Afirmando que a "segurança dos clientes" está em jogo, os proprietários da cafeteria Hasta Muerte (espanhol para "até a morte") ao norte da Califórnia estão se recusando a servir a polícia.
Os proprietários do pequeno café se recusaram a comentar a tática, mas postaram uma imagem no Instagram com a legenda que diz — em espanhol — "Fale com seus vizinhos, não com a polícia", de acordo com a Ktvu.com.
Em um aceno para os recentes escândalos que derrubaram o comando do Departamento de Polícia de Oakland (OPD), o café também afirmou que: "As tentativas recentes do OPD em alistar oficiais de cor a curto prazo e o anúncio de menor envolvimento de agentes em tiroteios não reverte nem conserta sua história de corrupção, má gestão e escândalo, nem um legado de flagrante repressão".
Os representantes da polícia local tomaram uma posição cautelosa em relação à política da cafeteria. De acordo com a NBC Bay Area, um sargento procurou os proprietários do local para conversar e declarou ter intenção de "fomentar uma relação positiva dentro da comunidade".
Last Friday February 16th a police (OPD) entered our shop and was told by one of our worker-owners that “we have a policy of asking police to leave for the physical and emotional safety of our customers and ourselves.” Since then, cop supporters are trying to publicly shame us online with low reviews because this particular police visitor was Latino. He broadcasted to his network that he was “refused service” at a local business and now the rumblings are spreading. We know in our experience working on campaigns against police brutality that we are not alone saying that police presence compromises our feeling of physical & emotional safety. There are those that do not share that sentiment - be it because they have a friend or relative who is a police, because they are white or have adopted the privileges whiteness affords, because they are home- or business- owning, or whatever the particular case may be. If they want to make claims about police being part of the community, or claims that race trumps the badge & gun when it comes to police, they must accept that the burden of proof for such a claim is on them. OPDs recent attempts to enlist officers of color and its short term touting of fewer officer involved shootings does not reverse or mend its history of corruption, mismanagement, and scandal, nor a legacy of blatant repression. The facts are that poc, women, and queer police are complicit in upholding the same law and order that routinely criminalizes and terrorizes black and brown and poor folks, especially youth, trans, and houseless folks. For these reasons and so many more, we need the support of the actual community to keep this place safe, not police. Especially in an area faced by drug sales and abuse, homelessness, and toxic masculinity as we see here on this block. We want to put this out to our communities now, in case we end up facing backlash because as we know OPD, unlike the community, has tons of resources, many of which are poured into maintaining smooth public relations to uphold power. It will be no surprise if some of those resources are steered toward discrediting us for not inviting them in as part of the community.
Uma publicação compartilhada por Hasta Muerte Coffee (@hastamuertecoffee) em 22 de Fev, 2018 às 7:47 PST
A Associação dos Oficiais de Polícia de Oakland também afirmou que enviou uma carta pedindo esclarecimentos aos donos da cafeteria sobre os posicionamentos adotados junto à imprensa. Esclarecendo seu posicionamento, a cafeteria observou que, "como sabemos, o OPD, ao contrário da comunidade, tem toneladas de recursos, muitos dos quais são encontrados para manter relações públicas suaves para sustentar o poder".