FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Metro D.C. DSA Demands Police Accountability
DATE: Friday, August 27, 2021
PRESS CONTACT: For all press inquiries, please contact media@mdcdsa.org.
WASHINGTON, DC: Metro D.C. DSA was devastated to learn of yet another series of violent acts by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). On the night of August 24–25, MPD officers shot two people in separate incidents in less than 12 hours—seriously injuring one (whose name has not been released) and killing the other, An’Twan Gilmore, who was asleep in his car. We grieve and stand in solidarity with their families and loved ones and join Black Lives Matter DC and others in demanding justice for Gilmore’s killing.
As an active member organization of the Defund MPD Coalition, we understand that policing is inherently violent and that members of our community, predominantly Black people, will continue to experience targeting, harassment, and harm as long as police and prisons continue to exist. That is why we are organizing for a just, three-year transition from policing and oppression to care and freedom by defunding MPD to refund our communities.
While city leaders like Mayor Muriel Bowser continue to push the false narrative that putting more cops on the street is the solution to violence in our city, MPD proves every day that they are a source of harm. The police do not keep us safe. They kill us in our sleep.
Enough is enough: We demand that the D.C. Council and Mayor Bowser defund MPD and refund our communities to ensure true public safety for all.