FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2020
Washington, D.C. — Today, Leaders from the Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus and Congressional Native American Caucus held a press conference in solidarity with the Black community amid national protests following the murder of George Floyd.
Afterwards, Congresswoman Nanette Diaz Barragán made the following statement:
The murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis was another example of the systemic racism faced by the Black community around the country every single day. It allows police brutality to continue without punishment or reform and puts Black people before an unequal justice system.
We are tired of seeing people of color brutalized by police officers while the system continues to avoid accountability for the killers and continues to deny justice to communities in pain.
It is outrageous and we will not stand for it any longer. We demand equal justice.
We must listen to the protestors and understand just how angry, frustrated and scared people are. Every day we are seeing people of every color and others from every station in life take to the streets in greater and greater numbers. This is a movement that is not going away and will not be silenced.
We need to make sure that we are talking about solutions, and the violence we’ve seen is distracting from those efforts. The vandalism and looting needs to stop. The narrative must not be about violence.
The protestors we are seeing in the streets every day – and Black communities across this country – are tired of yelling into the void as they see no discernable actions being taken or change in policies and practices.
We need real change that can prevent the same racist atrocities from continuing to happen over and over and over again.
As second vice-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, I am proud that the Caucus is supporting the resolution introduced by Representative Ayanna Pressley, along with Representatives Ilhan Omar, Karen Bass and Barbara Lee. The resolution condemns police brutality, racial profiling, the use of excessive and militarized force and calling for systemic reforms necessary to stem the epidemic of police violence against marginalized communities.
The resolution:
- Condemns all acts of brutality and the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers and calls for the end of militarized policing practices in our communities;
- Supports efforts to eliminate the use of force, conduct stringent oversight and investigations and hold individual law enforcement officers and police departments accountable for police brutality, racial profiling and violence;
- Calls on the Department of Justice to reinstitute its authority to investigate individual instances of police brutality, racial profiling as well as police departments that repeatedly violate civil rights;
- Supports meaningful local and community led transparency and oversight efforts, including all-civilian review boards with the authority to effectively investigate incidents of police misconduct.
- Calls for the adoption of sound and unbiased law enforcement policies at all levels of government to reduce the disparate impact of police brutality and use of force on Black and Brown people and other historically marginalized communities.
As the Congressional Black Caucus and the House Judiciary Committee take the lead on putting together a robust package of police, legal, and criminal justice reforms, I will work with my colleagues to ensure that this package will hold police accountable and address the inequities that Black people face every day within our justice system. We should bring this legislation to the floor of the House for a vote as soon as possible.
We need to see action. We need to see progress. We need justice.
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Nanette Diaz Barragán is proud to represent California’s 44th Congressional District, which includes the communities of Carson, Compton, Florence-Firestone, Lynwood, North Long Beach, Rancho Dominguez, San Pedro, South Gate, Walnut Park, Watts, Willowbrook and Wilmington.