Movement in Geneva, NY, continues daily protests despite threats, repression

On July 19, Frank Gaglianese, an elected at-large member of the city council of Geneva, New York, said that he wished that he “could have got a gun and shot the squares on my computer screen and killed everybody” who participated in a recent virtual forum on police accountability. Gaglianese made his remarks at a Back the Blue Ride and Rally event at the Finger Lakes Welcome Center in Geneva’s Lakefront Park. In addition to expressing a desire to shoot those advocating for police accountability, he referred to them “as little squawkers who think their voice is being heard … it’s not.” His remarks were live-streamed. Hosted by a local college, the online forum had over 80 participants including young Black organizers of the People’s Peaceful Protest, who have been demonstrating near daily since the killing of George Floyd. Also participating in the forum were a diverse cross-section of college faculty, students, and community members as well as leaders from the local NAACP. Despite calls for his immediate resignation, the councilor remains in office. The dialectics of organizing against the police in a small city Following a mass uprising in nearby Rochester, NY, Geneva city officials issued panicked messages on May 31 warning residents of upcoming “looting and destructive behavior” and advising them to stay home. Multiple downtown businesses, having only recently reopened after closure because of the pandemic, were boarded up. Armed owners sat out front. Scores of people nevertheless gathered in front of the police station for the first of what would become months of peaceful protests demanding justice for George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and calling on the community not to forget Corey Jackson, who was shot and killed by a Geneva police officer in May 2011. Over the next months, protesters marched nightly throughout the city’s various neighborhoods, making it clear that Black people should be free to walk anywhere, anytime without having to fear for their lives. The nightly processions also energized city residents: parents brought their children out to the sidewalks to cheer and join in the chants. Not everyone supported the PPP. On June 2, a tractor-trailer driver aggressively threatened to run over protesters in the streets. Later, the same truck drove through the protest dangerously and recklessly. Police, who were clearly visible down the block during both incidents, failed to respond to a 9-11 call reporting the near-miss. The PPP adapted by increasing the number and discipline of street marshals who use their cars and bodies to block traffic while the marchers chant and demonstrate in the street. By the end of June, the People’s Peaceful Protest had prepared a set of resolutions that would create a framework for police accountability. The centerpiece was a community-controlled accountability board with subpoena and disciplinary powers modeled after legislation long fought for and recently implemented in Rochester (aspects of which are still in the courts). At the same time, right-wing opponents of police accountability trolled activists’ social media, using disinformation as their key tactic, photo-shopping and misrepresenting photos and posts. Following Trump’s script, they attached a “Marxist” label to BLM, and actively worked to discredit local organizers. They consistently demeaned and disparaged the only socialist on city council, Party for Socialism and Liberation member Laura Salamendra. Read the full article: https://www.liberationnews.org/movement-in-geneva-ny-continues-daily-protests-despite-threats-repression/