The friendly face in your neighbourhood.
This from Bordered By Silence:
"Without translation, we would live in provinces bordered by silence"
A first-hand account of an unpermitted march by the cops in ParisThe police marches are, most immediately, a response to a molotov attack against some cops who were guarding a surveillance camera that had been getting destroyed. The police started rallying in front of the hospital where one of the injured cops was being treated and then leaving from there on marches. Similar rallies by the police outside of their union structure are being held in most big French cities
Translators intro: This article really wants to insist on the actions of the police being illegal and on the problem being “police impunity”, not policing itself. But in spite of these weaknesses, it’s still worth reading and discussing. Although this kind of discourse is annoying, here the talk of legality can be understood a bit differently, because the police aren’t just any group of people. Of course, the police break the law all the time — the law is a weapon in their hands, not something that binds them, and as anarchists we shouldn’t uphold the myth of the just (or the accountable) cop. But it is worth noticing when a mass of police feel that they can openly break the law, disobeying the minister of the interior, to march armed on government buildings at night.
Original text: paris-luttes.info
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For the past four days, the police have been illegally protesting in the streets of Paris each night. On Wednesday (October 19, 2016), their meet-up was set for 9:30pm in Republic Square. Some friends decided to go down and show their opposition to the gathering. First off, we were very few, at most fifty, and not nearly enough to confront the growing crowd of police, from 200 to a thousand. Here’s the story of a strange night caught between the state of emergency and the scent of mutiny.
The atmosphere was strange, there in Republic Square, where on one side a rally of Colombians was wrapping up, while on another a Jewish celebration was being held, and where a skatepark has sprung up in the same place where the General Assemblies for Nuit Debout were held this spring.
All the police cars that we watched arrive weren’t there to monitor the march, but rather to take part. Then the mobile gendarmerie (1) got their riot gear out and made several attempts to encircle anyone who looked like a counter-protester.
A strange dance unfolded, there in Republic Square, very silent, lulling us into a daze. The police who were present mostly seemed to be from the BAC (2), with their caps, lanyards, masks, and police armbands clearly visible. These rallies give us cold shivers, and so far no cop has been sanctioned, even though these rallies are forbidden and the profession isn’t allowed to demonstrate while on duty. Tonight, there are both on and off duty cops present.
In answer to the question, “Just what are you asking for?”, a group of police told me, “For the 35 hour work week. We’re temps at McDonalds and they’re making us put in 38 hours.” Following this answer, as sincere as Cahuzac (3) caught with his hand in the cookie jar, they turned away from me.
