For Immediate Release: February 24, 2021
Contact: media@colorofchange.org
COLOR OF CHANGE: GRAND JURY DECISION LETS ROCHESTER OFFICERS GET AWAY WITH MURDERING DANIEL PRUDE
Erika Maye, Deputy Senior Director of Criminal Justice and Democracy Campaigns at Color Of Change, issued this statement following a New York grand jury’s refusal to indict the Rochester police officers who murdered Daniel Prude:
“This grand jury’s refusal to charge the Rochester police officers who killed Daniel Prude is yet another devastating blow to Mr. Prude’s loved ones and the advocates demanding justice for his family. Mr. Prude was suffering from a mental health crisis and needed medical assistance, not police intervention, when officers pinned him to the ground and suffocated him on a cold, snowy street. Despite this community’s demands for change and commitments from local officials, the system has once again failed to deliver justice and hold its own officers accountable for the murder of a young Black man.
“Mr. Prude’s death serves as another tragic reminder that police officers do not make our communities safe. As we saw just weeks ago when officers from the same police department maced a nine-year-old girl, police are ill-equipped to respond to mental health crises and, instead, resort to the same racist, heavy-handed policing tactics that tear Black families and communities apart. Licensed professionals and community leaders should be leading these responses, not racist cops. We must divest from destructive police departments and invest in solutions like mental health care that uplift our communities and protect Black lives, and prove far more effective in keeping us safe.”
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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 governments to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America. Visit www.colorofchange.org
For Immediate Release: February 24, 2021
Contact: media@colorofchange.org