INDIANAPOLIS, May 9—When Dreasjon Reed on May 21 was murdered by the police, the working class responded. A multiracial Progressive Labor Party (PLP) brought communist leadership to a protest action today. This action was organized by friends of Dreasjon and a local protest organization in the city.
Twenty-one year old Black worker Dreasjon Reed was gunned down by racist Indianapolis Metro Police Department officers. Reed was involved in a car chase with cops and at one point, left the car and ran from custody. Reports say that he exchanged gunfire with cops, who shot and murdered  him.
The same day, kkkops murdered another Black worker in the city, 19 year old McHale Ross, as well as white worker Ashlynn Lisby, who was pregnant! This same weekend, workers across the country ran in the name of Ahmaud Arbery (25), killed by  wannabe Klansmen for jogging while Black.
On an international level, workers continue to be overwhelmingly victimized by growing fascism. The instances of abuse and murder by cops are ongoing and increasing, while racist and class-based attacks continue in the form of the over-representation of the working class being infected and dying from Covid-19.
These abuses are related, as they are ongoing under a murderous capitalist system that makes examples of and continues to use our class as cannon fodder in order to maintain fear, control and profits. The difference between our Party and popular reform movements is our call for communist revolution and dismantling the capitalist system.
Bring the fight to killer cops, capitalism
A multiracial collection of fighters called for an end to cops lynching Black workers. Due to an internal struggle among protest groups in the city, there was no designated leadership present at the action. However, there were many people who were passionate about holding cops accountable for the continued racist victimization of the Black working class of Indianapolis.
Based on that desire, PLP helped lead the action, distributed CHALLENGE, held deep conversations with workers about the roots of this capitalist terror, and continued to grow relationships. We carried signs that said “the only solution is communist revolution” and “racism means we got to fight back,” and ones that called for multiracial unity against cop killings.
When a member of PLP spoke on the bullhorn, they tied the state terrorisim we all experience due to capitalism to the three recent deaths in the city. They led anti-capitalist chants and said our class has everything to gain from protesting this violence, and destroying this blood-soaked profit system.
A white protestor was targeted for arrest after they committed the “crime” of momentarily stepping off the curb into the street, being grabbed by cops.
When workers tried to pull them back into the crowd, the kkkops gleefully unloaded several toxic pellet shots at protestors.
 In defense, workers put their hands up and chanted, "hands up, don't shoot!" to no avail. Afterwards, PLP talked with people about how that plea won’t gain sympathy from cops or the capitalist state that breeds them. It's their job to terrorize us. It's our job as communists to show this truth to our class sisters and brothers and grow our Party.
Unity with workers, not kkkops
When confronting the cops, politicians, or other capitalist institutions about their brutalization of the working class, we have to know that there is no rational dealing with them. Their goal is to stamp out all opposition to their vicious rule. Our goal is to build relationships with as many people as we can, toward building a mass communist party to smash the capitalist system.
Many times during the action, those within the mass organizations present tried to make deals with the cops for less harsh treatment of protestors. Members of our Party were approached to lead others to follow rules that cops laid out in exchange for a promise by them to leave one side of the street or lessen their violence towards the crowd. We rejected that bargaining tactic and supported the workers in heightening their opposition to this murderous system and the ongoing terror tactics cops used.  We stood with our class as we stared down the cops and prevented more attacks by our united presence.
This tactic of attempting to bargain with cops and holding them to their word is a fatal flaw for reform movements. The only people we can trust at these actions are other workers, and the clear agreed-upon leadership that is established. The lack of this clear leadership was an additional liability to the action.
Learn to fight, fight to learn
The working class has proven time and again that we will not sit helplessly by as family and friends are killed and abused by capitalists’ henchmen. Members of our Party must continue to be a part of these fightback actions. Our relationships with people in mass movements is what will be the difference in workers embracing our line in this fight, and will prevent workers from continuing to be misled by reformists and politicians who will only uphold the bosses’ grasp on our throats. Fight the bosses and fight for communism!