Solidarity Statement From APOC

APOC Stands with Joaquin Cienfuegos Resisting the Police State

APOC Stands with Joaquin Cienfuegos

Resisting the Police State

On June 27^th around 10pm, Joaquin was dropping off a comrade at his house when they drove by the Hollywood police, staring at them as they drove by. Before they got to the end of the block, the pigs hit the lights on them. Joaquin said "they're pulling us over". What they saw- two young males of color in a car. The pigs declared the car doesn't have license plates (he just got his car and it has a DMV permit on the front windshield). His comrade told the pigs that Joaquin needed to get his wheelchair out of his trunk. The pig came to the driver's side of the car and popped the trunk, decided to go into the trunk without consent, and put the wheelchair together.

At that point the cop saw a Machete in the trunk and asked Joaquin "what are you doing with a machete?" Joaquin said he does gardening work from time to time and it shouldn't be "illegal" to have a machete in his trunk. They began to pull out personal belongings, all legal to carry in the trunk. They saw fliers for the Summer Solidarity Festival/Free the Black Rider 3 event on July 12th, and a black case. They pulled out the case and asked Joaquin what was in it and pulled out an all-legal AR-15 rifle that is in his name. They pulled Joaquin out the car, handcuffed him, and went into his pockets to get the driver's license. He didn't have it because he was robbed recently and stripped of almost all possessions. The pigs asked his comrade if he was on parole or probation. The reply was "No". They put him in the back seat of their car, and called their sergeant to plan their story and find something to arrest him for.

A couple members of CopWatch-Los Angeles guerrillas showed up with cameras and they took Joaquin off to the Hollywood div.

After illegally searching his car, the pigs finally booked him around 2 in the morning for carrying a loaded firearm and having four warrants. After spending the weekend in Parker Center, Monday found the pigs had changed their story. They said they stopped Joaquin for passing a stop sign (when he had made a right hand turn), and they had done a legal search of his car, and charged him with an illegal possession of an assault rifle.

Joaquin was in isolation- segregated, and on lock down for the majority of time in a little dungeon at Men's County Jail Twin Towers. The only contact was with his cell mate and the pig deputies. He didn't leave his cell not even to eat. He didn't involve himself in prison-politics and told people he was a revolutionary. This was his reality. As of now, borrowed funds are yet to be paid back, it's up to us to make it happen!

Currently, he just saved his car from the impound lot yesterday and took care of his license. As if paying bail wasn't enough- the impound cost $1,200. He was arraigned on the 23^rd of July and its back to court again for a preliminary trial on August 22nd.

Joaquin Cienfuegos writes: "On the inside there were hundreds, over 90%, of Brown and Black men. I met many people who were rounded up illegally by the Los Angeles Police Department. There were many cases, in one instance a Mexican man was stopped by and undercover pig in the Pico Union District, when he was walking, they took his ID and said it was false. He had been in USA for 14 years and was now going to be separated from his family. In another case, a young Chicano was framed for a robbery he did not do and had a year taken from his life, and another Mexican male had been fighting a murder case he was innocent of for 3 years. There was a Black youth, who the police planted some weed on.

This is business as usual in Los Angeles. They need to put the thousands of new police officers to use in Los Angeles, and the jail needs to get that county money. This is the reality for our sisters and brothers, we are pushed into the system, and they want to keep us locked up or kill us off for good. The prison industrial complex exists, and to these people it's all business -- they don't care about us. All they care about is their empire and their profits.

I don't apologize for standing up for my right to defend myself, our peoples and our communities. I could've handled the situation differently to avoid this situation, but anybody who resists will be beat down and smashed by the state, just the law of this motherfucking beast. I'm glad we're organized to deal with it on a small level. This isn't the first or the last time the fascist state has done this. They want to paint me as a gangster because I was legally carrying a gun. Yet if I was a white male member of the National Rifle Association, I wouldn't get hassled for having a legal rifle. The SWAT team and their imperialist army carries them as well. It is obvious that they have waged war on our communities and indigenous people everywhere, and we will continue to build a revolutionary popular movement of different communities to make fundamental changes and take our territories back from the empire. That's what I have decided to live my life for. I understand this process is a struggle, and those in the power structure will not allow this without a fight."

Publicize this! Write about this! Talk about this! Stand up for your right to defend yourself, the people, and our communities. Hold a fun and/or informative fundraising event or hit up individuals to "match" your contribution to the defense fund. Hell, the storm of fundraising ideas is bountiful, let it rain on you and share the harvest! Let's build a critical mass for our brother and show the Pigs- APOC IS A FORCE TO FUCK WITH. He's not doing this alone. Thanks comrades! Together we keep on moving forward.