John,

In recent weeks, U.S. police have assaulted Americans at nonviolent protests for a ceasefire, including at a multi-faith vigil for a ceasefire in Washington, DC.

Without warning, police pepper-sprayed, punched, kicked, and threw protesters down stairs. Police injured about 90 people, many of whom were Jewish people lovingly saying “not in our name.”

Growing up in Detroit, I was taught to march and protest for freedom, justice and more at an early age. It is what I did to demand clean air, an end to police brutality, and illegal foreclosures in my own neighborhood.

So for me, this is how we fight against fascism and oppression. Where we fight against those who would rather fund bombs, wars, and oppression rather than the calls from their own constituents demanding an end to the madness of wars.  

It is our responsibility as Americans, human beings, to raise our voices and exercise our full rights under the Constitution.

These brutal, authoritarian tactics are outrageous, and they undermine our democracy and our civil rights.

Please sign if you agree: Instead of funding war and militarized police that threaten our communities and our movements, we urgently need to invest in human needs like clean water, access to healthcare, and housing.

Anti-war advocates held a nonviolent vigil, lighting candles, singing in DC begging to be heard alongside the 80% of American Democrats who want a ceasefire.

As a member of Congress, I pride myself in listening to and engaging with my residents, even when it's hard. However, many colleagues would rather ignore and hope the movement would just disappear. Some even slandered and accused their constituents of supporting terrorism. It was the same members who refuse to support a ceasefire.

I still remember the police using tear gas on people peacefully protesting against Cop City, a massive training center for militarized policing in Atlanta. Georgia officials have shamefully charged these nonviolent activists with domestic terrorism and racketeering. This isn't democracy, it's fascism.

These attempts to criminalize and suppress dissent are dangerous attacks on our First Amendment right to protest. And those same police departments in Atlanta and DC have long collaborated with Israeli police and military.

Jewish Voice for Peace, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and others have denounced these “deadly exchanges,” where American and Israeli agents of state violence train each other to subjugate marginalized communities, surveil grassroots movements, and silence people who are speaking up for human rights.

No one should be harassed or dehumanized by government agents. We can’t keep spending U.S. tax dollars on war crimes abroad and increasingly militarized police forces that abuse human rights at home.

It’s clear that these harmful systems of oppression are intertwined, and we especially cannot justify funding them when our neighbors are struggling to put food on the table, fighting to keep a roof over their heads, and are forced to ration their medication.

Sign the petition: Instead of funding war and militarized policing, we need to invest in human needs.

From Detroit to Gaza, I will continue to demand equality and justice for all. I will keep defending our rights and our shared humanity.

In solidarity,

Rashida