On Tuesday, February 28th at 2pm the Stop Urban Shield Coalition will pack the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting as the City votes whether or not to apply for the 2017 Urban Area Securities Initiative funds from the Department of Homeland security, the funding that is used to finance Urban Shield. While the Supervisors have shown that they are concerned about the militarized police training and the harm and violence that Urban Shield brings into our communities and have introduced several amendments to the resolution, we still need to show them that ending Urban Shield altogether is strongest path forward.
At the same meeting, community members will also be urging the Board of Supervisors to divest from banks that are financing the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Indigenous Water Defenders and their allies have been defending the land of the Standing Rock Sioux in North Dakota for months and have repeatedly faced militarized police forces trying to repress their efforts. They have drafted an open letter to the Board of Supervisors and are asking for supporters to sign on. They have also asked attendees to wear blue as a show of support. Additionally the Supervisors will be voting on a resolution to prevent the use of City infrastructure to enforce a registry based on identity, national origin, religion or ethnicity. Such a resolution would prevent the City from complying with the Muslim registry that Trump has repeatedly promised to implement.
The Stop Urban Shield Coalition recognizes that these issues are part and parcel of the same resistance. The violence of policing, racial profiling and militarization affects communities of color, immigrant and indigenous communities from Oakland to San Francisco to the Standing Rock reservation. Given the very real threats we face under the Trump administration we need to stronger than ever in the defense of our people and especially standing together in struggle across our communities.
Turn out to 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl at 2pm to say No War on Communities of Color, Immigrant, Indigenous and Muslim Communities!