Jesse Jackson calls for public inquiry into British deaths in custody

Veteran US civil rights activist Jesse Jackson joined with campaigners in London (Thursday) to throw his weight behind calls for a public inquiry into deaths in police custody.

Jesse Jackson spoke alongside families of some of those who have died in police custody. He noted that 338 people have died in such circumstances since 1998, yet no police officer has been convicted for any of the deaths.

“The police have permission to behave in this way,” he said. “They are protected by the state. The choice is whether we adjust to oppression, or resist and fight back.”

Speakers talked about the recent revelation that eight in nine senior members of the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) are former police officers.

“The IPCC are not independent,” said Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean Rigg died in Brixton police station in 2008. “Everything is in favour of the police. The police aren't treated as suspects—they are treated as witnesses. There’s a massive cover-up, a conspiracy, and it's institutionalised.”

Merlin Emmanuel, nephew of reggae artist Smiley Culture who died in March after a police raid on his home, also spoke out.

“As long as there are people who are excessively rich at the expense of the excessively poor, we have the right to protest,” he said.

Kadisha Brown-Burrell’s brother Kingsley Burrell died in April after contact with West Midlands Police. “If we don’t have an inquiry there will be no end to deaths in custody,” she said.

Jesse Jackson drew connections between treatment of black and ethnic minorities in Britain and the US. “Whether here in London or in Chicago or Los Angeles, we have globalised capitalism—but we don’t have globalised human rights,” he said. “The only cure is to fight.”

He added movement for justice should link up with the Occupy movement. “Don't see the Occupy movement as ‘them’,” he said. “We are all the 99 percent.”

Jesse Jackson and the families then travelled to the protest at St Paul’s cathedral to speak at an assembly. Hundreds turned up to hear him.

“Occupy is a global spirit for justice,” he said. “It exposes inequality, injustice and corruption. When we fight back, we can win. If Martin Luther King was here today, he would be at Occupy.”

Socialist Worker

Thanks to NewsHound for the heads-up

More anti-Occupy threats from the EDL

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Occupy Bristol claims second camp was trashed by right-wing activists

A second Occupation camp in Bristol has been scrapped after two days because of an attack by a far right group, campaigners have claimed.

Eight tents were set up out outside the KPMG building near the Temple Meads roundabout on Thursday, as an offshoot of the main Occupy Bristol camp at College Green. But Occupy Bristol supporters have claimed on their website that website members of the English Defence League "trashed" the site on Saturday night.

The allegation came the day after Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg condemned the camp outside the Liberal Democrat run Bristol City Council building.

Mr Clegg, visiting Yate on Friday, said many people understood the frustration and anger over irresponsible bankers that led to the demonstrations in Bristol and elsewhere. But he said: "You don't make that point best by building a permanent encampment on College Green. It doesn't help the cause."

According to the Occupy Bristol website, protestors at the KPMG site were "threatened" on Saturday night. In a blog entry an anonymous member of the second camp said the attack happened at 7pm when they were "threatened to have my face bit off, by a male whom I presume was a member of Bristol's EDL firm."

The writer said a middle-aged woman handed over a note that read "people of Bristol eviction notice get off our green".

"It was obvious from early on who they were so I attempted to engage with them," the camp member said. "Nevertheless, I was told they have launched a campaign against Occupy Bristol. This wasn't news to me as it's been acknowledged by us for several weeks. Several Occupations around the country have had repeated problems with EDL members. However, ironically the harder the EDL try to defeat the Occupy movement, the stronger we grow in numbers, power and support."

Police in London arrested a large number of EDL supporters earlier this month because of fears they were going to attack the Occupy camp outside St Paul's Cathedral.

The blogger said Occupy Bristol did not have enough people to defend the second camp as well as the main camp on College Green so it has been temporarily disbanded. Luther Blissett, from the camp, told the Post yesterday the attack on the KPMG camp had not been reported to the police. He said he believed there had been three attackers, although he had not been at the site.

The College Green camp of about 60 tents is the biggest Occupy site outside London. The public open space belongs to Bristol Cathedral but is managed by the city council. Cathedral and council leaders have asked them to leave peacefully but the campaigners, who say they are protesting about the unfairness of modern society, intend to stay. They decided to set up a camp near KPMG because it was "a great strategic location" close to financial services companies including Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, HSBC, KPMG, Deloitte, Bank of Ireland, Osborne Clarke, Canada Life and QBE.

The Evening Post attempted to contact the EDL to respond to the allegations but was unable to last night. On its website though, a number of posts have been made claiming the group has "no interest" in Occupy protesters across the country.

A statement posted last week said: "Exactly what they're upset about, what they expect to achieve, and how they actually want things to be done differently, we're not quite sure. Whatever you may happen to think of the Occupy movement, it seems that their protest has been blown out of proportion."

Yate People