Baltimore, Maryland, November 30—Progressive Labor Party (PLP) members joined about 40 students, faculty and community supporters to protest Johns Hopkins University’s plan for a $10 million private, armed police force. The day’s activities included a two-hour march through the Homewood campus of Johns Hopkins University (JHU), an evening vigil, and then a West Wednesday rally outside City Hall. During the campus march, a PLP member distributed 20 flyers and copies of CHALLENGE, and engaged in conversations about socialism, communism and the history of racist police murder in Baltimore.  Racism is a pillar of capitalist society and that includes universities. Over policing and murder by kkkops are glaring examples of racist attacks on all workers and students, Black and white. The whole capitalist system has to go.

That night’s West Wednesday rally condemned the recent police killing of Tyree Moorehead, the main creator of Baltimore’s “no shoot zones.” Some maintain that Mr. Moorehead was threatening a woman’s life with a knife, but the police shot him 14 times, continuing to shoot even after Mr. Moorehead, lying on the street, had rolled a distance away from the woman. This is yet another case of the police acting as judge, jury and executioner.

School kkkops enforce campus fascism
At the evening vigil, a member of PLP explained that armed campus police forces, starting at private universities in the 60s, were not created to protect the safety of students or neighboring community members, which Hopkins officials claim to be their goal. No, explained the speaker, the real reason was to enable universities to suppress powerful on-campus protests supporting civil rights, and opposing the imperialist war in Vietnam.

When Hopkins started their propaganda campaign, seeking to win Maryland State approval for an armed campus police force, Hopkins Students Against Private Police researched University statistics. Hopkins already had about 1,000 unarmed security guards. It turns out, for the year researched by the students, regarding “suspects” detained by campus security, 97 percent were Black, even though the student body includes only a small percentage of Black students. Hopkins has orchestrated this racial profiling, and now wants to put guns into the mix. Two students explained that, while the university claims to uphold “democracy,” it has consistently refused to listen to the majority of students, faculty and community who oppose an armed campus force.

History of students’ antiracist fightback
The struggle at Hopkins is not new. In 2018, militant rallies, a month-long take-over of the administration building, community petitions with thousands of names, and community groups - including West Wednesday – all strongly opposed the establishment of an armed force. Nevertheless, in 2019 Hopkins succeeded in getting the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation allowing the university, medical complex, and Peabody Institute to move forward with a private, armed police force.
However, after the horrific death of George Floyd and the millions of people who stood strong against that racist police murder, Hopkins announced it would delay implementation of the armed force for two years. Now the time is up, and JHU – figuring the sit-in students and their supporters have largely graduated and gone – is moving forward again.

Still, anti-racist protestors disrupted hearings about this issue in September. Ongoing rallies, by students and community members, have demonstrated deep feelings against violent policing and the danger it poses, especially to Black and Latin students, and to nearby community residents.

Today’s rally and vigil started with a walkout at Gilman Hall. Speakers at checkpoints included a faculty member who recounted past attacks on student protests by the administration and campus security. Several students said they have been protesting for years against Hopkins’ plans for an armed force.

Can’t reform away police terror
Another parallel development is that the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) will soon be overseen by the Baltimore City government. Until now, for over a hundred years, it has been the State of Maryland that oversaw BPD. Some organizers see this as a reform that will lead to significant police accountability.

As communists, we understand that police brutality will continue under this system, no matter which level of government is in charge. This is because police terror is essential to capitalism, just as brutal slave catchers were essential to the institution of slavery. We will continue to fight against racist police murder, from Freddie Gray and Tyrone West, to the recent murder – by a security guard – of Kevin Torres in Baltimore. And we will continue to share our understanding of the need for multiracial unity, revolution, and the creation of a new egalitarian world with real sisterhood and brotherhood.