LOGO [[link removed]]Hi John,

What happened to George Floyd in Minnesota was not an “officer-involved death.” It was a racist and cold-blooded murder. As candidates, politicians, and community leaders, we must not hide this horror in bureaucratic language. A police officer knelt on Mr. Floyd’s neck while he begged for his life on camera, and killed him.

The American criminal justice system does not deliver justice to everyone. Black people are under siege all across this nation, not only by bigoted police departments, but also by decades-long legal precedents in our system that criminalize blackness itself. If we are to work toward creating justice for all people, we must begin by dismantling these racist institutions of power. We have no other choice.

Here are the three things I would advocate to change right away as your Senator: *
Prohibit
racial
profiling,
and
require
robust
data
collection
on
police-community
encounters
and
law
enforcement
activities.
Data
should
capture
all
demographic
categories
and
be
disaggregate.
*
*
Eliminate
federal
programs
that
provide
military
equipment
to
law
enforcement.
*
*
End
the
qualified
immunity
doctrine
which
prevents
police
from
being
held
legally
accountable
when
they
break
the
law.
Qualified
immunity,
a
defense
that
shields
officials
from
being
sued,
has
been
interpreted
by
courts
so
broadly
that
it
allows
officers
to
engage
in
unconstitutional
acts
with
impunity.

There are many pathways we as individuals can take to fight for justice. We need to have difficult conversations with our families and friends, we need to show support and listen to the black communities in our nation, and if we have the means to donate to these community groups or to help the protesters around the country, it’s time to step up.

George Floyd had as much of a right to his own life as any one of us. And that life was taken away from him at the hands of a hate-filled racist paid by the state of Minnesota to enforce the law. It is the same law that allowed Ahmaud Arbery’s killers to walk free for two months despite video evidence. It is the same law Amy Cooper tried exploiting to call the cops on a black man for bird-watching in Central Park. It is the same law that criminalizes damage to property, but legalizes damage to human life.

The time to act is now, John. It’ll take all of us. This is multiracial fight, but we have to get the message across that black lives matter in this country.

In solidarity,

Betsy Sweet
PAID FOR BY SWEET FOR SENATE
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Betsy Sweet for U.S. Senate
PO Box 487
Hallowell, ME 04347
United States