Boynton Beach, FL – Students for a Democratic Society stands in solidarity with the family and friends of Corey Jones–another black man shot and killed by plainclothes Palm Beach Gardens Police Officer Nouman K. Raja. Corey Jones, a 31 year old church drummer from Boynton Beach, FL, was driving back from a gig when his car broke down. Jones was waiting for a tow truck in the early morning of Sunday October 18 on the side of I-95 in South Florida when Officer Raja parked next to him in an unmarked police car without a camera. Raja claims that Jones was “armed” and “dangerous”. However, we know time and time again the police will fabricate stories about black people. Even now the Palm Beach Gardens Police have refused to release any details to Corey’s family with the excuse that it relates to an “ongoing investigation.”
Waiting on the side of the road is one thing among many that black people in this country are not allowed to do without the threat of extrajudicial killing. Even the most ordinary actions done by black people are perceived as dangerous, suspicious or aggressive. For example Tamir Rice, was a 12 year old black boy who has shot dead by Cleveland Police while playing at a swing set with a toy gun. Sandra Bland was doing no more than driving back from a job interview but was lynched in a Texas jail cell. The systematic executions of African Americans by law enforcement and racist vigilantes is the continuation of a 500 year social policy of ethnic cleansing, segregation, violence in the most racist, war-mongering, imperialistic government in the world.
It is because of this that Students for a Democratic Society stands against the continuous lynching of African Americans. We see past the lies of those who claim the United States is a post racial society. When African Americans are killed every 28 hours by the police, we know this is not a post-racial society. When 21 trans women of color–mostly black– are killed in 2015, we know this is not a post racial society.
The only way we can ensure a better tomorrow is demanding concrete ways to empower our communities, such as supporting the nationwide call for community control of the police. The only way we can ensure revolution is by amplifying the voices of those who can no longer speak
We demand full racial equality for all oppressed nations.
Rest in Power Corey Jones and all those who have been killed by the White Supremacist Police State. Your death will not be in vain!