The Gwinnett African American Caucus today released the following statement condemning the unlawful actions of law enforcement in the deaths of unarmed African Americans.
“Like many of you across the state and nation, the members of The Gwinnett African American Caucus of the Democratic Party of Georgia are horrified by the recent and seemingly repeated incidents involving Black Americans, law enforcement and the criminal judicial system. We vehemently condemn the actions of law enforcement officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota which resulted in the death of George Floyd–a black man who was unarmed and contained and was still met with a slow death at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer. For four days, Minneapolis residents and the nation waited for charges to be brought forth against his murderer and we waited 5 more days for charges to be filed against his accomplices—other officers who stood idly by for nearly nine minutes as Mr. Floyd’s life slipped away.
Two months later, we are still waiting for an investigation and progress in the case of Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, who was one of the most recent Black people to die as a result of a botched raid. She fell victim to a “no-knock” warrant that is often disproportionately granted in communities of color. She was sleeping in her home with her companion before she was violently intruded upon by plainclothes Louisville SWAT officers who sent eight bullets into her body.
This incident was reminiscent of the case of Atatiana Jefferson in Fort Worth, Texas. Atatiana was gunned down by police while attempting to protect her own home and nephew from unknown intruders outside of her window in October 2019. That incident came on the heels of another incident in Dallas, Texas in the case of Botham Jean, a man who was sitting in his own apartment when he was fatally shot by a police officer neighbor. And our community in the Atlanta area will never heal from the case of Kathryn Johnston–a 92-year-old woman gunned down trying to protect her home from Atlanta narcotics officers who botched a raid by going to the wrong address in the middle of the night.
And then there is the continued outrage over the murder of Ahmaud Arbery -a citizen in Brunswick, Georgia who was gunned down by a white mob of vigilantes. This horrible incident was then followed by the failure of Brunswick prosecutors to properly investigate or charge the murderers until a video of the attack was made public three months later.
There are so many social media hashtags. There are too many victims of this system to name. We have grown weary of the “wait”.
And we have all of this to grapple with as the leader in our White House stokes the flames of racism, tension and division for his own personal interests. This is our America.
These most recent deaths of unarmed African Americans are evidence of the continued oppression of Black people and the continued failure of our society to respect and protect Black lives. We, as a Caucus, will continue to speak out against such violent attacks on and oppression of African Americans in Gwinnett County, in Georgia, and in the United States.
And, although the Caucus does not condone or encourage violence of any kind, we believe that it is imperative that acts of violence against and murders of Black people not be overshadowed by reports of violence in the protests. Although there are many calls for the stopping of violence against property, human beings are more important than property and there should be louder voices raised against the violence perpetrated against Black people by law enforcement officers and others.
As we move forward, we must continue to heed the call to action to positively effect change. We cannot continue down this path without recourse. We need allies who are willing to speak out against these injustices across America. To be silent is to be complicit to injustice. We need legislation that protects black communities from prejudices and lawlessness in the ranks of law enforcement. We need those we elect to stand firmly against the violence of a system that is supposed to be fair and just. That is the only way we will eradicate hate, prejudice and discrimination. Only then, will we all be able to breathe.”
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Gwinnett African American Caucus 