Yesterday a Minnesota jury reached a guilty verdict in the trial against Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd.

This fight is far from over.

Join us today at 6pm at Foley Square as we stand with the families of New Yorkers killed by the NYPD and partners with Communities United for Police Reform to demand justice for local families and to call for NYC to divest from policing and redirect monies from the NYPD to communities of color.

For far too long, Black and brown communities have experienced violence and death at the hands of law enforcement agencies. Since the Derek Chauvin trial began, law enforcement officers have killed more than three people per day across this country, including twenty year old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center, thirteen year old Adam Toledo in Chicago, and seventeen year old Anthony Thompson Jr. in Knoxville.

We hope that Tuesday’s verdict brings George Floyd’s family some measure of accountability and provides Black and brown people across the country with a temporary sense of relief — but we know the prosecution and conviction of one officer doesn’t change the conditions that led to George Floyd’s death, or Breonna Taylor’s death, or the deaths of countless others.

Policing in this country has been designed to control Black and working class communities of color through force and violence. Derek Chauvin was not a rogue officer who failed to follow his training, and rare convictions are not a sign that the system is changing.

In New York City, the families of Eric Garner, Delrawn Small, and Kawaski Trawick are still fighting for Mayor de Blasio to fire all the officers involved in their murders. Status quo reforms, including body-worn cameras, de-escalation training, and ‘neighborhood policing’ have not prevented police killings or protected our communities from police abuse and misconduct.

We must move to immediately reduce the power, scope, and budget of the NYPD by divesting from the NYPD’s budget and redirecting those funds for critical social services in communities plagued by police violence.

Join us today at 6pm in Foley Square to make your voice heard for accountability and transformation.

In Solidarity,