U.S : This Black woman called the police for help -- they violently arrested her instead.

Miami-Dade County police officers are

 brutalizing Black women with impunity. 

This must end. 

Tell State Attorney Katherine Fernandez

: 

File charges against the officers who violently

 arrested Dyma Loving. 

Dear friend,

Dyma Loving was brutally arrested after calling the police for help.

Dyma was on her way to do her taxes when she passed by the house of her neighbor Frank Tumm.¹ Tumm started a heated argument where moments later, Tumm pulled out a shotgun and told Dyma he was going to “shoot her Black ass head off.”² Dyma did what a lot of people would do in the same situation. She called the police for help. Instead of confronting Tumm for brandishing a weapon, Officer Alejandro Giraldo and three other officers violently arrested Dyma -- shoving her into a chain-link fence, pulling her to the ground, then forcing her in handcuffs.³

As Black women, we often believe the police will be there to keep us safe in our time of need. Dyma's experience clearly demonstrates the truth -- police cannot be trusted to protect us. When Dyma responded to officers with pleas to contact her children she was instead charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.⁴ Now that the charges have been dropped, Dyma is demanding that the police officers responsible for her violent arrest to be charged with assault.⁵   

Dear friend, if you help us call on the Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez to charge Officer Giraldo and the other officers at the scene for the assault of Dyma Loving, then we can shine a light on the violence that happens to Black women across the country.

We join Dyma's efforts and call on Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez to file criminal charges against police officers responsible for the vicious arrest of Dyma.

Black women are regularly the victims of lethal force and violent attacks by the police but are rarely included in the larger dialogue of police brutality.⁶ As mentioned in the Say Her Name 2015 report, it’s time to bring attention to the ways Black women are policed -- whether it’s police killings, ‘stop and frisk,’ or the all too failed logic of broken windows policing, -- a theory that encourages zero-tolerance tactics based on whether or not crime is visible to the police.⁷ Not to mention, Black women and gender nonconforming Black people are also vulnerable to forms of sexual assault by the police that flies under the radar of popular media and current legislation.⁸

The police do not protect Black women. State-sanctioned violence against Black women is a practice that extends far beyond what we see in today’s media. Violence against Black women is so deeply entrenched in this country's history that when the video of Giraldo’s abuse of power gained traction on social media, Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez defended the officers who brutally arrested Dyma, calling their tactics “a legitimate technique.” ⁹ More often than not, the police see Black women as instigators of violence, rather than people in need of help during times of danger. Miami-Dade officials refuse to acknowledge a clear pattern -- police officers are engaging Black communities with excessive and lethal force on a regular basis.

Miami-Dade County has a well-known history of policing bias that has resulted in a disproportionate number of Black people violently arrested and incarcerated.¹⁰ Simply suspending Officer Giraldo for his actions does nothing to remedy the inevitable violence against Black communities. Officer Giraldo is not an exception -- he is just the latest example of a systemic problem. 

Sign the petition: Demand Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez charge Officer Giraldo and the other officers for assault immediately.

In 2015 we saw a spark in media and political engagement with the issues of police brutality in Black communities.¹¹ Since then, news coverage and public dialogue have been on the decline -- often overshadowed by the cluttered political field.¹² The chaos of the Trump White House has shifted public interest. We know Trump isn't going to hold the police accountable especially in the case of police violence against Black women. It is up to us to defend Black women. We cannot afford to stop talking about this and wait for political condemnation of local law enforcement. 

Last year, in a similarly cruel interaction with the police, Chikesia Clemons was thrown to the ground and attacked while being arrested by police officers in Alabama.¹³  Black girls and women are constantly perceived as aggressive, and more likely to disobey authority -- a stereotype that has so clearly permeated the Miami-Dade Police Department.¹⁴ Police officers will continue to believe this behavior is acceptable as long as no action has is taken to hold them responsible.

We need your help to demand State Attorney Katherine Fernandez to hold Miami-Dade police officers accountable.

Until justice is real, 

Arisha, Rashad, Scott, Erika, Clarise, Marybeth, Madison, Leonard, Kristen, Marena, Tamar, and the rest of the Color Of Change team.

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References :

1. The Root. "'My Trust Is Completely Broken’: Dyma Loving, Brutally Arrested After Calling Police for Help, Speaks Out." https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122875?t=9&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
2. CBS Miami. "Woman Seeks Criminal Charges Against Police Officer She Says Assaulted Her." https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122876?t=11&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
3. The Root. "'My Trust Is Completely Broken’ : Dyma Loving, Brutally Arrested After Calling Police for Help, Speaks Out." https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122875?t=13&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
4. CBS Miami. "Woman Seeks Criminal Charges Against Police Officer She Says Assaulted Her." https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122876?t=15&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
5. Ibid. 
6. The African American Policy Forum. "#SayHerName : Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women." http://act.colorofchange.org/go/122877?t=17&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
7. Ibid. 
8. Ibid. 
9. Miami New Times. "Miami-Dade Commissioner Joe Martinez Defends Cop Who Brutalized Woman in Viral Video." https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122878?t=19&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
10. ACLU Florida. "Unequal Treatment : Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Miami-Dade Criminal Justice." https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122879?t=21&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
11. The Washington Post. "Police are still killing black people. Why isn’t it news anymore ?"  https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122880?t=23&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
12. Ibid. 
13. Vox. "A Florida officer punched a 14-year-old girl. That type of violence is not uncommon." https://act.colorofchange.org/go/122881?t=25&akid=28060%2E1942551%2ESBkVjN
14. Ibid. 

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Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Help keep our movement strong.