Detroit, MI – On Wednesday, July 22, community members came together outside of the 3rd Police Precinct in Detroit to demand justice for Alonzo Lee-Perkins, a local teenager who was shot in the back by a Detroit Police Officer a month before. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, resisting and obstructing a police officer, and felony firearm violation.

The event, which was organized by the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and cosponsored by the Black Panther Honor Guard and Freedom Road Socialist Organization, began at 6 p.m. when protesters held up a banner that read, “Justice for Alonzo! Drop the charges!” The crowd chanted, “Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail,” “No justice, no peace” and “When Black lives are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Speakers at the event brought forward the demand for the police department to release the bodycam footage from the incident and highlighted the unnecessary nature of the use of force.

“How the hell can you say you were in danger when you shot somebody in the back?” demanded Jacob Smith of Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “Let’s call this incident what it is,” he continued, “an attempted lynching of a young black man.”

Other speakers tied the shooting to the Detroit city government’s response to the recent “teen takeovers.” “The shooting of Alonzo is tied to the culmination of Chief Bettison and the whole Detroit Police Department’s campaign to over-police our Black youth,” said Marcel Ulacia of the Detroit Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Also present at the event were Victoria Camille and Scotty Boman, members of the Board of Police Commissioners, which is the civilian police oversight body for the city of Detroit. Both commissioners reiterated the demand for the release of bodycam footage. “We just want to know the truth,” said Camille, “We want to see the footage, I want to see the footage released to the public.”

#DetroitMI #MI #InjusticeSystem #KillerCop #AlonzoLeePerkins

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