Statement on Darren Wilson Grand Jury Decision

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 24, 2014

CONTACT
Adela de la Torre, 213-400-7822, [email protected]

Our System Is Broken: Justice for All Includes Men and Boys of Color

Immigrants’ rights organization demands justice for Mike Brown

WASHINGTON — A Missouri grand jury today determined it would not indict Officer Darren Wilson for killing Michael Brown, a black teenager in Ferguson. The decision comes after more than 100 days of protests against systemic police violence against young men of color across the country. Below is a statement from Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, an organization committed to racial justice:

“The National Immigration Law Center joins communities in Ferguson and across the nation in expressing our outrage at the failure of the grand jury to allow charges to proceed for the killing of Michael Brown. We have little reason to trust that justice has been served. We stand with Mike Brown’s family and the growing community demanding a national call to action for racial justice.

“The loss of Mike Brown’s life at the hands of a law enforcement agent, like far too many others across the country, demonstrates that administration of justice is too often dependent upon the color of one’s skin. The current statistics reflect a terrible reality: An African-American or Latino boy born today is exponentially more likely to be imprisoned than his white peers. Police enforcing ill-conceived policies have transformed Black and brown children into “suspects,” and these same officers face little accountability when our children are gunned down.

“Enough is enough. We need justice for Mike Brown, not just for his family, but for all of us. Communities across the country have risen in solidarity with Mike Brown’s family and with those committed to racial justice in Ferguson because this is not an isolated case, but one of systemic police brutality against people of color. There is no place for racial bias in policing or the rampant criminalization of youth of color. It is time to take a long-overdue look at a policing system that allows police to take the life of people like Mike Brown, or local sheriffs to racially profile immigrants to place them into the deportation process, or border patrol agents to kill unarmed individuals without accountability.

“We need policies that advance justice, such as President Obama’s recent decision to allow aspiring Americans to come forward and live free from fear of deportation. We demand federal, state, and local policies that ensure all of us – no matter where we were born or what color our skin is – feel safe in our own communities. We stand with those in the streets calling for fairness, accountability, and justice for Mike Brown because Black lives matter — because all lives matter.”

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