Anti Police-Terror Project Statement on the Derek Chauvin verdict
George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin on 05/25/2020. Despite great effort on the part of Chauvin’s attorney to assassinate George’s character and blame him for his own murder, Chauvin was rightfully found GUILTY.
While this is a victory on behalf of the People, we recognize this small step towards justice required 11 months of sustained protests, hundreds of violent acts by police in response, and several more Black and Brown lives murdered by police. For weeks we have watched witnesses re-traumatized. We watched George Floyd’s family and loved ones listen as his health and humanity were put on trial instead of the actions of the man who murdered him. The Prison Industrial Complex and the officers who act as slave catchers to keep that system full, is and remains the enemy of the people. It hasn't been, nor will it ever be, enough to incarcerate “bad apples” while the powers that be continue to systematically and brutally oppress us.
In the wake of recent police murders of Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, Adam Toledo in Chicago, Matthew Zadok in Dekalb County, Angelo Quinto in Antioch, Tyrell Wilson in Danville, Roger Cornelius Allen in Daly City, and so many others, we stand in Solidarity with the families and communities who have lost their loved ones to police violence.
We stand in solidarity with Black people who choose to take to the streets demanding justice for Black lives and accountability for generations of police terror, as well as those who desire to be in the streets but are unable for whatever reason, be it disability, trauma, or grief.
We stand in solidarity with Black people in prayer and Black people who are choosing to use these moments to organize.
We stand in solidarity with Black people who are choosing to express rage and those who are choosing to express joy, as well as those who are actively shielding their minds and spirits from trauma. We are committed to principled solidarity.
For years now, Anti Police-Terror Project and the larger community have been screaming for our elected officials to divest from police and jails that criminalize basic human behaviors in order to reinvest taxpayer funds in community care for human wellbeing and dignity. We demand more funding for affordable healthcare, including comprehensive mental health services that are 24/7 and police-free. We demand more funding for affordable housing and shelter for those to keep up with skyrocketing rents and mortgages. During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, we have demanded immediate financial relief for renters and mortgage-holders struggling to survive the loss of employment and income during this international public health crisis.
We have been creating, organizing and implementing alternative systems that do not involve police. We will continue to build alternatives until we achieve a world without police. Our ask is that you join us on this path of divestment from police forces whose militarized presence routinely incites and escalates violence in the face of peaceful protest. We ask that after individuals and organizations have taken the appropriate time to heal and refocus, TO KEEP ORGANIZING. We need to continue to have difficult conversations, continue to focus on transformative justice, continue to apply pressure on those in power, and continue to love and support one another.
Now is the time for us to re-define what “JUSTICE” means. We cannot continue to allow a system that has historically oppressed us to continue to define “JUSTICE” for us! Is “JUSTICE” years inside a jail cell? Is “JUSTICE” truth and reconciliation? Is “JUSTICE” sometimes violent? Does this definition belong to the people who were harmed or to us as a society?
As we march, as we pray, as we actively resist, as we do nothing, as we cry, dream, meditate, scream or fight, ask yourself: “what does community rooted in transformative and restorative JUSTICE look like?”
As we move to topple institutions of white supremacy and cis-hetero-patriarchy, and as we abolish the machine that creates the conditions inspiring the violence that it perpetuates inside our communities, ask yourselves: “What are we BUILDING to replace it?”
Now is the time to grapple with these questions. Now is the time to grapple with ourselves. Will we replicate systems of oppression with different faces? Will we allow fear of the unknown to cause us to further invest in “the devils we know” rather than investing in our community and community members? Whether you're running for office or running into the thick of it: KEEP RESISTING. DEMAND MORE.
#WEKEEPUSSAFE #WEALLWEGOT #JUSTICEIS? #CARENOTCOPS #APTP #APTPSAC #MHFIRST #JUSTICEFORGEORGEFLOYD