Phoenix cops held a Black family at gunpoint and threatened to murder them in front of their kids.
Demand the police chief Jeri Williams and District Attorney Bill Montgomery fire and charge the cops NOW
Dear friend,
Phoenix police officers threatened to murder Iesha, a pregnant Black woman, and her family as they sat in their car. The offense ? Her 4-year-old baby allegedly walked out of a store with a 99 cent doll.1
Within seconds of arriving on the scene and the viral video starts recording, an officer is heard shouting “I'm gonna f***ing put a cap [bullet] right in your f***ing head”2 at Iesha Harper, the scared Black mother, her fiancé Dravon Ames and their 2 kids. Before the family even has a chance to react and respond, officers are shouting that they're going to kill them. These vicious, violent cops have no place in policing Black people or any communities for that matter. The Phoenix police chief Jeri Williams and the Maricopa County District Attorney Bill Montgomery should immediately fire and file assault charges against all police officers present for their overly-aggressive use of force and threatening to kill them. If we can get these Phoenix officers fired from the force and charged, they won't have another opportunity to abuse, threaten, and harass other Black people as police officers.
We fought and won to get the officer who violently arrested Dyma Loving fired and charged with assault.3 And Amber Guyger, the officer who murdered Botham Jean, was fired and charged with murder4 after Color Of Change members relentlessly called for justice, so we know we can secure justice for Iesha and her family.
The family was just sitting in their apartment’s parking lot when out of nowhere, cops swarmed them, demanded they get out the car and held them at gunpoint, including the 2 young kids. Dravon was punched, slammed to the ground, and arrested. The rage in the officers’ voices against the family is palpable in the video. Since the video has gone viral, people are rightfully outraged at how this Black family was treated and activists are calling for the officers to be held accountable. In an attempt to get some semblance of justice, the family has filed a lawsuit against the city and we join them in calling for the officers to be fired. Because of the momentum around the case, police chief Jeri Williams admitted that the officers' behavior was "unacceptable" and apologized for how they acted,5 but it is not enough to simply acknowledge the damage -- the officers need to be held accountable. - Tell police chief Jeri Williams to do her job and fire the officers.
The brutalization Iesha and her family faced brings to light the reality of violence that many Black people, and especially Black women, face from a criminal legal system that seeks to punish them for at every turn. Marissa Alexander, a Black woman who fired a gunshot in the air out of fear of being killed by her abusive spouse, was charged with assault and sentenced to 20 years in prison.6 Dajerria Becton was just having fun at a community pool with other teenagers when a rogue cop slammed her to the ground and arrested her.7Chikesia Clemons was dragged across the floor of a Waffle House by a cop and arrested over a dispute over utensils.8 Rekia Boyd was just hanging out with friends when a cop murdered her over a noise complaint.9 And there are so many more Black women to name.
Despite experiencing police violence at the same rate as men,10 Black women are rarely highlighted in the national conversation of police violence. Movements like #SayHerName and books like Invisible No More by Andrea Ritchie were created and written out of a need to end the erasure of Black women in the discussion of police violence. Black women's stories must be told in order to enact real police reform. Whether it be the abortion bans which will disproportionately affect Black women,11 or the murders of Black trans women, Black women are vulnerable to racist, sexist laws and policies and we refuse to stand by while they are unjustly harmed.
Police Chief Williams has a duty to hold her police officers accountable to their actions on the job and DA Montgomery has a duty to hold officers to the law like he would any other citizen. When police officers use excessive force like this against Black people and DAs don’t take action to hold them accountable, it is a direct reflection of the value they place on Black lives. An increasing number of prosecutors across the country like Wesley Bell12 in St. Louis County have made strong commitments to exercising their power to hold officers accountable to the law. Officers have acted with impunity for far too long. DA Montgomery should follow the lead of prosecutors like Bell and hold all of these officers accountable to the violence they committed.
It is our duty to protect Black women to ensure they can live in a world free of cops who don't value their lives. With as much momentum we have around this case right now, we have a tangible opportunity to get justice for the family and get these officers removed from the force. Due to the national media attention, Jeri Williams knows the world is watching and DA Montgomery is up for re-election next year -- his actions, or lack thereof, will be a testament to his commitment to justice for Black people. We will not allow our presence to be ignored at this moment because our justice cannot wait.
Until justice is real,
Clarise, Rashad, Arisha, Scott, Erika, Leonard, Kristen M., Marena, Marybeth, Tamar, Madison, and the rest of the Color Of Change team
References :
1. "After a 4-year-old took a doll from a store, video shows Phoenix police pulling a gun on her parents". The Washington Post, 16 June 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147409?t=10&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
2. "Phoenix police chief responds after cops pull gun, threaten parents of alleged 4-year-old shoplifter". CBS News, 17 June 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147696?t=12&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
3. "Miami-Dade Cop Charged After Brutalizing Woman Who Tried to Report Crime". Miami New Times, 3 May 2019, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147410?t=14&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
4. "Fired Dallas officer Amber Guyger appears in court for murder case in fatal shooting of Botham Jean". Dallas News, 6 June 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147411?t=16&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
5. "Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams apologizes to family over shoplifting incident". AZ Central, 16 June 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147698?t=18&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
6. "Marissa Alexander, Jailed for 3 Years, Speaks Out on Intimate Partner Violence & Building Movements". Democracy Now, 4 May 2017 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147428?t=20&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
7. "Texas teen tackled by police officer at pool party files federal lawsuit". CNN, 5 January 2017 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147733?t=22&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
8. "Black Woman Dragged to the Ground, Arrested by Officers in Alabama Waffle House Over Dispute About Plastic Utensils". The Root, 23 April 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147734?t=24&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
9. "Four Years Since a Chicago Police Officer Killed Rekia Boyd, Justice Still Hasn’t Been Served". In These Times, 21 March 2016 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/147735?t=26&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
10. "Police violence affects women of color just as much as men. Why don’t we hear about it". The Washington Post, 27 March 2018 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147741?t=28&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
11. "Abortion Bans Are A Health Crisis. For Black Women, They Mean Devastation". Black Enterprise, 16 May 2019 https://act.colorofchange.org/go/147697?t=30&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
12. "Staff prosecutors joining police union sends Wesley Bell a message". The St. Louis American, 19 December 2018 http://act.colorofchange.org/go/147412?t=32&akid=33788%2E1942551%2EKqoWav
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.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire