Law enforcement killed at least 1,176 people or about 100 people a month last year, making it the deadliest on record for police violence.
The record-breaking figure comes just two years after the murder of George Floyd sparked national uprisings calling for racial justice, police accountability and reductions in police funding. Despite the international attention and some local efforts to decrease police brutality, there has been an intensifying backlash to any criminal justice reform efforts, and the overall number of killings has remained alarmingly high.
“Defund the Police” became the popular catchphrase that conservative and liberal media alike attacked, despite the reality that police department funding has only gone up in recent years. And of course the racial disparities in police brutality have also persisted: Black people were 24% of those killed by police last year, while making up only 13% of the population. From 2013 to 2022, Black residents were three times more likely to be killed by US police than white people. The inequality is particularly severe in some cities, including Minneapolis where police have killed Black residents at a rate 28 times higher than white residents, and Chicago, where the rate was 25 times higher.
“The majority of these killings began in response to a mental health call, routine traffic stop, a non-violent offense or disturbance or a situation where there was no crime alleged. Creating alternative community-based responses to these types of situations could make a real difference in reducing police violence and saving lives.”
-Samuel Sinyangwe, founder of Mapping Police Violence
They want you to believe this is normal. That there are no other ways to protect a community. They’re wrong. In cities and communities across the country, great work is being done to limit the abuse of power by those wearing a badge and carrying a gun.
Side Items
REI Cleveland Union Activity: Workers in Northeast Ohio are aiming to make their REI the third store to unionize in less than a year, according to the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The labor group said yesterday that a “majority” of employees at the REI store in the Cleveland suburb of Orange Village had signed union cards and submitted a petition for a union election to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The NLRB must ensure sufficient interest in unionizing before scheduling a vote, a process that should take a week or two. First New York, then Berkeley, then Cleveland…who could be next??
Invest in Apartheid Today: Last month, the New York Stock Exchange signed a memorandum of understanding to begin dual listing securities with its Israeli counterpart, the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. This paved the way to accelerating US investment in companies tied to illegal West Bank settlements like Ashtrom, Delek, and dozens more
Damar Hamlin Update: At long last Mr. Hamlin was discharged from a Buffalo-area hospital yesterday and is finally back at home with his family. The football player spent nine days hospitalized after suffering cardiac arrest on the playing field in Cincinnati There’s no timetable for his rehabilitation as we’re kinda in uncharted waters here. Nobody’s ever come this close to dying on the field of play and the league seems uncertain what to do with their good fortune. If Hamlin had died last week, the NFL would’ve been endlessly criticized for how they handled things. His survival and ongoing recovery buy the league some time to pretend to value the lives of its players