George Floyd should be alive today. We know that his death was preventable.
The jury’s decision to hold former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin accountable for Floyd’s murder will hopefully send a message to law enforcement everywhere that police violence is intolerable and inhumane.
The movement to end police violence does not end today. The Law Foundation stands with Black Lives Matter in calling for federal legislation that would have prevented George Floyd’s death and protected others who have been either killed, hurt, or traumatized by police violence.
As a social justice organization, we are committed to racial equity. As lawyers and advocates, we see how our clients and the communities we serve are impacted on a daily basis by systemic racism within U.S. institutions, including in policing.
Our country needs federal legislation that re-imagines community safety and addresses the structural racism that is central to policing. We call on President Biden and federal, state and local legislators to work directly with people impacted by police violence and their families to enact real policies that hold police officers accountable, divest from racist policing practices, and invest in community-led anti-poverty programs and social safety net services.
The status quo will no longer be accepted. As a country, we must face a reckoning of the past, acknowledge policing’s racist history, and dismantle the myth of white supremacy and anti-Blackness entrenched deep in our society.
Since March 29, at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement in the United States with Black and Latino people representing the majority of those killed. They join too many more Black and Brown community members disproportionately affected by police violence.
We say their names. George Floyd. Daunte Wright. Adam Toledo. Breonna Taylor. Ahmaud Arbery.Tony McDade. Rayshard Brooks. Daniel Prude. Atatiana Jefferson. Aura Rosser. Stephon Clark. Botham Jean. Philando Castile. Alton Sterling. Freddie Gray. Janisha Fonville. Eric Garner. Michelle Cusseaux. Akai Gurley. Gabriella Nevarez. Tamir Rice. Michael Brown Jr. Tanisha Anderson. Elijah McClain. Korryn Gaines. Sandra Bland. Walter Scott. John Crawford III. Rekia Boyd. Oscar Grant III. There are many more.
They should still be alive today.