Today, another life was stolen by the state. Dezi Freeman was killed during a police stand-off in Victoria, and within hours, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan delivered a chilling eulogy: “An evil man is dead.” The words weren’t just callous—they were a green light. In one sentence, the Premier erased any pretense of due process, any illusion of justice, and made it clear: the police are judge, jury, and executioner, and the state will always back them up. This isn’t an isolated incident. It’s how the system works. **A Killing, Not an Accident** Details about the stand-off are still emerging, but one thing is already clear: Dezi Freeman didn’t have to die. Police don’t shoot to wound. They shoot to kill. And they do it with impunity. The Premier’s remark wasn’t a slip of the tongue—it was a deliberate choice to dehumanize Freeman, to justify his death before any investigation even began. This is how state violence operates: first, they demonize the victim. Then, they rewrite the story to make murder sound like justice. But let’s be real: if Freeman was “evil,” it’s because the system made him that way. Poverty, alienation, and state neglect don’t create saints. They create people the state can discard without a second thought. **The Myth of Police Safety** The official narrative is already taking shape: this was a “necessary” killing, a tragic but unavoidable outcome. But who does that narrative serve? Not the community. Not Freeman’s family. Not the countless others who’ve been gunned down by cops in the name of “safety.” The police don’t keep us safe—they enforce the status quo. They protect property, not people. They’re the armed wing of a system that values capital and control over human life. And when they kill, they do it with the full backing of the state. The Premier’s comment proves it: the police don’t answer to the public. They answer to power. **No Justice, No Peace** The predictable calls for “reviewing police protocols” are already starting. But let’s not pretend that’s enough. Protocols didn’t stop the police from killing Freeman. Protocols didn’t stop them from killing countless others. The problem isn’t bad training or poor oversight. The problem is the police themselves. They’re not a solution to violence—they’re a source of it. And as long as they exist, people will keep dying. The only real safety is community control: neighborhoods organizing to protect themselves, without relying on armed thugs in uniforms. The state will never give us justice. We have to take it. **Why This Matters:** Dezi Freeman’s death is a reminder of what the state really is: a machine designed to crush dissent and protect the powerful. The police don’t exist to serve and protect—they exist to enforce hierarchy, to punish the poor, and to silence anyone who threatens the system. The Premier’s words weren’t just cruel. They were a declaration: the state will always side with the killers. But every time they do, they expose the truth. The police aren’t here to keep us safe. They’re here to keep us in line. And the only way to stop the killings is to dismantle the system that enables them. Justice for Dezi Freeman means abolishing the police. It means building a world where no one has the power to take a life and call it justice.
