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Dear John,
We write this email with a heavy heart because once again we are asking you to join us to demand justice for another slain Black person. Last week it was Breonna Taylor, the week before it was Ahmuad Arbery, and this week it’s George Floyd.
On Monday, May 25th, a grocery clerk thought George was writing a fake check and then called the police. Shortly after the police arrived, officers choked George as he and a crowd of people pleaded with them to stop. The entire murder was captured on camera and shared widely across social media.1 The following day, after a national outcry erupted, the police chief announced that all four officers who were on the scene were fired from the force.2
And while this is a step in the right direction, it does not absolve the officers of their blatant crime and we’re demanding Mayor Jacob Frey and District Attorney Michael Freeman take further action to secure justice for George Floyd.
- Block the from receiving their pensions;
- Ban the officers from ever becoming police officers again; and
- DA Freeman must immediately charge the officers with murdering George.
George’s death at the hands of the MPD is eerily similar to Eric Garner’s. Both Black men uttered the same words as cops took their lives. Police violence, harassment, and assaults on Black people happen far too often. Just two months ago, officers in Louisville stormed Breonna Taylor’s home and murdered her in a botched investigation. And the names of Black people murdered for simply existing goes on and on.
But when we fight and hold powerful people to account, we win. After more than 43,000 Color Of Change members called for #JusticeforBre and more than 300,000 members #RanwithAhmaud, charges filed against Bre’s boyfriend were dropped and Ahmaud’s killers were charged with murder. And we can win justice for George, as well, if we keep up sustained pressure on Mayor Frey and DA Freeman to take action.
Stand with George’s family and demand that the officers are charged with murder.
Officers rarely, if ever, are held accountable for inflicting harm on Black people. Even after viral videos are released, they continue to earn paychecks, collect pensions, and walk free as the Black bodies they took from us are gone. This must end. They should not be rewarded for egregious misconduct. Derek Chauvin, George’s killer, and the Minneapolis Police Department have an ugly history of misconduct. Chauvin has been involved in at least three other incidents where he shot someone and has never been held accountable for any of them. And the MPD kills Black people at a rate 13x higher than white people - a larger racial disparity than almost anywhere else in the nation. It’s imperative we fight to hold these officers accountable and push this department to reform their practices. Will you stand with us in our fight for justice?
Until justice is real,
--Scott, Rashad, Arisha, Erika, Malachi, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References:
1. "Video shows Minneapolis cop with knee on neck of motionless, moaning man who later died." CBS News.
2. "4 Minneapolis Police Officers Fired Over George Floyd Death." Huffington Post.
3. "Police Accountability Tool." Mapping Police Violence.
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