the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Sep 19, 2016
Korryn Gaines, a 23-year-old mother, was shot to death and her five-year-old son Kodi was wounded on August 1st by Baltimore County Police when they went to Gaines’ apartment to serve a warrant on her for a misdemeanor traffic offense.
The police escalated the situation before it even became a situation. Did they send a sheriff and a negotiating team or social worker? No. They sent in a SWAT team to serve a warrant for a traffic stop on a car without valid tags. To say this is excessive is a complete understatement.
The SWAT team kicked in her door. They got Facebook to shut down her account because she was live streaming their actions. Most egregious–they fired into her apartment killing Gaines with her 5-year-old son in the apartment. They dare accuse her of putting her son in danger!
The police set up a confrontation between themselves and Gaines that for all practical purposes had no other possible ending. Before her Facebook account was shut down, Gaines put on it, “Don’t tell me what to do, I’m home. Tell those gang members outside my door to go away from my home and family.”
The family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the Baltimore County Police. Maybe they will get some money. But it won’t bring back Kodi’s mother or the images of her murder in his head. And it won’t stop the “gang members” from murdering again, Baltimore County’s supposed “finest.”