Washington, DC – The Hands Up Coalition DC joins in solidarity with #BlackLivesMatter, Ferguson Action and Popular Resistance in expressing our condolence to the families of the two police officers killed in New York by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, 28. We also extend our sympathy to the family of Shaneka Nicole Thompson, 29, who was reportedly also shot by Brinsley in the abdomen with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun at her residence in Baltimore, Maryland before he travelled to New York. Thompson is listed in critical but stable condition at a hospital in Maryland.
Mr. Brinsley attacked three people on December 20th and previous to those attacks had attempted suicide. Apparently, he was suffering from mental illness.
Unfortunately, political spokesmen ranging from the president, Attorney General, the New York Police Chief to the representative of the fraternal order of police have focused on citizens marching to end police terror instead of the need to improve America’s mental health capacities. These politicians have seized the opportunity to undermine courageous anti-police terror campaigns against black boys and men across this country. But we must never forget why we march. We march in the name of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Vonderitt Myers, Sean Bell, John Crawford, III and countless others who were assassinated by police with impunity.
There can be no correlation between the actions of a mentally challenged individual and the courageous demonstration of a new generation determined to end police terror and thus the destruction of the Black community. Political arguments attempting to link incongruent events is disingenuous and fallacious.
It is the goal and mission of political forces antithetical to the movement to end police terror to distract and attempt to deprive our movement of political oxygen.
We must not allow that to happen.