by Mohawk valley Freedom School/Press Release

What, When & Where?
On Thursday, August 18th at 6:30 PM, the Mohawk Valley Freedom School will team up with the National Lawyers Guild to host a Know Your Rights Workshop at the Cornerstone Community Church of 500 Plant Street.

Why?
In response to a recent upsurge of police harassment against poor communities,

communities of color and activists around the country—including here in Utica—this Workshop seeks to empower you to stand up against potential police harassment by working with you to build an understanding of laws that may help you protect yourself when encountering law enforcement.

Who?
The National Lawyer Guild’s Director of Mass Defense, King Downing, will lead the Know Your Rights Workshop. Downing, who has lead dozens of these workshops in communities across the country, is also a lawyer who founded the Human Rights-Racial Justice Center. He has served on Ferguson Legal Defense Committee, which supported the communities and protests in the St. Louis area after the killing of Michael Brown; he has advised community and rights organizations, such as Nicole Bell’s Sean Bell Justice Protect, named for her fiancé, killed by the NYPD; and he was the national coordinator of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Campaign Against Racial Profiling.

Attendees are encouraged to arrive at 6:30 PM, the workshop will start at 7 PM. Pizza and refreshments will be made available as well.

Facebook Event Page

For more information about the Mohawk Valley Freedom School, check out our website: https://mvfreedomschool.wordpress.com

For more information about the National Lawyers Guild, check out their website: http://www.nlg.org/about

For Love and Rage’s coverage of the UPD harassment in Utica, check out the following articles: 
Utica Police Gathering Intelligence on, Intimidating Local Activists – You Have the Right to Remain Silent
Update: Black Lives Matter and the UPD, Views from the Bottom-Up