Post from Community: Supervisor Coggs-Jones statement on one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
County Supervisor Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones
May 25, 2021
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One year ago today George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. Supervisor Priscilla E. Coggs-Jones released the following statement on his murder and steps needed to combat police violence across the nation.
“Excessive force and police brutality are all too common in our lives. For decades—especially for Black men and boys—racism, discrimination, double standards of justice, inequities of the justice system, and police brutality have continued to be the norm.
“I am calling upon the members of the Wisconsin U.S Senate delegation to support the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would bring about changes to policing on the federal level by banning the use of chokeholds and establishing a national database of police misconduct. I will also be introducing a County Board resolution supporting the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act.
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“This has been a painful year, but as we look back we must be reminded of the stories of people such as Daniel Bell, which show that police violence has been our reality for decades. Now, with phones and technology the world of brutality our community lives in is being exposed.
“As the mother of a Black son, no mother wants their son to be stopped while driving because the color of their skin or because he is running down the block, and no mother wants their son to be murdered because of the color of his skin.
“As we mark one year since George Floyd’s murder, something must happen in Washington D.C., something must happen in Madison, and something must happen all over our state, especially in Milwaukee County. No more Sean Bell, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ernest Lacy, Dontre Hamilton, Sylville Smith, and Jacob Blake. Speak their name, so that their names do not die in vain as we work for justice, not just us. As my grandfather Isaac N. Coggs would say, ‘United we stand divided we are stuck.’”