Institutional Affiliation

University of Pittsburgh, Bradford

Start Date

16-1-2025 10:45 AM

End Date

16-1-2025 12:15 PM

Proposal Type

Presentation

Proposal Format

Virtual

Proposal Description

The United States of America has an insatiable appetite for the corpses of Black men. Although only a silent whisper in the field of conflict resolution, Black men and boys face unprecedented levels of state-sponsored direct, structural, and metaphysical violence. Empirical evidence regarding disparities within the nuanced constructs of police killings, stop-and-frisk searches, educational attainment, unemployment, mortality rates, mass incarceration, and all forms of covert counterinsurgency (COIN) operations shows that Black men are without question, enemies of the state and what Leonard Harris calls the ultimate “necro-being.” You see, on September 6, 2016, 29-year-old Black male anti-police activist Darren Seals was found shot to death inside his burning vehicle. Police ruled his death a homicide and never publicly identified any suspects. However, rumors and reports circulated by countless social media platforms and news agencies suggested that Seals was being surveilled by federal law enforcement authorities at the time of his murder.

Based on a series of Freedom of Information Privacy Act (FOIPA) requests over a 12-month period, I received and analyzed nearly 10,000 pages of previously undisclosed pages of declassified FBI documents on Darren Seals. Based on primary source documents, this paper presentation will unearth the secret campaign the United States of America waged against Black male anti-police activist, Darren Lashawn Seals Jr.

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Jan 16th, 10:45 AM Jan 16th, 12:15 PM

The United States of America v. Darren Seals

The United States of America has an insatiable appetite for the corpses of Black men. Although only a silent whisper in the field of conflict resolution, Black men and boys face unprecedented levels of state-sponsored direct, structural, and metaphysical violence. Empirical evidence regarding disparities within the nuanced constructs of police killings, stop-and-frisk searches, educational attainment, unemployment, mortality rates, mass incarceration, and all forms of covert counterinsurgency (COIN) operations shows that Black men are without question, enemies of the state and what Leonard Harris calls the ultimate “necro-being.” You see, on September 6, 2016, 29-year-old Black male anti-police activist Darren Seals was found shot to death inside his burning vehicle. Police ruled his death a homicide and never publicly identified any suspects. However, rumors and reports circulated by countless social media platforms and news agencies suggested that Seals was being surveilled by federal law enforcement authorities at the time of his murder.

Based on a series of Freedom of Information Privacy Act (FOIPA) requests over a 12-month period, I received and analyzed nearly 10,000 pages of previously undisclosed pages of declassified FBI documents on Darren Seals. Based on primary source documents, this paper presentation will unearth the secret campaign the United States of America waged against Black male anti-police activist, Darren Lashawn Seals Jr.