Download PDF of this full issue: v5n4.pdf (8.3 MB)

Campaign Against Repression: Cauley Is Free!

By VVAW

After months of organizing against police repression, the people of Chicago won an important victory when Antowyn Cauley was found innocent of all charges against him. Antowyn, a young Black man, was accused of assaulting cops who had shot him last August in the Juneway community where he lives. After the verdict was read at the trial, the people in the courtroom cheered and stomped their feet over this victory.

When Antowyn was shot over 2,000 people from Juneway came out to protest the shooting and the police repression is the community. From that first night until the verdict was read, the Coalition to Stop Police Repression and many of the people from Juneway and other Chicago communities picketed, marched and leafleted throughout the city to organize people to fight for Antowyn's freedom and to build a movement against police repression. It was this unity and determination that set Cauley free.

The struggle against police repression continues to grow. The ruling class, in its desperate attempts to survive are coming down harder on working people in Chicago and all over the country. This is particularly true in Black and Latino neighborhoods, like Juneway. The police, who are around to protect the interests of the banks, the real estate companies and the businesses that suck off the workers' sweat are stepping up their repression.

The attack on Antowyn Cauley was not an isolated incident. Recently in Chicago another young Black man was shot to death by the cops. Michael Gilmore was standing on a street corner with his friends, when two cops pulled up and shot him in the head. Neighbors poured out of their homes, angered by what had happened, forcing the cops to flee. People could really see the strength in their unity and a way to begin to fight these police attacks.

More and more working people. Sick and tired of the rotten conditions forced on them by the system, are taking up the struggle against police murders and repression.

As part of the growing movement against police terror in Chicago, the Worker's Committee to Stop Police Repression held a dinner on April 5th to celebrate Cauley's victory and to talk about their continuing work. One speaker talked about how the fight wasn't over, stating, "We're not just talking about freeing individuals, or going to people like... Jesse Jackson. We're going out to the people, because only the people can stop police repression." Another speaker said, "Police repression is nothing new to the working class and neither is the fight against it. Police are there, like armies and courts, to serve and protect the system and the ruling class."

A woman from the May Day Worker's Committee summed up the role that the working class plays in all the struggles that face us, including the fight against police repression. "As old as the class struggle is, it moves ahead all the time. We can see that here tonight. The Working Class is on the Rise!"

STOP POLICE REPRESSION - ORGANIZE TO FIGHT!!