ACAB

ACAB, an acronym for all cops are bastards, is a political slogan for those who are against police and police brutality. It is usually said as a catchphrase in

ACAB
ACAB graffiti in Chile

ACAB, an acronym for all cops are bastards, is a political slogan for those who are against police and police brutality. It is usually said as a catchphrase in graffiti or tattoos. It is sometimes seen as 1312, with each number representing the place of each letter in the English alphabet.

Background

The phrase "all cops are bastards" first appeared in England in the 1920s.[1][2] It was then shortened to "ACAB" by workers on strike in the 1940s.[1][2][3] The acronym was mainly used by criminals in the United Kingdom. The first reported use was a prison tattoo in the 1970s.[4]

In 1970, the Daily Mirror used ACAB as the headline of an article.[3]

During the 1980s, ACAB became an anti-establishment symbol, especially within the punk and skinhead subcultures.[3] It became popular by the 1982 song "A.C.A.B." by Oi! band the 4-Skins. In later years, ACAB turned into a popular slogan in European football[5] and anarchist and anti-authoritarian movements across the world.[3]

In some cases, the Anti-Defamation League finds the phrase as a hate symbol and calls it as "a slogan of long standing in the skinhead culture", while also saying that the phrase is used both by racist and anti-racist skinheads.[6][7]

ACAB acronym on a Black Lives Matter poster sign, 2020

Police brutality

In the aftermath of the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by the police officer Derek Chauvin, the use of the term ACAB became more used by those who were against the police.[8] As protests in response to Floyd's murder picked up in the United States, ACAB was more used on social media and products.[8] Supporters of the term say that ACAB means every single police officer is responsible in an unjust system. They argued that police officers, even if they did not take part in police brutality or racism in policing themselves, were still responsible for what other police officers did because they did not speak out against it or try to stop it.[9]

Censorship

In Germany, usage of the term is a criminal offense when it is about a single person, but is allowed when used to describe a large group of people.[10] Both "ACAB" and "1312" have been seen as insults by state courts.[11][12] In Austria, the use of ACAB could be punishable by law with a fine of up to 700 euros or alternatively a week under arrest.[13]

After a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, 15 protesters were charged with assisting a criminal street gang for using the phrase "all cops are bastards" while wearing black clothes and carrying umbrellas. The police officers who arrested them said the protesters were members of "a group known as ACAB All Cops Are Bastards."[14] Criminal charges against the protestors were dropped since there was not any evidence in support of the claim that "ACAB" is a gang.[15]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Partridge, Eric (1986). A Dictionary of Catch Phrases. Taylor & Francis. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-415-05916-9.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Aitken-Smith, Trent; Tyson, Ashley (2016). The Tattoo Dictionary. Octopus. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-78472-254-8.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Groundwater, Colin (11 June 2020). "A brief history of ACAB". GQ. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
  4. ↑ Thompson, Tim; Black, Sue (2006). Forensic Human Identification: An Introduction. Taylor & Francis. p. 384. ISBN 978-0-8493-3954-7.
  5. ↑ Pollard, John (2016). "Skinhead culture: the ideologies, mythologies, religions and conspiracy theories of racist skinheads". Patterns of Prejudice. 50 (4–5): 398–419. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2016.1243349. ISSN 0031-322X. S2CID 151502563.
  6. ↑ "ACAB". Anti-Defamation League. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  7. ↑ Guerra, Nicola (January 2013). "Dalla strada alla letteratura, le spericolate e propizie vicende del forestierismo A.C.A.B.. Il contatto linguistico tra italiano e inglese nelle sottoculture Skinhead e Ultras" [From the road to literature, the reckless and auspicious events of the forestry industry A.C.A.B .. The linguistic contact between Italian and English in the Skinhead and Ultras subcultures]. Analele Universităţii Din Craiova, Seria Ştiinţe Filologice Linguistică Nr. 1-2. Universităţii din Craiova. Retrieved 2020-06-03.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Poulter, James (2020-06-08). "How 'ACAB' Became the Universal Anti-Police Slogan". Vice. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
  9. ↑ "What I mean when I say I want to abolish the police". The Independent. 2020-06-01. Archived from the original on 2020-06-02. Retrieved 2021-12-17.
  10. ↑ "German free speech: ACAB is A-OK, but A-hole is a no-no". Deutsche Welle. 2016-07-21.
  11. ↑ "Constitutional Court allows 'FCK CPS' sticker". The Local. 2015-04-28. Retrieved 2016-08-17.
  12. ↑ Federal Constitutional Court (2015-04-28). ""Kollektivbeleidigung" nur bei Bezug zu einer hinreichend überschaubaren und abgegrenzten Personengruppe" (Press release) (in German). Retrieved 2019-02-25.
  13. ↑ 3 1 Abs. 1 Z.1 WLSG.Template:Check spelling
  14. ↑ O'Connor, Meg (January 14, 2021). "They Took Umbrellas to a Black Lives Matter Protest. The D.A. Hit Them with Gang Charges". The Appeal. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
  15. ↑ Kelety, Josh (August 12, 2021). "Probe Finds Phoenix Police Lacked 'Credible' Evidence in Protester Gang Case". Phoenix New Times. Retrieved July 5, 2022.

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