“Thousands sit-on on the streets of San Francisco for black lives.” Source

BLM Cincinnati Statement on Police Brutality and Recent Events in Dallas

This statement was originally shared by Black Lives Matter Cincinnati through social media.

On July 7, five police officers were reportedly killed by a sniper in Dallas, Texas. Law enforcement, media outlets, and elected officials are sniffing for a link between these deaths and the women and men organizing actions across the country to condemn police brutality for the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.

Our movement had nothing to do with the shooting of these officers.

We organize disciplined mass actions to bring the weight of the majority to bear in our struggle for justice. We know that there are millions of people in the United States that are fed up with unchecked police brutality. Fed up with countless cases where police are found not guilty or, in some cases, never even have to stand trial for their crimes. Black Lives Matter Cincinnati seeks to channel this anger and desire for change into a movement of unified action.

We recognize it is a sad and unfortunate circumstance for the families of the police officers who were killed. However, we are sure that the person(s) responsible for killing these officers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law, whereas this is not the case for police officers who murder black people.

We also point out that the violent social climate we live in is produced by the police and the racist system in which we live. Undoubtedly pro­cop legislators will try to use it to clamp down on democratic rights and demonize social struggle activists.

If the police and the courts continue to not indict or jail cops who beat and murder black people, people not organized into a disciplined movement like ours and many others across the country – at some point – will start taking matters into their own hands. The State has created a powder keg, and each Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, Quandavier Hicks and Sam Dubose is a spark the powers that be are tossing at it. In this spirit we will proceed with our rally as planned, Sunday at 4pm in front of District 1 to continue to raise awareness, build coalitions, and advance the work to build a just world free of state violence.