There are a number of "socialists" writing in places like Jacobin who have been promoting a pro-police agenda. The vague, careless way that this is discussed, even in some circles on the left, has no function other than to support stuff like this.

Anyone who wants to understand how policing works in the U.S. needs to read this incredible local investigation about what Minneapolis police did after feds killed Renee Good.

THREAD. Did you know that Minneapolis police deployed 101 personnel to a 7-person vigil held one morning at Renee Good's memorial? The cops generated $1.92 million in overtime cash for themselves.

At this vital time in understanding propaganda and authoritarianism, a reminder that we have free copies of Copaganda for teachers, students, and anyone who sends books to people in prison. If you want copies, link is in next post! My grandma says the book is amazing.

It has been the honor of my career to have worked with so many beautiful, relentless, kind, brilliant people to fight against some of the most monstrous and senseless state violence and profiteering. I'm so excited for the next 10 years @civrightscorps.bsky.social.

We have also won $10,000,000s for the most vulnerable people in our society, pioneered political education and narrative strategies to change the way our society thinks about mass incarceration and family separation, and built innovative solutions to make our communities safer.

THREAD. This past week marks the 10-year anniversary of Civil Rights Corps. We have pioneered landmark civil rights litigation that has liberated hundreds of thousands of people from illegal confinement in jail cells.

If you are in D.C., come join us at the MLK Library on Monday at 630pm in room 401-A for this fantastic event. We'll be talking about propaganda, repression, and what we can do about it together.

The folks at Jacobin magazine (a self described socialist magazine for the left) seem to think the left should not be talking about stuff like this:

This is one consequence of the left not being clear about reducing budgets for state repression. Every Democratic Party politician going on about “training” and “body cams” and every Jacobin author vaguely saying the left should not talk about repressive budgets leads to this:

With all the talk on the center-left about supposedly needing to commit to existing levels of repression by preserving existing police, prison, and surveillance budgets, everyone seems to be forgetting ICE's new detention budget is 60% greater than entire federal prison system.

The lack of seriousness in places like Jacobin on these issues is alarming. Basically it’s just incredibly superficial, wrongheaded slop about how it’s not “popular with the people” to question waste, fraud, and abuse in the profitable policing and surveillance bureaucracies.

We are at a very important moment on the left. Opposing repression and talking honestly and seriously and rigorously about policing, surveillance, jails, prisons, and courts is a bare minimum for any socialist project.

There are people writing in Jacobin magazine who are telling socialists not to oppose police contracts for stuff like this giving money to people like this.