John,
we keep us safe. Time and again, it’s us that show up for one another -- not the government, not the police, but
us. Black people have never been able to rely on these systems to bring us “justice.”
Black liberation means building a world free from state-sanctioned violence, a world where our children can live and walk freely and grow into all of their infinite possibilities. This is not the world in which we currently live. This is not the world inherited by Andrew Joseph III. Andrew was just 14-years-old when he was killed by the wrongful acts of law enforcement in Tampa, Florida.
It’s been more than 7 years since Andrew was profiled, harassed, physically searched, and unjustly taken by Hillsborough County Sheriffs from a school trip to the Florida State Fair. No attempt was made to contact the middle-schooler’s parents. Instead, Andrew was one of several Black children who were loaded into sheriff’s vehicles, removed from the fairgrounds, and dropped off two miles away in a dark, unfamiliar area on the side of a busy highway. As Andrew attempted to cross the busy interstate to get home, he was hit and killed by a white motorist (who was never breathalyzed or held by police).
Andrew’s family has tried everything to hold those responsible accountable for Andrew’s death...from filing a wrongful death lawsuit against the sheriff’s department to requesting a Department of Justice investigation into the racial profiling and violation of his civil and human rights, to even contacting the White House for intervention. Qualified immunity has been used at every turn to shield police from accountability and deny any semblance of justice in Andrew’s name.
Today, oral arguments will be heard in a Federal Appellate Court Hearing in Atlanta in Andrew’s case. Hillsborough County Sheriffs are using qualified immunity in another attempt to block Andrew’s family from having a day in court.
Qualified immunity is used to shield police from accountability and drag out the legal process with unending appeals. It is torture for the families of those killed. That’s why we need Congress and the White House to take action to hold police accountable and put an end to this vicious cycle. Will you add your name to tell Congress and the White House to end qualified immunity now?
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Department has blood on their hands. Andrew Joseph III’s death was completely avoidable, and only happened because of the systematic targeting of Black life.
Ensuring that police are held accountable when they steal the lives of our people should be basic. We shouldn’t have to hope, pray, and struggle for something as little as a trial. Black families shouldn’t have to spend seven years trying to get answers regarding the death of their 14-year-old son. And it damn sure shouldn’t take countless attempts and false starts, with the police blocking accountablility at every turn and the criminal legal system co-signing, using unjust legal principles like qualified immunity.
We must
end qualified immunity now. White supremacy focuses on protecting police -- not holding them accountable. We need to pull back the veil of racism in the name of #AndrewJosephIII and disrupt the vicious cycle of Black lives being stolen by those who claim to “protect and serve.”
John, Will you join us to break this vicious cycle and demand our federal government put an immediate end to qualified immunity? Sign our petition to get Congress and the White House to Act NOW >>
In love and solidarity,
Black Lives Matter Grassroots
