Over 1,000 New Yorkers rally for May Day protest against police brutality
More than 1,000 people rallied in New York City’s Union Square for the May Day rally, bringing together American and immigrant workers to press for better pay and workers’ rights.
May Day traditionally is celebrated internationally as a day of solidarity for workers and laborers. Organizers with the May 1st Coalition in New York expanded the rally to embrace the groundswell of demonstrations against police killings of black people, thus creating the “March to Disarm the NYPD.”
“This last fall, public outrage over the police killings of Mike Brown, Akai Gurley, Eric Garner and the almost countless other black people murdered by police erupted in massive demonstrations and riots across the country,” the group organizing the Union Square rally said on Facebook. “They demanded an end to assassinations by police.”
People gathered and held signs expressing solidarity with people all over the world, “From Baltimore to Ayotzinapa” in Mexico, where 43 students went missing after a confrontation with police.
Justice for Ecuador! Stop Chevron's Attacks! pic.twitter.com/4oOFuQ73L9
— Audre Lorde Project (@audrelorde) May 1, 2015
At least 1,000 New Yorkers arrived, reported RT's Marina Portnaya.
At least 1-thousand strong in Union Sq for #MayDay rally. So far, peaceful pic.twitter.com/Am2SRNxAoM
— marina portnaya (@portnayanyc) May 1, 2015
The rally organizers embraced all oppressed peoples.
Queer and trans people of color mobilizing in solidarity with worker & immigrant liberation for #MayDayNYCpic.twitter.com/qdBojA7drM
— Audre Lorde Project (@audrelorde) May 1, 2015
In the late afternoon, marchers left Union Square for Foley Square in downtown Manhattan, walking through 2nd Avenue in the East Village where a gas fire recently destroyed three buildings, made residents homeless and put businesses out of work.
Marching in the NYC May Day parade right now! #MayDay1515#MayDayNYCpic.twitter.com/hpdirIowoi
— Fast Food Forward (@FastFoodForward) May 1, 2015
The march caused downtown gridlock temporarily.
Marchers chanted phrases such as, “all night all day, we’re doing this for Freddie Gray.” Their route was marked by barricades, with police officers traveling alongside protesters.
Big #MayDayNYC protest. Downtown gridlocked. pic.twitter.com/PUmwwa4IBd
— Jacob Soboroff (@jacobsoboroff) May 1, 2015
The NYPD has been criticized for the aggressive arrests of more than 140 protesters who rallied at Union Square on Wednesday in solidarity with Baltimore protesters over the death of Freddie Gray, 25. The Maryland State’s attorney announced indictments against six Baltimore police officers on Friday, including a charge of second-degree of murder.
Police Commissioner William Bratton said Friday that demonstrators should work with, not against, officers.
Elsewhere in New York, a dozen protesters unfurled a banner inside the Guggenheim Museum over unfair pay, and the museum was forced to close for the day. The protest was to challenge the museum’s alleged exploitation of laborers as it expands in Abu Dhabi.
Photo: Protesters unfurled a banner at New York's Guggenheim Museum for May Day http://t.co/KukoA7lsvwpic.twitter.com/cxHDC1lq3l
— The New York Times (@nytimes) May 1, 2015
According to the New York Times, advocates say workers pay recruitment and transit fees to be hired by construction companies that are overseen by the government in Abu Dhabi. Critics say the government takes the workers’ passports hostage, provides substandard housing and makes them work brutal schedules.
Hundreds mparticipated in May Day rallies in other US cities, including Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle, to demand rights for workers and immigrants, and an end to police brutality.
Seattle stands with Baltimore. #Seattle2Baltimore#SeaMayDaypic.twitter.com/3nCX16yL9Y
— {x : x ≥ y ∀ y} (@local_maxima) May 1, 2015
Several hundred people marched in Oakland, California, with some holding signs saying, “Racism is the Disease.” Others said they wanted better wages and working conditions for the masses.
Photo: An aerial view of May Day protesters at the Port of Oakland - nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/d5mYOHbd11
— SavageNation (@SavageNation) May 1, 2015
In Los Angeles, a dozen protesters rallied before dawn to encourage the implementation of President Obama's program to protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.
May Day Rallies Address Police Brutality, Race In Cities Nationwide: LOS ANGELES (AP) —… http://t.co/nEH2nfYRLqpic.twitter.com/3Bi5RIopaO
— Doyle Global Media (@DoyleGlobal) May 1, 2015
The annual May 1 marches are rooted in labor movements, which hold annual demonstrations in a myriad of countries calling for improved workers' rights. In recent years, marches in the United States got a boost from immigrants seeking authorization to live and work in the country legally.
