Raging Bull

Since May 22, detainees in the modern day concentration camp Delaney Hall in Newark, NJ have been on a hunger and labor strike to protest the poor conditions at the facility; The detainees reported to have been fed rotten food with worms in it, have been medically neglected which has lead to preventable deaths, no air conditioning during the heat waves. Protesters, who have been solidly building a relationship with the family members of detainees since Delaney Hall's illegal reopening, have been outside of Delaney Hall protesting in solidarity with the detainees, reiterating the demands of the detainees. I just want to state a few facts before I go into the meat of the post:

Newark, NJ is predominantly working class black and brown city and has been since the second half of the 20th century; We have elected a black liberal mayor since the 70s. New Jersey is a blue state with a Democratically elected governor and Senate. Delaney Hall was shut down during the pandemic, but it reopened illegally under GEO Group, who has a $1B contract with ICE and is the largest facility on the east coast. And Newark is supposed to be one of the sanctuary cities...we see now that this is a fucking lie.

With those facts, protesters have demanded that Mikie Sherrill, our current governor visit Delaney to see the conditions for herself. She did and was denied entry. Andy Kim was pepper sprayed in the face and denied entry. Health inspectors were denied entry as well. Meanwhile since Monday, ICE has tear gassed the protesters, maced them, beaten them, and have even thrown one protester under an oncoming truck. Even worse the detainees are being brutally beaten and tear gassed inside and they're actively cutting off communication, so they can't reach out to their loved ones. Mikie Sherrill has ordered the NJ State Police to Delaney Hall as a way to de-escalate when it did the total opposite. Meanwhile, the Fanta Fascist is accusing protesters of being paid agitators, which is bullshit and propaganda.

I say all this to say that whether Republican or Democrat, they represent the interests of the ruling class. Sherill escalated the situation while pretending to give a shit. Conservatives may be the enemy we know, but Democrats are a bigger threat to grassroot movements, because they weaponize identity politics, co-opt the language of leftist movements, while quelling them, and exploit their base for votes to lead them away and leave them with nothing after elections.

On June 1st, 2021, a group of plainclothes police officers in Newark, NJ approached young black men, who were looking at clothes in a van, without announcing themselves and assaulted them. The other brothers heard the commotion and went out to defend them. One of the brothers, Justin Rodwell, ended up getting arrested and has been detained since that day at Essex County Correctional Facility, one of Newark’s worse prisons. All four brothers are facing charges such as resisting arrest, assault on a police officer, and face up to 30 years. Meanwhile, NPD has been harassing and stalking the family for daring to bring the injustice to light. Rallies have been held to support the Rodwell-Spivey family, it has been posted on social media, etc.