Dear Friend,

All over the country, people exercised their right to peacefully protest
last month as military planes and drones flew over their heads.^1
Government forces filled our streets with grenades and tear gas. Troops
patrolled wearing camouflaged armor and carrying military sniper rifles.^2

But this wasn't the Pentagon waging war on protesters—it was done by local
police departments who have purchased millions of dollars in military
vehicles, armor, and other weapons of war from the federal government
under an outdated program known as Section 1033.

Representative Nydia Velazquez has introduced a bill to end the 1033
program for good—and we need to rally to get this bill passed before any
more Americans are killed by our hypermilitarized police.

[ [link removed] ]Police aren't soldiers, and they shouldn't be armed like the military.
Will you donate to help end police militarization?

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Local law enforcement are increasingly buying up weapons of war and using
them against their own communities.

These police departments have access to these weapons thanks to Section
1033, a program that has given cops the arms to terrify the public.^3

In 2014, Section 1033 was thrown into the spotlight when heavily armed
police attacked protesters in Ferguson, Missouri. After the spectacle, a
public outcry led to President Obama restricting weapons purchased under
the law, but Donald Trump overturned those restrictions.^4

Now areas like rural Payne County, Oklahoma, population 81,000, are
heavily armed. The sheriff’s department boasts a 29-ton Mine Resistant
Ambush Protected vehicle with 3,000 pounds of rocket-propelled grenades
attached to the sides.^5 The state of Connecticut has spent $20 million on
military hardware, including a $700,000 armored vehicle in tiny
Bridgeport.^6

When Black Lives Matter took to the streets this month in Boston, the
police responded with a stockpile of AR-15s, grenades, tasers, and another
$141,365 worth of military equipment purchased just to police the
protests.^7 And there is a direct correlation between police killings of
citizens and access to military gear.^8

There is much work to be done to stop police violence, and ending
militarized police forces is an important step. That's why we've already
had more than 60,000 people contact Congress to pressure them to end this
program. Now we need your help to support Rep. Nydia Velazquez's bill to
end the 1033 program. Will you donate?

[ [link removed] ]Yes, I'll donate to help end militarized police forces.

For our safety and democracy,

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

[ [link removed] ]DONATE

 

Sources:
1. The Boston Globe, "Boston police spent more than $200,000 on
military-style equipment during first five months of this year," [ [link removed] ]June
23, 2020
2. Ibid.
3. Marketplace, "How police departments got billions of dollars of
tactical military equipment," [ [link removed] ]June 12, 2020
4. The New York Times, "Obama Puts Focus on Police Success in Struggling
City in New Jersey," [ [link removed] ]May 18, 2015
5. Stillwater News Press, "Vehicle aids Sheriff’s Office in critical
response situations," [ [link removed] ]January 17, 2014
6. The Connecticut Mirror, "Connecticut police receive millions of dollars
in military equipment from program that’s under fire," [ [link removed] ]June 12, 2020
7. The Boston Globe, "Boston police spent more than $200,000 on
military-style equipment during first five months of this year," [ [link removed] ]June
23, 2020
8. The Washington Post, "Why does the Minneapolis police department look
like a military unit?" [ [link removed] ]May 28, 2020
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