Ithaca Protests Against Police Continue - The Presidential Election Will Likely Not Change That Either Way

This past Sunday, November 1st, in Ithaca NY a small crowd protesting police brutality gathered on the Commons downtown. Many in this group have come every Sunday since the murder of George Floyd back in late May. Now they come to protest brutality much closer to home.

On October 14th, 2020, Massia White-Saunders, a black man, was arrested by police when he got into an altercation with a Trump supporter. According to White-Saunders and other eyewitnesses, including a friend who recorded the interaction, the other man pulled a knife and threatened White-Saunders. Cops were called to deal with the situation and were recorded forcing White-Saunders into a car, without reading his Miranda rights or saying what he was being arrested for. The Trump supporter jeered as the arrest happened, telling White-Saunders to “Go die.”

The arrest sparked outrage in the local community and protests were held outside the Ithaca Police (IPD) Station for the next couple of days. A total of 8 protesters were arrested in the following days, either for vandalism or resisting arrest but no evidence indicates that any of the protestors committed either crime. On October 16th, police pepper sprayed a group of protestors, threw a 15-year-old girl to the ground and dragged a 36-year-old man into the police station while protestors linked arms to resist the onslaught.

Though the IPD is no stranger to extrajudicial violence and arresting people under false pretenses these recent events have reminded many that their liberal town still has a lot of racial inequality to face. Black people face a poverty rate almost twice as high as the white poverty rate and most live in relatively segregated areas in the South and Northwest parts of downtown Ithaca.

From talking to people at the protest this past Sunday it does not seem like most believe that any of these problems will change substantially if Joe Biden is elected, but many believe that the police brutality may increase under another 4 years of Donald Trump. For the overwhelmingly left-leaning young people of Ithaca, it seems that a vote for Biden is nothing more than a vote against Trump.