Statement: Deploying the Army to Minneapolis is Abhorrent. End Military and Police Violence, at Home and Abroad.

State Violence

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Saturday May 30, 2020
Contact: Michael Galant  [email protected]  203-260-4654

WASHINGTON Win Without War Executive Director Stephen Miles and Deputy Director Sara Haghdoosti released the following statement on Donald Trump’s preparation to deploy active-duty U.S. Army servicemembers to Minneapolis:

“Trump’s decision to prepare a deployment of active-duty U.S. military personnel in response to the uprisings in Minneapolis following the violent killing of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis Police is reprehensible. This militarized and racist response is a tragic mirror to the  overly militarized, violent policing and anti-Black racism that led to the very events at the heart of the public response we are now seeing. 

“The police and the military operate on a shared bedrock of white supremacy that in turn shields them from accountability for their violent racism. Over and over again they have acted with impunity and without regard for the lives, dreams, and dignity of Black and Indigenous people and People of Color. It is white supremacy that enables the United States to bomb other countries, to deploy tanks into Black neighborhoods, and to continue to blame People of Color for the unjustified state violence they are then forced to face. 

“It is also white supremacy that allows the privileged few to stay silent and continue to benefit in the face of both. And it is white supremacy that activates racist, corrupted justice mechanisms against the communities they are supposed to protect when these acts of violence occur.

“The link between police and military violence is not theoretical. Police departments across the country have developed extensive arsenals through the purchase and gifting of surplus military weapons from the federal government, to the benefit of the vast and powerful arms-manufacturing industry. The U.S. military and domestic police forces have also systematically shared training and tactics, deepening militarization of local policing and the military’s post 9/11 expansion into a permanently-occupying global police force.

“We join in solidarity with all of those around the country, and the world, who are fighting against the brutality of white supremacy and the use of police and military forces to violently enforce it. We specifically follow and echo the leadership of local Black organizers who have released clear demands for Minneapolis and everywhere

“Black Lives Matter. Justice for George Floyd. Justice for Breonna Taylor. Justice for Ahmaud Arbery. Justice for all who suffer at the hands of white supremacist violence, and all those fighting for liberation.”

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Win Without War is a diverse network of activists and national organizations working for progressive foreign policy in the United States.