Friend,

Historic uprisings are taking place all across the nation, and even
globally, in response to the deaths of Rayshard Brooks, George Floyd,
Breonna Taylor, and Tony McDade at the hands of police.
Donald Trump’s reaction? Deploy the National Guard to violently suppress
free speech and wage war against us. Then he insulted us with an executive
order that reinforces reform measures that are ineffective and only fund
law enforcement further.

We must call for an immediate end to police terrorism. It’s long past time
that we divest from police and prisons and use that money to invest in
community and protecting Black lives. That’s why we’re asking you to join
us in calling on Congress to address police violence now.

[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition calling on Congress to address police violence.

In the six years since the Black Lives Matter movement formed in response
to Trayvon Martin’s violent, unjust, and untimely death, organizers have
pushed for police reforms such as body cameras and implicit bias training.
But those reforms have proved to be ineffective. Instead, millions of
dollars are being poured into law enforcement agencies that only further
terrorize our Black communities.(1) Just last month, a Black activist who
trained a police department in implicit bias was shot by that very same
department during the Black Lives Matter protests.(2)

Research has shown that what works is taking the billions of dollars in
overfunding of police and instead investing those funds into community
services and holding police accountable for their violence.(3)

That’s why Courage California has joined a coalition -- including BYP100,
Daily Kos, Stand.earth, Rock The Vote, and others -- calling on Congress
to:

* Defund police and prioritize deep investment in community health,
education, and housing.
Cities across the nation have already invested in programs that reduce
police intervention while increasing community intervention.(4)
Minneapolis City Council recently voted to defund and disband the
police and will follow in the footsteps of those cities.(5)
* Create a national database for decertified police officers and a
national database of police shootings and use of force broken down by
demographics.
Many officers who are fired for misconduct are rehired elsewhere, or
even in their original departments. In one case, an officer fired for
a deadly shooting was rehired so he could receive a pension, paid for
by the community he harmed.(6) Another officer sexually assaulted a
woman, and yet another handcuffed a man and challenged him to a fight
to be released.(7) A database must be created and stipulations
enforced to ensure these officers no longer have a job in law
enforcement.
* Eliminate federal programs that allocate military equipment to law
enforcement.
Last month alone, deep in the middle of the pandemic, the government
approved $850 million dollars for law enforcement agencies to buy riot
gear and military equipment and hire private security -- all while
claiming it could not provide funds for personal protective equipment
for essential and frontline workers.(8)
* End the qualified immunity doctrine that prevents police from being
held legally accountable.
The Supreme Court has gutted a significant civil rights law that was
meant to protect civilians against harm and abuse from public
officials. Instead they reinterpreted the law so that the assumption
is police officers are acting in “good faith” -- meaning they are
always treated as if they are unaware they were breaking the law and
assumed their actions were legal. But even in cases where officers are
shown they clearly have broken the law, when their cases reach the
upper courts, the upper courts rule in their favor. There is no reason
police officers should be able to get away with “not knowing the law”
when the rest of us are held to a different standard.(9)
 

More and more it’s become obvious that a world without terrorist policing
is possible. And while we transition away from police control towards
community control, it’s important we demilitarize the police, make sure
officers who kill can never get a job as an officer again, and end the
legal precedent that allows law enforcement to get away with assault,
murder, and violence. It’s up to us to continue putting pressure on
elected officials to do so.

[ [link removed] ]Join us in calling on Congress to address police violence immediately!

Yours in the fight to end police terrorism,

Molly, along with Angela, Annie, Brian, Caitlin, Deepthi, Eddie, Gabby,
Jay, Lindsay, and Raquel (the Courage team)

P.S. [ [link removed] ]Click here for more ways to show up for Black lives!

Footnotes

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Courage California (formerly Courage Campaign) makes sure our democracy works for ALL of us by fighting corruption in California politics. We believe the solution lies in exposing and solving systemic problems through strategic organizing, enhancing coordination between progressive organizations, and mobilizing civic engagement from our communities, particularly voters of color, young voters, and self-identified progressives.

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