroad community attempts to hold them accountable for being rapists, protecting rapists, and paying their rapist brothers. We shouted, “This year, Officer Michael Golden of the NYPD was discovered to have raped and sexually assaulted undocumented sex workers working in New York on the NYPD’s tab. As last reported, five of the six women went back to their countries of origin.” We know the police use the “justice” system as a weapon against the most marginalized.

Our aim was to provide an alternative assembly for the community they are terrorizing. As expected, they had the precinct barricaded off and had moved the “open community meeting” to a secret location. Unfortunately for them, we had received intel of the new location from a comrade. This secret location ended up being in a unit in the same building as Foxy’s Gentleman Club on Surf Avenue. The symbolism was not lost on us.

Regardless, we marched there, letting it be known that “this year, it came to light that female correctional officers at the Bronx Juvenile Detention Center were sexually assaulting underage male detainees, coaxing them with alcohol, candy, extra food, and phone privileges.” And, “In 2015, two officers of the NYPD special victims unit sexually assaulted a woman whose crime they were tasked to investigate, calling her their ‘favorite victim’ and harassing her via phone from across the country for months”. Our mic checks regarding these incidents were constantly interrupted by the trains passing overhead. The police found it humorous that we were unable to contiguously express our anger toward their seemingly endless number of rape cases. But we know they were petrified of our power. Of course they denied our entrance to the “open” meeting and strategically moved it to an inaccessible location unfit for communication. They are scared to hear the stories of survivors because they are rapists themselves. They know they cannot escape our wrath.

"Cops don't stop rape b/c cops are rapists!" Speakout in Coney Island Brooklyn against rapist cops. pic.twitter.com/vXebTQM45u

— Ash J (@AshAgony) October 18, 2017

We know the NYPD is well protected by their lawyers and superiors. We know they will take any measure and pay any price to protect their fellow rapists. Since we were barred from entering their “open” meeting, we held a community meeting of our own outside. We moved where we could be heard. We found a location far enough from the trains, but close enough so the police could still hear us. And to the beautiful backdrop of a shadowy ferris wheel, brave femme comrades shared their harrowing experiences with sexual abuse and police inaction.

One comrade likened the epidemic of rape to the pillaging of indigenous land. There is a clear delineation from the Indigenous Genocide and the slave economy to the continued epidemics of mass incarceration and rape culture that disproportionately violate our black, brown, and indigenous comrades. There are clear lines tracing the violation of our trans and gender nonconforming comrades to cis-male homophobia and misogyny. These forces are the lifeblood of the police. We acknowledge that fact, and we revel in the knowing feeling that we will win.

Police are rapists and domestic abusers at home and on the job #NYPD #ACAB https://t.co/Jac8VahAg4 pic.twitter.com/UN3BDqTyOn

— MACC NYC (@macc_nyc) October 17, 2017

Together, we can dismantle the violent systems that oppress us all. Our liberation depends on our collective commitment to burning this racist heteropatriarchy to the ground. We do not expect the state to administer restorative justice to our survivors. Cops don’t stop rapists because cops are rapists. We must be thoughtful, rigorous and committed in our support of survivors. While the pigs are throwing cum on their female rapist counterparts and extorting them for sex and money, we call on our cis-male comrades to bridge the gaps between theory and praxis. Groups like Fuck it, Masc off! must continue to deconstruct their masculinity and center anti-rape and anti-sexism in their struggle. This is non-negotiable.

Although the timing of our demonstration fell in the middle of the #MeToo campaign, we emphasize to all that this is a committment that must outlast the lifecycle of a trending hashtag. In an effort to respect survivors and prevent cops from interfering in our efforts, we need to be more militant on the streets, more diligent in our care, and stealthier on the internet. We compel you to endorse this sentiment in your personal lives and in your affinity groups.

In the wake of our march, one online rape apologist voiced his concern that we are fostering a culture of “lynch mobbing” men. If you are worried that we will come for you, then you should most definitely check yourself. We know who the rapists are. We know who the harassers are. You are not welcome. If you stand with us, you need not be afraid. Fear the replication of systems we aim to dismantle in our radical spaces. Affinity grows out of our unrelenting commitment to each other, and it feeds our movement.

Femmes, we are unified in our suffering. We are filled with rage. We love each other. We are dancing on the grave of Hugh Hefner. We are going to march the Harvey Weinsteins of the world to the slaughterhouse. We will not be dominated. Fuck the patriarchy! Fuck white feminism! Fuck the police! Fuck misogynists, racists, TERFS and SWERFS! In solidarity with sex workers, incarcerated people and all survivors of sexual violence, KILL ALL RAPISTS!

Cover photo from @huntedhorse and inspired by recent anti-frat march in Minneapolis.