John Keating questions Springfield Police officers standing behind their vehicle about a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle that was reported to be stationed near a local protest against the decision of a Kentucky grand jury that brought no charges against Louisville police for the killing in March of Breonna Taylor during a drug raid gone wrong. [Ted Schurter/The State Journal-Register]

As about 35 people gathered in front of the Springfield Police Department headquarters, 800 E. Monroe St., for a rally and vigil in support of Breonna Taylor Wednesday night, Trista Ishmael's thoughts drifted back to her bi-racial brother in Jacksonville.

Last week, Arkansas woke up to stories of North Little Rock and Little Rock police vehicles having been burned, and memorials statues to fallen officers had been vandalized with pro-BLM designs. As a result, the Little Rock Chief of Police Keith Humphrey has stated that the LRPD will investigate this crime as a hate crime. While we discourages vandalism of any kind, the Green Party of Pulaski County rejects the label of “hate crime” for three reasons.

The first reason is that the definition of hate crime does not include a work profession. The police cannot be the victim of a hate crime because the police are not “a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender, or gender identity,” which is from the FBI definition of a hate crime and the local ordinance Chief Humphrey cites.

U.S. cops are already racist and brutal, and any militia "infiltrators" would feel right at home.

"Kyle Rittenhouse was acting like the police who shot and severely wounded Jacob Blake."

It is common to see news stories reporting that white supremacists or right wing groups have infiltrated police departments. Such information should always be greeted with skepticism. Law enforcement in this country is very much right wing and inherently white supremacist. There is no infiltration necessary. Any police officers found to be members of the Ku Klux Klan or Proud Boys or any other configuration are outliers only in that they thought it necessary to make their affiliation official.

ROCHESTER, NY – The Green Party of Monroe County is calling for the resignation of Mayor Lovely Warren and Police Chief, La'Ron Singletary. We also insist that City Council dismantle the Rochester Police Department and replace it with an accountable, public safety-oriented entity that does not routinely injure, and sometimes, kill citizens.

After the homicide of Daniel Prude on March 30 by RPD officers, the Mayor and Police Chief, kept the incident quiet as hundreds of residents have been marching in the streets calling for changes to the police department. The public knowledge of this murder only happened due to a lawsuit by Prude's family. If it was not for that legal action we would still not be privy to the video that shows this execution.

• Justice for #JohnNeville

Several North Carolina Green Party members, including Co-chair Tony Ndege, recently-elected Charlotte Area Greens Co-chair Jacob Samuels, past candidates Keenen Altic, Joshua Bradley, Robert Corriher, assistant Sec. Ade Mowry, Troy Winfree of Triad Greens and others have been heavily involved in statewide protest movements against state violence and systemic inequity.

These actions have included:

• Green Party Steering Committee member Trahern Crews holding sign in front of the Minnesota state Capitol to mark Juneteenth by demanding reparations and police reform legislation from state lawmakers.

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota's Black Lives Matter chapter took to the state Capitol on Friday to mark Juneteenth with a demand for reparations and real police reform in a continued push for racial justice following the death of George Floyd.

Juneteenth, the traditional commemoration date of the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, has taken on new resonance this year. There have been protests around the U.S. and beyond stemming from Floyd's death after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers.

On Memorial Day 2020 Officer Chauvin, now a former police officer of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD), murdered George Floyd in the state of Minnesota where I live. The former officer kept his knee on George Floyd’s neck for eight terrorizing minutes, which ultimately led to the death of Mr Floyd. This event was live streamed by a Minneapolis resident on Facebook where you can hear community members telling the officer to stop because they knew he was killing Mr Floyd. Officer Chauvin and the other officers involved have been fired from the MPD and Officer Chauvin was formally charged with third degree murder.

Black Lives Matter spokesperson and Green Party Steering Committee co-chair Trahern Crews tells us about Minneapolis, the US city that has become a symbol of racism, police brutality and inequality.

George Floyd, the African-American man who was killed in brutal fashion by police performing an arrest, quickly became a symbol of the oppression and violence suffered by people of colour in the United States. The pain and anger of thousands burst forth in Minneapolis. Day after day, fires burned in protest and anger over a murder that will leave a mark on the city's memory. Demonstrations were soon taking place all over the country, in dozens of major cities – including Los Angeles, New York and Detroit – as well as hundreds of smaller cities and towns. In Detroit, a 19-year-old man who was taking part in the protests was killed as a car pulled up and fired shots into the crowd. Three more people lost their lives in similar circumstances elsewhere, and a curfew was imposed on 25 major urban centres. These kinds of numbers hadn't been seen since the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, in 1968.

By Howie Hawkins

One of my first campaign stops in June 2019 after announcing my candidacy was in Mobile, Alabama, where among the group I spoke to was Chikesia Clemons. I didn’t know she would be there, but I had heard about her more than a year before she became aware of my candidacy. Chikesia was in the national news in April 2018 after she was assaulted by police for non-criminal behavior in a Waffle House. The case was covered by network news, the Washington Post, Teen Vogue, Shaun King, and many others. Benjamin Crump, who has represented the families of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, took her case. Rev. Al Sharpton went down to show support.

Humanity lost a Lion of the Civil Rights Movement in the passing of Congressman John Lewis at the age of 80. Significantly, in his last public moment while dying of cancer, he chose to visit the Black Lives Matter Plaza which leads up to the White House. He came to pay homage, to give honor and encourage the Black Lives Matter movement in his humble way.

The first time I saw John Lewis was at the 1963 Great March on Washington. At 16, I had traveled with Father James Groppi and others to that historic gathering. Having wandered away from the Milwaukee group, I ended up about ten feet from the microphone where Dr Martin Luther King gave his iconic “I Have a Dream “ speech. John Lewis, the youngest speaker at 23 had stood out using the word “revolution.” His radical speech was censored by the civil rights movement leadership of which he had a leadership role. John toned it down out of his love for Dr. King.