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Vol. 77/No. 16      April 29, 2013

 
Omaha: Socialist candidate joins
fight to charge cops with beating
 
BY LAURA GARZA
OMAHA, Neb. — “The Socialist Workers Party Campaign of Maura DeLuca for Mayor and Jacob Perasso for City Council District 4 calls on the city of Omaha to press charges against the officers involved in beating and assaulting members of the Johnson family on March 21,” said a statement released by the campaign and distributed among working people here.

“All charges against the Johnson brothers should be immediately dismissed,” the statement says. “We salute those like Robert Wagner and the Johnson family who have stood up and decided to fight, and we encourage all working people to join in this fight and deal a blow to the idea the cops have immunity to mete out abusive treatment.”

Perasso spoke from the floor at an April 1 public meeting to support the Johnsons: “We have to keep the pressure on the city officials to act by continuing to mobilize in public protests and meetings, that is what experience has shown will get some action.”

Perasso campaigned door to door in the predominantly African-American area of northeast Omaha April 6.

“It looked to me like the police wouldn’t be charged. I’m glad you are taking a stand,” Alice Gribbs told Perasso when he knocked on her door. Gribbs signed up for a subscription to the Militant, the campaign newspaper.

“I back you 100 percent in your demand that the police be charged,” said Joe Cheney, 56, a butcher who is Caucasian. “The police have a different policy in this part of town.”

Perasso was interviewed April 2 on “Real Talk Radio with Willie Hamilton” on AM 1690. Hamilton, president of Black Men United, was a central organizer of the April 1 community meeting.

In addition to talking about the fight against police brutality, Perasso spoke about a number of other struggles that are key to strengthening the unity and fighting capacity of the working class, including the fights for women’s right to abortion and for legalization of undocumented immigrants.

“I applaud you because a lot of the things that you stand for are the same things that fuel me and keep me going,” Hamilton told Perasso at the end of the one-hour interview.

The campaign has been covered by KMTV Action 3 News, the daily Omaha World-Herald, Mundo Latino, a Spanish-language paper, and El Perico, a bilingual weekly publication.
 
 
Related articles:
Boston bombing offers rulers pretext to keep chipping at rights
SWP NY mayor candidate kicks off campaign door to door
Defend Workers Rights!
 
 
 
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