Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Michigan Judge Equates BLM Protester to “Die Hard” Terrorist

Today, a Michigan Judge refused to dismiss felony charges against BLM organizer and Left Voice member Tristan Taylor for his participation in a 2020 protest against police violence, instead comparing him to the terrorists from the movie “Die Hard.”

Facebook Twitter Share
Tristan Taylor and other BLM protersters marching with their fists in the air

Today at 16th Circuit Court in Macomb County, Judge Servitto denied a motion to quash felony charges against Tristan Taylor, one of the Shelby 5 arrested for walking in the street during a nonviolent racial justice protest in 2020. During the hearing, Taylor’s lawyer, George Washington, argued in a motion that Taylor had only been given 1-3 seconds to comply with officers before being arrested, which was not a reasonable amount of time. Servitto admitted he hadn’t reviewed the video evidence in the motion and instead went on a tangent about the movie “Die Hard,” comparing the protest to the climax of the movie and comparing Taylor to the movie’s villains, a group of terrorists. 

The 2020 protest was organized to condemn Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide, who made statements calling racial justice protesters “’wild savages” and saying about them, “Body bags for these vicious subhumans.” Shelby Township police responded to the protest with extreme force, charging five people with felonies and over a dozen with misdemeanors.

After the hearing, Washington said “The current racist, fascist climate has infected even a Democratic party judge. The only thing you as a citizen can say is, ‘How high do you want me to jump, officer?’”

“Whatever mantra they have about how democratic this nation is […] in truth when it comes to a Black man being arrested for protesting racism, a judge in the United States of America compared that incident of someone trying to deescalate a situation to a terrorist scenario from a movie in the 80s,” Taylor said.

Washington concluded, “This is a new low in dealing with protests. I really have dealt with hundreds, thousands of protests in my life, and I’ve never seen anything like this. […] What they want to do is impose convictions so that nobody will ever come back to Shelby Township. They have their clean white city sitting out there on a hill that doesn’t have to deal with Detroit. […] We’ve got our little [Jim Crow era] Mississippi in the north part of the Detroit Metro area.”

Livestream of Washington and Taylor’s statements on today’s events in court:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/Cd50wIKjdc9/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Facebook Twitter Share

United States

Federal Charges of Political Activists Show the Racist and Repressive Nature of the Capitalist State

Black nationalist organizations in the United States have been the target of what is a clear, politically motivated attack by the FBI in an attempt to silence voices of dissent against the U.S. government.

Tristan Taylor

May 17, 2023

Biden Agrees with Trump on Immigration

With the end of Title 42, Biden has put in place even more restrictive measures against migrants seeking asylum in the United States. As refugee crises get more extreme, so will the state’s anti-migrant policies.

Sam Carliner

May 12, 2023

Police Violently Repress Protesters while Jordan Neely’s Murderer Walks Free

On Monday, NYPD officers brutalized people gathered at a vigil for Jordan Neely, who was murdered last week in the subway by a vigilante.

Molly Rosenzweig

May 11, 2023
Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old Black man who was murdered on May 2, 2023, wears a Michael Jackson outfit on a subway platform.

Jordan Neely Was Executed for Being Poor, Black, and Disabled

Jordan Neely was strangled to death in the New York subway during a mental health crisis.

Julia Wallace

May 3, 2023

MOST RECENT

Tracking, Deportations, Internment: European Countries Go on the Hunt for Migrants

On May 10, German chancellor Olaf Scholz strengthened Germany’s anti-migrant policy. This means more deportations, border patrol reinforcements, and economic agreements with sending countries. The new policy is being deployed throughout Europe.

Leo Stella

May 25, 2023

#AllthatsLeftPod: Three Years Since the George Floyd Uprising:

In this episode of the podcast, we reflect on the 2020 George Floyd uprising, which began three years ago. We discuss how to turn the energy of a mass uprising into a sustained movement, and the kind of revolutionary leadership that's required to do so.

Left Voice

May 25, 2023

Fight Capitalism, Fight for Neurodivergent Liberation

Neurodivergent and disability liberation will have to come from the overthrow of capitalism and the building of a socialist system which values different forms of human behavior and directs resources to meeting human needs.

Sam Carliner

May 23, 2023
Prof. Gail Green-Anderson of LaGuardia Community College at a rally outside Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s Manhattan office on Thursday.

Rekindling the Militant Spirit of CUNY’s Past

Mayor Eric Adams has announced an austerity budget that includes significant cuts to the City University of New York among other city agencies. In order to defeat these cuts, students, faculty, and other workers across the city must unite our struggles and be prepared to shut the university down.

James Dennis Hoff

May 22, 2023