Hahnah Williams just started a petition to DeKalb County Police Chief Mirtha V. Ramos and Chief Executive Officer, DeKalb County Michael L. Thurmond:

#JusticeforZadok

Dear John,

I just started a petition titled “#JusticeforZadok!”

Just eight days before the verdict that convicted Derek Chauvin, unidentified police officer(s) killed my brother, Matthew “Zadok” Williams in his own home moments after he asked the officers to identify themselves as he kneeled behind a piece of furniture.  Like so many others, my brother was killed in broad daylight. On April 12th, 2021, DeKalb County, Georgia police officers approached my brother and asked him to leave his own property.  According to the police department, officers assumed that Zadok was a trespasser based on two 911 calls from a woman living in the condo behind Zadok’s.  These calls have yet to be released.  

The police department has released some bodycam footage and the media is only showing excerpts of the incident. In the footage available, Zadok has a mental health crisis outside in an incident involving a knife after being asked to leave his property. Zadok subsequently retreats into his home through an upstairs window. The police began to kick his door open. Police begin talking to him telling him that he doesn’t have to die. The absurdity of the comment by officers at the scene reveals the culture of dehumanization that is deeply embedded in departments across the nation. A 911 call should not be synonymous with death for Black people. Instead of backing up and talking to Zadok from the doorway, as Zadok requested, and helping him, police officers shot into his home and killed him while he was kneeling behind furniture moments after Zadok asked the officers to identify themselves. Zadok was left to die. No medical aid was rendered. SWAT teams and EMS arrived more than an hour after the shooting. And my family was not notified until nearly 24 hours after his death. 

SIGN THE PETITION: Tell DeKalb County Police Chief Mirtha V. Ramos and DeKalb County Chief Executive Officer Michael L. Thurmond to release all transcripts of the 911 calls! #JusticeforZadok

It’s been a month since police officer(s) murdered my brother Matthew Zadok Williams, and the police officer(s) responsible still have not been held accountable. We don’t even know their full names.  Zadok was a remarkable brother, uncle, and son, and he meant the world to our entire family. Such an egregious disregard for my brother’s life speaks to the culture of policing in DeKalb County and across the country. Police officers are rarely held accountable for killing, harassing and assaulting Black people and my family is committed to doing everything in our power to ensure that these officers are held accountable and that other families in DeKalb County don’t have to endure what we have had to go through. Here are our demands: 

1. Immediately release ALL media related to the murder of Matthew “Zadok” Williams, not just select portions of edited video to the media.  This includes but is not limited to 911 call recordings, transcripts, and medical examiner reports. 
2. Immediately release the full names and employment records of  all officers involved in the murder of Matthew Zadok Williams.
3. Terminate the employment of officers involved in the murder.  

SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Police Chief Ramos and CEO Thurmond to hold the officers responsible for this ruthless action accountable and to provide my family with answers! #JusticeforZadok

Our family lost a loving son and a brother at the hands of police officers that we don’t even know the names of. He deserves justice and we want to hold those officers who murdered him accountable. Across the country Black men and women continue to be brutalized by law enforcement, we've seen this same thing happen after the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. The system is flawed when a Black person can die 20 minutes later after a 911 call is made. My brother should still be alive with us right now to check up on his nieces and nephews. He should still be alive right now to put a smile, like he always did, on my mother’s face. My brother should still be alive to be the rock that he was in our family. 

SIGN THE PETITION: Tell Police Chief Ramos and CEO Thurmond to release all media related to Zadok’s murder, identify the officers, and terminate the employment of the officer(s) who killed my brother Zadok now! #JusticeforZadok

Thank you,

Hahnah Williams