Mexican New Yorkers To Protest Missing Mexican Students, Eric Garner Ruling This Weekend
Protests have been ongoing across the country since the announcement from two grand juries that police officers responsible for the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown will not be indicted.
In parallel, Mexicans in New York and Los Angeles have held solidarity rallies for those protesting the missing 43 students in Iguala.
Protesters will ramp up again on Saturday for mass rallies in New York and Washington, D.C.
Families of Eric Garner, Mike Brown and Akai Gurley will join the Rev. Al Sharpton for a national march against police violence in Washington, D.C. at the Freedom Plaza, 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW at 10:30 a.m.
In New York, protesters will gather in Washington Square, Greenwich Village, New York at 2 p.m. calling for Justice for Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Akai Gurley, and all victims of police brutality and murder.
There will be solidarity protests in San Francisco's Bay Area, Chicago, Los Angeles and St. Louis-Ferguson. Twitter campaigns will run under the hashtags #EricGarner, #ICantBreathe, and #MikeBrown.
Joining marches in New York will be Mexican New Yorkers who have been protesting the disappeared 43 students from Ayotzinapa, Guerrero, who were abducted by the local police on Sept. 26
Mexican New Yorkers have been regularly protesting the disappeared students in the city. In November, over 300 rallied outside the Mexican Consulate to denounce state-sponsored violence and frustration with the Mexican government's inaction.
Mexican President Enrique Peno Nieto announced a series of reforms on November 28, including a sweeping overhaul of local police forces and centralizing them under state control, plus sending federal police to some of the worst areas affected by drug warlords.
Nieto's reforms fell short of explaining what the government was planning to do to find the missing students or help with efforts to identify bodies in mass graves that are being discovered in the area. Over 70 people have been arrested in connection with the missing students, including the Mayor of Iguala and his wife, who allegedly ordered the police to intercept the students in an action that resulted in six students killed and 25 being injured.
Mexican New Yorkers say they are joining with the anti-police brutality marchers to "unite our voices to demand judgment and punishment of all politicians linked to organized crime, and high government functionaries that by action or inaction are responsible of this state crime."
Ayotzinapa student supporters have several demands: an end to repression and intimidation against the students and the community of Ayotzinapa and all Mexico, that the Mexican government cease human right violations created by the State against their own people, and ending militarization in Mexico.
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