I will be on the right side of history

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District 3 Press Release

For Immediate Release:
June 15, 2020

For More Information Contact:
Chris Soto, Council Liaison
richard.soto@dallascityhall.com


 

I will be on the right side of history  

Dallas, TX – City Council Member Casey Thomas, II released the following statement in response to recent events:

“There comes a moment in time when everything that you know becomes unfamiliar. When life as you know it changes. We are in two of those moments. The day that COVID-19 hit the City of Dallas with its first positive case, and the day that the world stopped when we watched in horror as George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in the city of Minneapolis. He said the words that were so familiar to us: I Can’t Breathe.

 This has unleashed a moment in this country that has never been seen before. We witnessed the public beating of Rodney King almost 30 years ago by members of the Los Angeles Police Department. We saw the riots that broke out in Los Angeles as a result of the not-guilty verdict of the officers who beat Mr. King.

We saw the nationwide protests after the teenager, Trayvon Martin was killed by a wannabe police officer who was the crime watch chair by the name of George Zimmerman. We saw the rioting that took place in Ferguson, Missouri after Michael Brown was left on the street lifeless for hours in the hot sun. We have seen this play out over and over all throughout the country, even here in the City of Dallas.

George Floyd was different. People were not distracted by work or other distractions during normal times. Many people were home and were able to watch over and over again how this man, a human being, laid in the street, helpless, handcuffed and with a knee on his neck begging for his life. The world saw a public lynching in 2020.

This time things would be different. People of all ages and all races would stand together in the streets all over this country, during a contagious pandemic, and say in unity, “Black Lives Matter.” The call would ring out for justice, not only for George Floyd, but for justice for people who have been unjustly treated since 1619. People would take up the mantle for racial equity for communities that have been intentionally redlined and underserved. The call would come to reform policies within police departments all over the country, including our city, causing people of color to have fear and be intimidated.

Protesters and organizers all over the country would demand cities to reimagine public safety: to look at city budgets and re-allocate funding from police and public safety to address the root causes of crime and poverty in Black and Brown communities.

I will be on the right side of history.

I will stand with those who protest against an unjust system toward Black and Brown people in the City of Dallas, and across the country. I support the movement to “reimagine public safety,” and I commit to making reform to policies within the Dallas Police Department that will make residents who live in Black and Brown communities feel safe in their neighborhoods. I support the effort to strengthen the Community Police Oversight Board and for it to be fully funded.

I will march tomorrow with protesters who will meet at 3 p.m. on the City Hall Plaza. I will participate this Friday on Juneteenth with the organization, In Defense of Black Life, for their National Call to Action.

I will make a motion that a percentage of funding in the upcoming budget be re-allocated from public safety to improve the quality of life for Black and Brown communities. I will host a listening session for residents in the city of Dallas to share their frustrations about the current climate in this city and this country.

Black Lives Matter! They always have, and they always will.”