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