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AKRON’S COURT SYSTEM SETS DANGEROUS PRECEDENT AS JAYLAND WALKER’S MURDERERS GO FREE, SAY CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS.

For Immediate Release: April 19, 2023

Contact: media@colorofchange.org

AKRON’S COURT SYSTEM SETS DANGEROUS PRECEDENT AS JAYLAND WALKER’S MURDERERS GO FREE, SAY CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS. 

NEW YORK – Color Of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, in partnership with The Freedom BLOC, an organization that works to build Black political power in Akron, issued statements following the court decision on the police murder of Jayland Walker. 

“Our community, and specifically our children, want justice. The outcome was no surprise to Akron public schools, who cut school early and canceled classes tomorrow in fear of what the community may do when starved for justice,” said Ray Greene Jr, Executive Director of The Freedom BLOC. “Our faith in expecting current officials to do what is right and just is no more. The rot in Akron and Ohio smells of the strange fruit of lynched black men. In a state full of more hate groups than any other state in the union, it’s no wonder we gained this result, but the sting of it persists along with the hope that we must keep alive for liberation. The struggle for justice continues. Today, we pray, grieve and give support to the Walker family. But after today, we march. No one rests until the lives of Black people are valued, liberated, and free.” 

“Traffic stops should not be a death sentence, yet we’ve seen this scenario play out repeatedly such as in the cases of Walter Scott, Patrick Lyoya, Duante Write and too many others. This hateful decision further reinforces the fact that police are a protected, government-funded domestic terrorist class,” said Sakira Cook, Vice President of Campaigns, Policy & Government Affairs, Color Of Change. “In Ohio specifically, Black people are 4.9 times more likely to be killed by police than white people. This is a trend we see echoes around the country. We see police unions fighting as hard as they can to avoid accountability, and terrorize black communities. This is unacceptable and we will not let them get away with this.” 

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ABOUT COLOR OF CHANGE:

Color Of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over 7 million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org.

ABOUT THE FREEDOM BLOC: 

The Black Led Organizing Collaborative (BLOC) was created to build Black political power and to equip the Black community with capacity building tools through civic education, civic engagement, campaign management, and leadership development that will ignite and foster greater electoral turnout in Cleveland, Columbus, as well as our historical urban centers in Northeast (Youngstown and Akron). BLOC is the vehicle for collective political expression, educating the Black electorate and the broader Black community on issues impacting their lives and mobilizing them to turn out to vote on issues and candidates that support and enforce equitable policies for Black Ohioans.

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