More than 100 protestors rallied outside of the Governor’s Mansion Friday evening, demanding police reform and advocating for transparency in multiple cases involving police violence fatalities.
Groups from across Louisiana including The Village 337, NAACP, ACLU of Louisiana, BR for the People, Democracy at Work LSU and the New Black Panther Party traveled to attend the protest.
The National Chair of the New Black Panther Party, Krystal Muhammad, does not think legitimate change is happening regarding institutional racism and police brutality across the country.
“Change is not happening at all,” Muhammad said. “There is a lot of forward movement toward change, but there is no change. We have institutional racism going on; we have domestic terrorism of the Black community by the hands of the police.”
Muhammad also expressed frustration with the inaction of the U.S. government to protect its Black citizens.
“We are dealing with ethnic cleaning and genocide, and the United States government is failing to protect its people,” Muhammad said. “The police are paid to protect the properties of the ruling class, and they are being paid to terrorize the Black community.”
Muhammad called for the creation of legislation to better police law enforcement and for international entities to hold the U.S. responsible for domestic crimes.
“There needs to be state and federal legislation and ordinances that hold police to a higher standard of criminal punishment than the citizens because they are trained to kill, and they do kill,” Muhammad said. “There should be an International Court of Criminal hearing held against the United States government for the genocide and ethnic cleansing that has taken place.”
Friday’s protest comes during a time when most of the country has experienced protests and riots of its own, but LSU creative writing senior Hannah Michal believes the issue of racism is more prevalent here due to the history of racism against African Americans in the South.
“Louisiana is very racist as it is,” Michal said. “It’s still a problem nationwide, but I think it’s worse in the South.”
Activist Jamal Taylor of The Village 337 called for the removal of Colonel Kevin Reeves, Superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, citing his department’s systematic failures.
“His police officers murder people and for 17 months nothing happens,” Taylor said. “But when the news gets it, he (Chris Hollingsworth) magically gets fired. There is obviously something wrong if you feel like you needed to terminate an officer. So, Colonel Reeves needs to be terminated.”
The protest occurred hours after a funeral for a Louisiana state trooper who was under investigation for the death of Ronald Greene in May 2019. Greene died after what Louisiana police described as a struggle to bring him into custody, resulting in police chase, according to the Associated Press.
Greene’s family filed a wrongful death lawsuit earlier this year alleging that Louisiana police “brutalized” Greene and covered up the actual cause of his death, according to the Associated Press.
Louisiana state trooper Chris Hollingsworth died earlier this week when he crashed his vehicle after he was told he would be fired. His funeral was closed to the public and had a large police presence and a SWAT team in case of any disturbances, according to the Associated Press.
“I wish Mr. Greene had had a SWAT team and a drone to protect him,” Taylor said.
Baton Rouge resident Arielle Stephens wants to see reformations of law enforcement agencies in the hope of quelling the trend of police brutality toward minorities.
“Not everybody is as big of a threat as they make them out to be,” Stephens said. “They signed up for a job where they are going to risk their lives, but if anybody moves a muscle, they get scared.”
Bishop John Milton from Lafayette believes all actions committed by police officers are a direct product of American society.
“The actions of the police department are a reflection of the reality of America, which has the original sin of resting in white supremacy and the devaluation of Black life,” Milton said. “What we need is a complete transformation of that ideology, and we can live in a true equal and just society where everybody can be free.”
Milton said progress is unattainable in any other aspect as long as Black communities still face neglect and racism.
“What we expect of police officers is to do what they are supposed to do, which is to protect and to serve,” Milton said. “I don’t give a hoot if a Black man is on crack, if they have a mental illness, [a police officer’s job] is to protect and to serve. If when you call, somebody has to leave dead, how are you going to call that protecting and serving and considering that an accomplishment of your mission?”
Raees Unis, who traveled to the protest from Lafayette, wants police to treat him fairly and not discriminate against him based upon the color of his skin.
“I want to see them talk to us like normal people,” Unis said. “If I get stopped by an officer I don’t want to have to be afraid. Eventually they’ll have to make some change, because the protests are just going to keep becoming worse if they don’t.”
New Black Panther Party member stands during protest on Friday, Sept. 25, 2020 in front of Louisana Governor's Mansion.
