There have only been twelve days in 2020 where the police have not killed
someone. Tell your member of Congress to support the BREATHE Act!
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]SIGN NOW

Content warning: We discuss the police violence against Breonna Taylor,
George Floyd, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, Jacob Blake, Trayford
Pellerin, Cornerlius Fredericks, Layleen Xtravaganza Polanco, Antonio
Valenzuela, and Muhammad Muyamin below.

Dear Friend,

MomsRising stands with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over
150 Black-led organizations that have come together today to launch the
[ [link removed] ]BREATHE Act. This visionary bill divests our taxpayer dollars from mass
incarceration and discriminatory policing and invests in a new vision of
public safety—[ [link removed] ]a vision that answers the call to defund the police and
allows all communities to finally BREATHE free.

Why BREATHE? Why now?! 

On March 13, 2020, 26-year-old Breonna Taylor was shot eight times in the
comfort of her own bed by police officers who terrorized and raided her
home with the now illegalized, “no-knock” warrant. [1]

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was arrested, pinned to the ground, and
strangled to death by a police officer after being accused of using a
counterfeit $20 bill. [2] 

Two days later, Tony McDade, a Black transman, was shot to death by
Tallahassee police officers. [ [link removed] ]

Less than three weeks after the killings of George Floyd and Tony McDade,
Rayshard Brooks was murdered on June 12, 2020 for sleeping in his own car
at a Wendy’s parking lot. [ [link removed] ]

On August 23, 2020, 29-year-old Jacob Blake was shot seven times in his
back in front of his children, who were sitting in his car, after
splitting up a fight in his own neighborhood. [ [link removed] ]

In that same weekend, Trayford Pellerin was shot eleven times and killed
by Louisiana State Police. [ [link removed] ]

Cornelius Fredericks went into cardiac arrest and died while staff members
laid across his torso in efforts to restrain him at a residential
treatment facility for children ages 12-18 who have been placed in the
foster care system in Michigan. He was 16-years-old. [ [link removed] ]

Layleen Polanco, a transgender woman of color, died from an epilectic
seizure in Rikers after being wrongly placed and violently terrorized in
solitary confinement. [ [link removed] ]

Antonio Valenzuela was choked to death by a New Mexico police officer who
was caught saying he’ll ‘choke you out’ on video. [ [link removed] ]

Muhammad Muhaymin, who struggled with mental illness and intermittent
homelessness, was choked to death in the custody of Phoenix police for
trying to use a public restroom accompanied by his service dog. The
officers that killed him are still on the force. [ [link removed] ]

According to the Mapping Police Violence organization, there have only
been 12 days in 2020 where police did not kill someone—TWELVE DAYS—and
Black people make up 28% of those killed by police in 2020 despite being
only 13% of the population. [ [link removed] ]

In recent years: Attiana Jefferson, Elijah McClain, Stephon Clark, Mike
Brown, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland, Philando Castile... The list goes on.

[3]Beaten. Shot. Tasered. Pepper sprayed. Choked and strangled. When will
Black and Brown people have a chance to BREATHE?

WHAT IS THE BREATHE ACT?

* IMAGINE: Schools free of police and full of trained counselors and
restorative-justice programs, where all our children are kept safe and
their needs are met. 
* IMAGINE: Easy access to trained, trauma-informed interventionists who
can be called on in domestic-violence situations and who are equipped
to facilitate long-term safety, healing, and prevention. 
* IMAGINE: 911 operators dispatching unarmed mental-health experts
instead of police in situations involving behavioral health crises,
and callers being allowed to request responders that connect to the
gender identity of the person in crisis.

The BREATHE Act offers a radical reimagining of public safety, community
care, and how we spend money as a society. We bring 4 simple ideas to the
table:

* Divest federal resources from incarceration and policing.
* Invest in new, non-punitive, non-carceral approaches to community
safety that lead states to shrink their criminal-legal systems and
center the protection of Black lives—including Black mothers, Black
trans people, and Black women.
* Allocate new money to build healthy, sustainable, and equitable
communities.
* Hold political leaders to their promises and enhance the
self-determination of all Black communities. [ [link removed] ]

COVID-19 exposed our infrastructures (or lack thereof) in the worst of
ways. When our communities needed medical assistance, we were sent police
officers. When we needed resources for food, we were sent police officers.
When people could no longer afford to pay rent, they were policed instead.
Our communities need easily accessible resources and services, not
over-policing during a health pandemic. QUICK SIGNATURE --> [4]We need YOU
to urge your member of Congress to pass the BREATHE Act right now. This
isn’t just for some of us, this is for all of us.

The BREATHE Act will ensure that our political leaders invests in our
communities through education, housing, healthcare, mental health
services, and address the needs of the people living in low-income
communities including but not limited to: youth, elders, immigrants,
healthcare workers and other essential workers, people living without
shelter, public housing residents, people with disabilities, LGBTQ+ and
gender nonconforming people, women, informal economy workers (including
street vendors, sex workers, canners and others), and the many Americans
who have or may become newly unemployed or homeless as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic period. [ [link removed] ]

Placing police officers in public schools and our communities doesn’t make
them any safer. Oftentimes, as we’ve seen in the cases mentioned above and
those not named who fell victim to state police department violent and
terroristic practices, when police officers abuse their authority in our
communities, we are left to feel vulnerable, unsafe, and/or deceased.
[5]Take action: Sign on and urge your member of Congress to pass the
BREATHE Act!

With gratitude,

Diarra, Monifa, and the entire MomsRising.org team of Amber, Anita, Aryan,
Beatriz, Beth, Casey, Christina, Claudia, Diana, Donna, dream, Elyssa,
Felicia, Gloria, Hanna, Jessica, Jordan, Joy, Julia, Karen, Keisha, Kelle,
Kristin, Linda, Lisa, Lucerecer, Maggie, Marysol, Nadia, Nancy, Nate,
Nina, Rocío, Rosie, Ruby, Ruth, Sara, Shanette, Sheila, Sili, Sue Anne,
Tasmiha, Taylor, Tina, Tola, and Xochitl

 

References:

[1] [6]What We Know About Breonna Taylor’s Case and Death
[2] [7]How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody
[3] [8]Black transgender man fatally shot by Florida police
[4] [9]What We Know About the Death of Rayshard Brooks
[5] [10]Kenosha officer claims he thought Jacob Blake was trying to abduct
child
[6] [11]Louisiana officials are investigating the police shooting of a
31-year-old Black man
[7] [12]3 staff members charged after teen's restraint death in Michigan
have been released on bond 
[8] [13]Activists Demand Justice And Cash Bail Reform For Layleen Polanco
A Year After Her Death In Solitary
[9] [ [link removed] ]Officer on video saying he'll 'choke you out' before man dies is
charged with manslaughter
[10] [ [link removed] ]Bodycam footage from Phoenix arrest reveals new details about
Black man's death in custody
[11] [ [link removed] ]Mapping People Violence 
[12] [ [link removed] ]The Breathe Act
[13] [ [link removed] ]The Path Forward: How to Defund the NYPD, Invest in Communities &
Make New York Safer


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