Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Cops Brutalize and Arrest Queer Marchers on Anniversary of Stonewall Uprising

On early Sunday evening, after the Queer Liberation March and the Stonewall Protests’ Pride March, the police brutally arrested eight people. We must fight for the charges to be dropped, against the racist police and for the right to free, public space.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

June 29, 2021
Facebook Twitter Share
Photo by Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Just one day before the 52nd anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, a riot against the police led by trans women of color, New York City cops brutalized and arrested marchers as well as a street vendor. 

On early Sunday evening, after the Queer Liberation March and the Stonewall Protests’ Pride March, people poured into Washington Square Park. After individuals allegedly moved barricades, the police arrested, brutalized, and pepper-sprayed eight people.

Journalist Janus Rose told Gothamist, “The park was packed and people were just hanging out and having a good time after the Queer Liberation March. Then all of a sudden we started seeing dozens of police vans circle around the park with their sirens and lights flashing, pedal to the metal.”

Videos on Twitter show swarms of police in riot gear surrounding the park. Some officers pepper-sprayed people who were merely standing around.

Four people were charged with disorderly conduct, and four more with resisting arrest, obstructing administration, and criminal possession of a weapon.

This just highlights that 52 years after the Stonewall uprising, the police remain a racist force of repression against the most marginalized amongst us. It proves that even though they now drape themselves in rainbow flags and even “apologize” for the brutality shown at Stonewall in 1969, they are the same racist, brutal force that they have always been

But times have changed. The police don’t repress wealthy, white gay men at expensive parties — they repress working-class queer people of color crowded in the streets, and the unhoused people who spend time in the park. In a city with more empty apartments than unhoused people, the capitalist state still pretends that it’s impossible to provide housing for those who need it. We call bullshit.

You might be interested in: Queer Oppression Is Etched in the Heart of Capitalism

In the past few weeks Washington Square Park has become the center of protests. As youth of color, activists, and unhoused folks attempt to enjoy the free public space, the police have increasingly begun to repress, arrest, and brutalize the people in the park. This is part of the continued gentrification of the West Village at large — the wealthy people in the neighborhood don’t want to see unhoused people or radical youth outside their doorstep or expensive bars.

The NYPD already announced a 10 p.m. curfew for the park in order to justify their repression against the many people — mostly people of color — who hang out there. But on Sunday, thousands of people broke curfew in an act of joyous defiance. 

But this is not enough.

We must demand, organize, and mobilize for the charges against those arrested to be immediately dropped. We must fight for the end to the Washington Square Park curfew and an end to the racist police. And we must fight for the right to free, public space.

Facebook Twitter Share

Tatiana Cozzarelli

Tatiana is a former middle school teacher and current Urban Education PhD student at CUNY.

United States

Scabs Will Not Pass: Defend the UAW Strike With Organized Grassroots Power

The Big Three are escalating their use of scabs. The rank and file are fighting back.

Jason Koslowski

September 27, 2023
NYC Mayor Eric Adams stands at a podium.

The Housing Crisis and Migrant Crisis Are Crises of Capitalism

As thousands of people come to the U.S. seeking shelter, politicians around the country are claiming that housing in the U.S. is already in crisis and that there is no room for them. Both the “migrant crisis” and “housing crisis” are crises created and exacerbated by capitalism.

Mike Pappas

September 20, 2023

To Win, the UAW Strike Must Be Organized from Below

The strike at the Big Three has put the working class at the center of national politics. The autoworkers’ demands are bold and touch on issues of growing exploitation across the country. To win big, the strike must be organized from below.

Tristan Taylor

September 18, 2023

The KOSA Bill Is Another Attack on LGBTQ+ People, People of Color, and Children’s Right To Learn

KOSA is ultimately a surveillance bill whose purpose is to limit the spread of progressive politics that pose a threat to the state.

Olivia Wood

September 14, 2023

MOST RECENT

President Biden visits striking UAW workers in Michigan.

Biden’s Picket Line Visit Doesn’t Mean He Is On Our Side

President Biden’s visit to the UAW picket line shows the strength of the strike — and why it should remain independent from him and the Democrats.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

September 27, 2023

China’s Rise, ‘Diminished Dependency,’ and Imperialism in Times of World Disorder

In this broad-ranging interview, originally published in LINKS, Trotskyist Fraction member Esteban Mercatante discusses how recent global shifts in processes of capital accumulation have contributed to China’s rise, the new (and old) mechanisms big powers use to plunder the Global South, and its implications for anti-imperialist and working-class struggles today.

Esteban Mercatante

September 22, 2023
President Biden giving a speech on Friday, September 15, about the UAW strike. A UAW sign in the background.

Joe Biden Is Afraid of the UAW Strike. That’s a Good Thing.

A few days ago, Biden called on the bosses of the Big Three automakers to give concessions to the striking UAW workers. It’s because he’s scared of the UAW’s power.

Enid Brain

September 20, 2023
Migrants from Northern Africa sit in lines on the Italian island of Lampedusa.

Crisis in Lampedusa: Down with Fortress Europe, Open the Borders!

The way out of the immigration crisis is through the struggle against imperialism. This is a declaration from the European organizations of the Trotskyist Fraction - Fourth International.