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millions of dollars in military vehicles, armor, and other weapons of war from the federal government under an outdated program known as Section 1033.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.

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

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?

Yes, I'll donate to help end militarized police forces.

For our safety and democracy,

Robert Cruickshank,
Demand Progress

 

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

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