Derell Mickles' death was a devastating addition to the many lives lost in the war on Black and working-class people. With the increasing cost of transportation and the expansion of the police presence in the transit system, the excuse of fare evasion has become a leading justification for the brutalization of NYC communities.
Originally published in Bronx Anti-War Coalition
Yesterday, the NYPD shot Derell Mickles, a Black man in Brooklyn for the alleged "crime" of jumping a turnstile. This marks the second NYPD shooting in just 48 hours. Amidst a landscape where Democrat political figures swiftly condemned recent assassination attempts on Donald Trump, proclaiming that "violence has no place in America," we ask: where is this sentiment when it comes to the NYPD shooting Black men?
Once again, the state used the hollow excuse of "fare evasion" to justify an assassination attempt on a Brooklyn man. This is not an isolated incident but a pattern of state violence targeting the working class in general and Black people in particular. Mayor Eric Adams took to Twitter, rather ironically, calling this shooting an act of "bravery." Only in our Orwellian city of escalating fascism is the victim painted as the villain and the aggressor as a "hero."
Freedom of movement, such as public transportation, is a right, not a privilege. The MTA should be FREE for ALL New Yorkers. The increased police presence in our subway system has not made us safer. Instead, it led to a horrific mass shooting where a police officer shot four people, including the man accused of fare evasion, two innocent bystanders, and even another officer. All this over a $2.90 fare—a fare that should not exist in the wealthiest city in the United States.
The normalization of state violence, whether in Gaza or on the streets of New York City, has desensitized us to the ongoing war against Black and colonized communities. This incident took place in East New York, Brooklyn, where the majority of individuals on that train were Black and Brown, seen by the establishment as disposable. It's precisely this context that allows the Israeli-trained NYPD and Mayor Adams to attempt to cast this incident aside as just another "normal" occurrence. Had this shooting occurred outside of the hood, it would not have been so easily dismissed. The outcry and mobilization that once followed such acts of violence have faded. Where are the voices of celebrities and influencers that once proclaimed Black Lives Matter? The silence is deafening. Yet, across the city, we working-class Bronxites are listening and ready to act.
We call upon all people of conscience to resist this state-sanctioned violence. Our resistance is not an act of aggression but a necessary response to the violence imposed upon us by the state. While the media will likely portray our rebellion as violent, our actions are a justified defense against the police brutality we face daily. We know the police to be the true instigators of violence, and the people must bring an end to this brutal occupation.
In addition to demanding free public transit for all, we call for the immediate removal of all NYPD officers from our subways, a prohibition on guns for the NYPD, and the immediate and transparent release of body cam footage. While the NYPD creates propaganda against Palestine protesters with urgency, it will never show that same urgency to take accountability for their mass shootings.
The NYPD's actions reflect a broader war on Black people, poor people, and those who courageously oppose fascist state violence. This subway shooting serves as a stress test of public tolerance to unmitigated police violence. If we do not resist, if we do not rise up, this violence will only escalate, paralleling the escalation of the genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
This incident is not an anomaly. It is a frequent occurrence in colonized communities, from the South Bronx to East New York, that underscores the corruption entrenched in policing. The top brass are under investigation, yet the problem has worsened. Policing itself is the problem.
To those who do not support free MTA, we say this: you stand only for profit and against humanity. Let us rise together in resistance, demand justice, and fight for a future where public resources serve the public good.
In solidarity,
The Bronx Anti-War Coalition
Dr. Gerald Horne is an author and historian who currently holds the John J. and Rebecca Moores Chair of History and African American Studies at the University of Houston.
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