![]() ![]() ![]() The circumstances of their deaths ranged from the tragic to the trivial. A significant proportion were mentally ill. They included blacks, Latinos, American Indians, Africans, US veterans, men, women and transgender people. Victims remembered Thursday ranged in age from an 11-month-old baby to a 92-year-old black woman, shot dead when officers got the wrong address on a drugs bust. "The entire justice system needs to be dismantled," said Hertencia Petersen, aunt of 26-year-old Akai Gurley, who was mistakenly killed by police in Brooklyn in November 2014. They criticize militarized tactics, and demand independent investigations into cases of people who die while in custody. 'Has to stop' - Campaigners say that police unfairly profile black and Latino men. Grammy Award-winning musician Arturo O'Farrill called the officer's death a "tragedy" at Thursday's rally. On Tuesday, a New York police officer was killed by a suspected robber in Harlem, becoming the fourth such officer to be shot dead in the line of duty in the last 11 months alone. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund estimates that one law enforcement officer is killed in the line of duty somewhere in the United States on average every 60 hours. "Rise Up, Rise Up to end police brutality and murder!" said American playwright Eve Ensler, best known for writing feminist play "The Vagina Monologues." Gun ownership laws mean that US police are at a greater risk of encountering armed suspects than in other Western countries. A database compiled by the Guardian newspaper says more than 920 people have been killed by police in the United States this year, of whom 436 have been white, 226 black and 142 Latino. Among the names read by Tarantino were Michael Brown, 18, whose death in Ferguson, Missouri in August 2014 sparked a national protest movement, and Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old shot dead playing with a toy gun in Cleveland, Ohio in November 2014. Around 40 bereaved families travelled across the country to take part in RiseUpOctober, three days of events demanding an end to police violence and reform of the criminal justice system. The Oscar-winning filmmaker joined writers, clerics, intellectuals and actors to read the names of around 250 men, women and children to die at the hands of US police. “This is about all the people who are murdered by the police.Film director Quentin Tarantino joined activists in New York's Times Square on Thursday to launch a fresh push for US police reform and justice for unarmed victims killed by officers. “That’s not what this is about,” Dix said. Sharpton and others went to the Brooklyn neighborhood where Holder served to lay a wreath and pray for him and his family.Īctivist Carl Dix, who helped found RiseUpOctober with West, said that while he sympathized with Holder’s family the officer’s death did not affect the need to hold Saturday’s rally as scheduled. Al Sharpton dedicated his weekly radio broadcast and rally at his National Action Network headquarters to Holder. A suspect has been charged with murder and robbery in the case. New York’s mayor and police commissioner have said they’re serious about enacting smart reforms to build trust between police and communities.īut the protest also was days after a New York police officer, Randolph Holder, was shot to death while chasing a bicycle thief. The protest came at a time of heightened awareness nationwide of the oft-contentious relationship between police officers and the people they serve. 'Jem and the Holograms' Director on Film Bombing, Getting "Death Threats" From Show Fans ![]()
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