Members of a Lutheran clergy sent photos of themselves to the North Miami Beach’s police department. The clergy acted in response to news that the department had been caught using mugshots of real people for target practice.
Family outraged after North Miami Beach Police use criminal photos as #HumanTargets. VIDEO: http://t.co/0hzALWdpdW pic.twitter.com/zJ7HFGntNB
National Guard Sgt. Valerie Deant saw the mugshots of black men at the police gun range; one of the targets was her brother’s photo. The police chief resigned after outrage and denied the racial profiling for target practices.
The city council banned the use of mugshots for target practice in response to the incident.
Rev. Joy M. Gonnerman discussed the incident with other Lutheran pastors on the closed Facebook group, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. One pastor said she would send a photo of herself to the police department, which started a Facebook event.
Rev. Lura N. Groen invited other pastors, along with Gonnerman, to post pictures of themselves in clerical clothing and use the hashtag #UseMeInstead.
Dear north Miami Beach Police #usemeinstead for target practice #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/Rkn1Qvlcsj
Police officers, as a white man, I’ve been taught that I have nothing to fear from you. #UseMeInstead. Please. pic.twitter.com/KW1XNXMOyL
“If you start aiming at young black men, and told to put a bullet in them, you become desensitized,” Gonnerman said.
Other clergy members from different faiths joined in the event to send the message of thinking twice before shooting.
Read more about the story from the Washington Post.
