Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Racist Police Murder Black Man in Atlanta Having a Mental Health Crisis

Last Wednesday night, police in two different cities showed their racist, murderous role. In Atlanta, police murdered a Black man experiencing a mental health crisis. In Chicago, police shot and seriously injured a 13-year old boy.

Molly Rosenzweig

May 24, 2022
Facebook Twitter Share

On Wednesday, the police in Atlanta murdered a 22-year-old Black man, Nygil Cullins, as he was experiencing a mental health episode. His mother had called 911 earlier to transport him to a mental health facility. After an hour, Cullins left the house. The police claim that Cullins attacked a security guard at a local restaurant, and as Cullins attempted to leave, the police shot and killed him. 

As his mother tells local news: “I made sure I was very specific about his age, his demographic, his location, his background, about his mental state.” An hour and 15 minutes passed, an hour and 20 minutes passed, and he left. Two hours later, the paramedics pulled up, and the police pulled up. They didn’t ask what was the details, what he had on, or what was his state when he left. The paramedics took off the gloves and got back in the car, the police got back in the car and pulled off.” 

Nygil Cullins, who had previously received treatment for bipolar schizophrenia, needed proper mental health treatment — not be murdered by the police. 

On the same day that he killed Cullins, the same police officer had shot and seriously injured an unarmed 13-year-old child in the back after he allegedly ran from a stolen car. Cops always use the excuse of self defense, but even that wasn’t on the table here; the next day, the police superintendent confirmed that there had been no gunfire directed toward the officers.

These are far from isolated incidents. The Chicago police murdered 13-year-old Adam Toledo while his hands were in the air just over a year ago. Last winter, the NYPD shot and killed Eudes Pierre in the middle of a mental health crisis. In March a year earlier, police in Rochester, New York strangled Daniel Prude, 41, on the cold asphalt as he wandered the streets naked during a mental breakdown. 

Chicago, Rochester, New York — all three cities have Democratic mayors and legislators, who, instead of providing mental health resources and first responders, prioritize police budgets. Democrats like Joe Biden claim that police just need “better training” and even more funding. But more funding and better “training” are not the solution. The racist police always claim to fear for their lives, yet when a white supremacist murdered ten Black people in Buffalo, he was treated with kid gloves and taken into custody alive. Dylan Roof, who murdered nine Black people in a church was treated to a burger by the cops. 

These are not merely two isolated incidents or a matter of “bad apples.” This is the true nature of the police — to terrorize and murder Black and Brown people and uphold this exploitative and oppressive system.

Justice for Nygil Cullins!

Facebook Twitter Share

United States

20 Years Since the U.S. Invasion of Iraq: A Reflection from a Socialist in the Heart of Imperialism

A Left Voice member and anti-war activist reflects on the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq and how he learned to hate U.S. imperialism.

Sam Carliner

March 20, 2023

Train Derailment in Metro Detroit Illustrates That Capitalist Control of the Railroads Is Fundamentally Unsafe

With the capitalists in control of the railroads, they will destroy the environment and poison and kill workers. The catastrophe in East Palestine will not be the last if we don’t nationalize our railroads and put the safety of people and the environment over profit.

Emma Boyhtari

February 28, 2023
East Palestine, Ohio in the distance at night, smoke and fire springing up due to the train derailment.

The Ohio Train Disaster Is on Biden’s Hands

Just months after President Biden and Congress blocked railway workers from striking over dangerous working conditions, the exact type of disaster that workers predicted has come to pass. The fate of East Palestine must be a wake-up call for the labor and climate movements to fight for the nationalization of the railroads under workers’ control.

B.C. Daurelle

February 15, 2023
US President Joe Biden speaks during a State of the Union address with US Vice President Kamala Harris, left, and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a Republican from California, right, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2023. Biden is speaking against the backdrop of renewed tensions with China and a brewing showdown with House Republicans over raising the federal debt ceiling.

Biden’s Populist Speech Can’t Cover Up Capitalist Crisis

Biden tried to paint a picture of a United States that has come back stronger after the pandemic. But despite his populist rhetoric and laundry list of policies, none of these measures can address the real needs of the vast majority of the working class and poor who have been exploited and oppressed for much longer than the last two years.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

February 8, 2023

MOST RECENT

Protesters gather during a demonstration on Place de la Concorde in Paris on March 17, 2023, the day after the French government pushed a pensions reform using the article 49.3 of the constitution. - French President's government on March 17, 2023 faced no-confidence motions in parliament and intensified protests after imposing a contentious pension reform without a vote in the lower house. Across France, fresh protests erupted in the latest show of popular opposition to the bill since mid-January.

Battle of the Pensions: Toward a Pre-Revolutionary Moment in France

President Macron's use of article 49.3 to push through an unpopular pension reform bill has opened up an enormous political crisis that has changed the character of the mobilizations against the French government. We are entering a "pre-revolutionary moment" that can change the balance of power between the classes in France.

Juan Chingo

March 21, 2023

It is Possible to Win: The Pension Reform Crisis in France

A French socialist reflects on the way forward after Macron invites Article 49.3 to pass pension reform.

Paul Morao

March 20, 2023

“We are your economy”: Trans Youth Walkout and Speak Out

The following is a speech by a young trans person as part of an action called for by NYC Youth for Trans Rights.

Tatiana Cozzarelli

March 20, 2023
Three tables full of food, with signs hung above them. One says "The People's Pantry: FREE FOOD." Banners hung from the tables say "Free CUNY" and "Cop Free School Zone"

CUNY Administration Cracks Down on Student and Worker-Run Food Pantry

Students and workers opened "The People's Pantry" seven weeks ago as part of a broader anti-austerity campaign at CUNY, leading to several direct confrontations with the administration.

Olivia Wood

March 19, 2023