Torrance, CA, January 30—Workers and Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members refused to stay silent since racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic text messages by Torrance police officers, going back to 2018, were revealed to the public. In the spirit of fightback, two mutual aid organizations, which PL members work in, called for a rally at Torrance City Hall. The rally called attention to the racist and sexist history of not just the Torrance Police Department (TPD) but the entire capitalist system that policing upholds. Under capitalism all KKKOPS protect the ruling class and their property and uphold a system that relies on racist super-profits. They routinely criminalize Black, Latin, Asian, and immigrant workers to ensure that our class brothers and sisters remain exploited and fearful. Only with communist revolution will workers have the power to weed out capitalism, the root of all crime and oppression, and smash racist police once and for all.
A history of racism in the Torrance PD
This whole texting scandal came to light when the department started investigating former officers Cody Weldon and Christopher Tomsic, who spray painted a swastika on a car impounded in a mail fraud investigation. So far 13 officers have been named by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office as being active in the text exchanges, including Anthony Chavez and Matthew Concannon, who murdered a Black man, Christopher De’Andre Mitchell, in 2018. No one has been charged but thus far 85 criminal cases these officers were involved in have been dismissed (LA Times, 12/08/21).
These disgusting text messages show the contempt cops hold for the working-class communities they patrol. This isn’t a case of a few bad apples but a system that is rotten to the core.
Racism means: we have to fight back!
About 30 people showed up for the rally, which had a loose plan for chants and speeches. Select reform demands included firing all officers involved in the text messages, creating a civilian oversight commission; and, ultimately, abolition of the police. While we understand these measures won’t solve the crisis for the working-class, making these demands helps our class instill confidence in each other, our fellow comrades, and sharpens our consistent struggle and fightback.
A PL member led most of the chanting and encouraged people to speak on the bullhorn. The PLer gave a brief speech about the history of police and argued that to ultimately get rid of racist policing we need to organize to overthrow capitalism. Participants responded enthusiastically and some said later that this was the first action they had attended and they were eager to participate in the future.
The mass groups who organized the action mainly focus on direct mutual aid but also see homelessness, poverty, and police harassment as tied to this oppressive, capitalist system. Party members must be bolder in pushing for our revolutionary line as we build community support and fight side by side for reforms.
Eventually our class will see a communist revolution, but we can only do that by building an international working-class party. Join PLP and worker by worker, we will smash this racist system!