The National Health Law Program condemns yet another incidence of police violence against Black people. Amir Locke, a 22-year old Black man, was killed by police in Minneapolis during the execution of a no-knock warrant, the same violent and dangerous policy which led to the killing of Breonna Taylor.
As we have stated in response to an unacceptable number of similar episodes of brutality by law enforcement, Black Lives Matter.
This incident painfully reveals how pervasive and inescapable these crises are for Black families and others too frequently subject to police violence. Anti-blackness and state-sanctioned police brutality are public health crises. They tear away our collective safety, security, and well-being—particularly for Black families and other people of color—and leave in their wake fear and injustice that penetrate the privacy of our own homes and even our own beds. This injustice worsens racial health inequities within and across generations.
This has to stop. This has to change. Safety and security are necessary foundations for racial healing, racial justice, and health equity. We must continue to center the voices, vision, and expertise of Black and other communities most affected by injustice. We must advocate and organize for collective responsibility, including holding the government accountable for police brutality and racial injustice, and fight for a more equitable and liberated future for all.
