For Immediate Release: May 29, 2020

We must end the continued criminalization of Blackness 

A statement on the Minneapolis Police Murder of George Floyd from Community Change’s Black Freedom Collective Director Dr. Seft Hunter:

“George Floyd should be alive today. But his life was brutally taken at the hands of Minneapolis police officers on Monday in the middle of the afternoon with onlookers begging one the officers to remove his knee from Floyd’s neck. Like Eric Garner in New York City before him, onlookers heard Floyd saying, ‘I can’t breathe,’ before his body fell limp. He was 46-years old, a father, a son, and a beloved member of his community. 

“He was unarmed and in handcuffs when he was murdered – a graphic but revealing video of his death portrays the disregard for Black lives that is all too familiar as we pass the six-year anniversary of the killing of Eric Garner. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor are sadly two more recent cases that show Blackness itself is viewed as a criminal offense. We are outraged by these murders and committed to standing in solidarity with the Floyd family and all Black families demanding justice for the racially motivated murders of their loved ones. 

“We demand justice for Floyd and his family. We are calling for:

• Mike Freeman, Hennepin County District Attorney to arrest and charge the four officers involved in the killing of George Floyd;
• Systemic reform of police departments including an independent local investigation into the use of force by the Minneapolis Police Department on black people in Minneapolis;   
• Community-based oversight of the investigation into George Floyd’s death and the Minneapolis Police Department as a whole;
• Protection of peaceful protesters exercising their first amendment rights to demand justice and accountability of municipal and state elected officials. 

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Community Change is a national social justice organization that builds the power and capacity of low-income people, especially low-income people of color, to change the policies and institutions that impact their lives.

The Black Freedom Collective is a coalition of 11 black-led organizations in eight states and across the field of community organizing, committed to Black liberation, the investment of the economic, social, and cultural infrastructure of black communities. #JusticeforFloyd