Milwaukee, WI – On Tuesday, November 10, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) picketed the Milwaukee Police Department outside of District 5. Julissa Velazquez, Outreach Chair of MAARPR, explained the picket was a direct response to the recent wave of police violence in the city.
Last month, officers from District 5 brutally attacked Nicholas Beamon (24), Jada Berry (20) and Kennedy Gray (20), after pulling them over for a license plate violation. Nickky Beamon, Nicholas’ sister, stated, “We need answers. My brother was treated like a criminal for a simple traffic stop. There was no reason for three young adults to be treated this way.”
Besides the excessive force from the department, the issue of vehicular pursuits has once again come to the forefront of the movement for community control of the police. In the past two weeks, five innocent people have been killed or injured as a result of vehicular pursuits initiated by the MPD. Among the deceased was 18-year-old David Hunt, who was a senior at the Milwaukee School of Languages and a leader with Youth Empowered in the Struggle.
Tiffany Stark of MAARPR knows the pain of these tragedies all too well. The father of her daughter passed away due to health complications after being struck by a vehicle that was involved in a police pursuit. Stark said that blood is on the hands of city officials who have failed to take action to restrict vehicular pursuits sooner.
MAARPR spent much of the past year pushing for restrictions on vehicular pursuits. The City Council failed to take action. It will be a long struggle, but as Angela Lang, Executive Director of Black Leaders Organizing for Communities stated, “we will not stop fighting until we get justice and community control over law enforcement.”
MAARPR demands that police pursuits be limited to those involving violent offenders, and only when the danger of letting the vehicle go outweighs that of a high-speed pursuit through the city. Additionally, the city must tackle the issue of reckless driving without resorting to more police pursuits. The group also demands the firing of the police officers who brutalized Nicholas, Kennedy, and Jada.
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