Racists Go Home

by Dee Allen/PoorNewsNetwork

The chants, "Racists go home" and "Smash the Minutemen, smash the border" echo in front of S.F. City Hall, where over 300 activists in solidarity with migrant/immigrant peoples gather in counter-protest of the Minutemen Project. A dozen Minutemen stand to the side, then on top of the steps of City Hall, protesting San Francisco's sanctuary policy of immigrant/migrant youth, calling Mayor Newsom and members of the District Attorney's office "accessories to murder". I stood in solidarity with the immigration activists, making a stand not only for immigration rights but against racism, too.

The Minutemen Project is a group of private individuals who patrol the U.S.-Mexican border for undocumented immigrants and who have played a key role in attracting anti-immigration media to the border. They are, in essence, a White supremacist group with a special focus on immigration and border issues. The Minutemen pose a significant threat to immigrants coming to the U.S., many of whom are escaping the poverty that has washed over their homelands due to economic globalization and the parasitic relationship the International Monetary Fund and World Bank have with developing countries' economies.

As a Black man making a stand against the Minutemen, it is not only about making a stand against racism, but also making a stand for Black, Brown, and multi-racial unity. Issues pertaining to immigration do not end or begin at the Mexican border. The counter-protest is also deeply personal to me in that my paternal grandfather's family is from southern Italy and were forced to change their names on Ellis Island in order to the enter the U.S. in the early twentieth century. The history of immigration of all our families is saturated with the same type of oppression the Minutemen force on La Raza people at the border.

Marching along side people of all race and all communities, I feel proud of the bold statement our unity is making. I begin to chant along with the crowd, feeling excited by the harmony of our voices and then I feel something else- a heavy hand gripping my arm, pulling me out of the safety of the crowd.

I look up to face a white cop, about six feet tall with a blond buzz-cut and black wrap-around sunglasses meant to intimidate. His name reads Kevin Abbey, badge number 1087. A protesting Black man being dragged out of the crowd by a white cop; I knew instantly this was bad. When he finally lets go of my arm I turn to leave the march, to get out of a situation that any person of color knows can escalate out of their favor

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As I walk away from City Hall, I heard a sudden shout behind me, "Get him!", followed by confusion and a comment from one officer: "I don't know what we are getting him for but we have to get him." Five officers descend on me, four of them White. There are two of them holding each arm, twisting my arms until they feel like they are going to break, with one White cop yelling in my ear, "Do not resist arrest! Do not resist arrest!", although I could barely move. After that, I was quickly tossed into a black-and-white paddy wagon.

They take me to the Fillmore police station, then S.F. County Jail on two fraudulent misdemeanor charges: Battery of a Police Officer and Obstruction of Justice. The battery charge is from a claim that I committed battery on a officer and the obstruction of justice is for allegedly resisting arrest. Although there are two different versions by two different cops about what happened at the march, I was still held for two days until I am released.

For whatever reason, I was singled out. I was one of two people, out of 300, arrested at the protest. They saw me and somehow thought I was weaker and smaller than them, and Black, so they caught me. Being arrested by White cops at a protest against a White supremacist group shows me racists protect their own. For those of us of color in San Francisco, the S.F.P.D. are our Minutemen, patrolling the borders of our city keeping Brown and Black people separate from others. The uniform maybe different, the place may be different, but the action and need to separate is the same.

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Dee Allen has plead not guilty to the charges. The misdemeanors in this case are punishable by $2000 and/or 6 mos. in jail and will create a police record. Here's what you can do to intervene on Dee's behalf: Call the SF District Attorney's office and demand that the charges against Dee (his legal name is Donnell Lamont Allen) be dropped immediately. In particular ask for Greg Barge, director of the misdemeanor division.
415.553.1751 -- D.A.'s office, General Inquiries, 8am-5pm.415.553.1752 -- D.A.'s office, General Inquiries, after hours.415.553.1862 -- D.A.'s office, managing attorney, misdemeanor trial division
[The direct line for the managing attorney for the misdemeanor trial division is 415.553-1266. Ask for Greg Barge.]