Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County releases statement on violence in Kenosha
Aug 28, 2020, 3:42 PM
Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County released a statement Friday on the recent violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin there were two shootings, one by a police officer, one by a civilian. Both were anti-Black vigilantism.
There was a time in our nation’s history when it was unthinkable that a white person could ever be criminally convicted for killing a Black person. Today, such convictions are still unthinkable, as long as the killing is purported to have been in the name of law and order. Our criminal justice system has been set up to make sure those killers walk free.
The Department of Justice has the authority to investigate these violations of civil rights, but the department is currently spending its time and resources investigating Black protestors and others who have been fighting for Black Lives. Furthermore, the DOJ’s law enforcement oversight is placid at best, and at worst, it can be used to intentionally undermine accountability for excessive force and murder by law enforcement all over the country. Nevertheless, we demand the Department of Justice stop targeting Black protesters and instead uphold its mandate to investigate and hold accountable the individuals and systems who perpetrate these and all incidents of anti-Black racial violence by law enforcement and others, not just in the case of Mr. Blake.
This summer has been powerful, but we have yet to accomplish the changes needed to save Black Lives.
Change will come not because people finally agree that racism is bad. Change will come despite their refusal to do so—but only if we focus on action and policies that bring real, dramatic, disruptive change to how these institutions operate and who they are accountable to when they harm or take a Black life.
Two people were shot and killed on Wednesday during a third straight night of protests in Kenosha over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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