Antioch, CA, June 21—Recently graduated Antioch High School students organized a protest in support of abolishing and defunding the police. An integrated group of students, former students, and parents were greeted by the community with honking horns and closed fist salutes. Sparked by the racist murder of George Floyd, workers and students are rising up all over the world to stand against racism and often against the capitalist system that breeds racism. The Progressive Labor Party applauds the young workers and students of Antioch. We invite them to join us in the long struggle to destroy racism with communist revolution.
Community members shared water, snacks, and free masks. Students marched to the police station, accompanied by comrades in vehicles with signs attacking the racist system.  People waved and cheered the march on. The people of Antioch are fed up with police violence.
At the police station, victims of police terror and their family members spoke. A mother described how an Antioch cop had pulled her son out of a car and attacked him in a way similar to the murder of George Floyd. The mother was wearing a sign that included a photo of smirking Antioch cop Calley kneeling on her son’s neck.  She expressed concern over the attack on her son and spoke about her nephew Rakeem Rucks who was killed by Antioch Police in 2015 (Antioch Police paid $475,000 to the Rucks family in 2020).
Police terror protects racist system
A female student gave a powerful speech urging people to use the phrase “police terror” instead of “police brutality” because “police terror” is the intended effect. It’s a public display of force that’s meant to make the community fear the racist system. She then called for the abolishment of the police, which caused the crowd to erupt into cheers. But let’s be clear. The rich and powerful capitalists and their puppet politicians need the cops to protect them (see back page). The police will only be abolished through a working class revolution for communism.
Next, a man who was attacked by police spoke. The police knocked on his door claiming that the music was too loud and demanded to search the house, claiming to smell marijuana. He refused, so they pulled him out of his home, beat him badly, assaulted his friends, arrested him and charged him with assaulting the police.  At the county jail, he was beaten again.  More than a year later, all charges were dropped as a police video was produced proving no assault on the police.
Another female student addressed the crowd and said, “Cops are the armed assassins of a capitalist system which must use force to control the working class, especially super-exploited Black and Latin workers. Rebellion is not enough. This racist terror can only be smashed with a systemic advancement.  Capitalism must be overcome and replaced with a new system where people, not profits are valued”. Reform struggles are important but limited. She finished by explaining why we need to organize for a new government system. In the Progressive Labor Party we fight for that new government system. It’s called communism.
The protestors had a range of outlooks.  Some called for the “8 Can't Wait” reforms, some called for the defunding of the police, and others called for the abolishment of the police.  Everyone called for an end to a system driven by racism and defended by police terror.  CHALLENGE newspapers were distributed.  Information about Antioch’s bloated police budget was distributed along with instructions on how to tell the city council that the police should be defunded in favor of programs that fit the needs of the people.
Protestors demanded the immediate firing of a killer cop named Michael Mellone who was hired by the Antioch Police after killing a homeless worker from Mexico named Luis-Gongora Pat while a cop in San Francisco.  They demanded justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Rakeem Rucks, and the countless other victims of police terror.
After rallying at the police station, the student-led group marched back to their school. Along the way, they took over an intersection and knelt for eight minutes where they chanted and were again greeted by supportive passersby.
The mayor of the city and the council are under increasing pressure from the young people of Antioch.  Recently the mayor announced an investigation into the killer cop Mellone.  The protestors are under no delusions that getting one cop fired will cause a lasting change.  The young people of Antioch are leading, and discovering their power through practice. They are a force for a better world. We invite them to join the Progressive Labor Party and fight for communism.