NEW YORK CITY — Thousands of New Yorkers are expected to barrel into the city's subway system Friday with a single goal in mind:
"Think of the ways you can move in affinity to build, and to f--- s--- up," a masked, hooded man with a disguised voice says in a video posted to Twitter this week.
"The streets are ours," the Decolonize This Place tweet reads. "The trains our ours. The walls are ours. This moment is ours."
Jan. 31 will be a day of action to protest the recent increase in New York City cops patrolling the subway station that will culminate with a rally at Grand Central Station at 5 p.m., organizers told Patch.
The Decolonize This Place call to action has since caught the attention of more than 43,000 viewers, including President Donald Trump's son.
"Too late," Donald Trump Jr. quipped of the group's mission. "The New York's mayor has been doing that for years now."
A key organizer, who asked not to be named, said the Decolonize This Place protest would include art, music and marches, "Enacting free public transit in solidarity with black, brown and indigenous people."
"We want to send this clear message," the organizer said. "We're taking a stand against police."
Police said Thursday they were aware of the protest and would have "adequate police presence in place."
Decolonize This Place — one of the major organizers behind a massive Harlem rally in November to protest Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to hire 500 new police officers to patrol the MTA — is also preparing to face off against police.
"We're always worried with police violence and escalation," said the organizer. "We saw that in Harlem when they brutalized a lot of people."
Protesters are encouraged to do what they need to feel safe, but not to fear police, the organizer said.
"We can't be afraid of police," he said. "It's the police who should be afraid of people."
The action comes one week after the 500 subway cops were sworn in on Jan. 23, despite rising protests from straphangers and elected officials outraged over a spate of recent violent subway arrests, many of which shows cops targeting people of color.
Their concerns reached Attorney General's office, which has launched an investigation into allegations of racial prejudice in subway fare evasion policing.
Decolonize's announcement has since spurred an onslaught of criticism from what the anonymous Decolonize protesters described as "right wing bloggers."
"They're tagging the FBI and using words like terrorism," the Decolonize organizer said.
But the group sees Friday's protest as an opportunity to reach fellow New Yorker commuters fed up with the status quo.
"So much love and radical care and art has gone into this moment," the organizer said. "That's why the stakes are so high."
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