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Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition

Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition logo



Town hall on police abuses in Maryland:
hear the stories, act for reform
In support of a sweeping Maryland Coalition for Justice and Equality (MCJE) police reform legislative
agenda in Annapolis, Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition will be hosting a town hall next week
titled “Police Abuses in Maryland – hear the stories, act for reform.”

WHERE: Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Avenue, Takoma Park, MD
WHEN: Friday, February 27th, 7-9 pm
(click here to RSVP at the Facebook event page)

Click to download .PDF *

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Marion Gray-Hopkins (mother of police shooting victim Gary Hopkins)
  • Oludipe Comfort Olubunmi (mother of police shooting victim Emmanuel Okutuga)
  • Darlene Cain (mother of police shooting victim Dale Graham)
  • Delegate David Moon (District 20: Silver Spring/Takoma Park)
  • Sara Love (policy director, ACLU Maryland)
  • Rion Dennis (executive director, Majority Minority Foundation)*
  • Dr. Menna Demessie (senior policy analyst, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)
  • Elsa Lakew (#BlackLivesMatter and MCCRC activist)
  • Leighton Watson (Howard University Student Assoc. president)
  • Tomas Alejo (“Identity” youth center director) (or designated alternate)

The town hall will take place the day after critical Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee
hearings on police reform legislation supported by MCJE and MCCRC.

So come prepared learn about how those hearings went, and come prepared to call, text, email and/or
tweet selected Annapolis legislators about reform bills like SB0566 (law enforcement officer ‘Bill of
Rights’ (LEOBOR) reform) and SB0653 (state prosecutor for police-involved deaths).

Co-sponsors include ACLU Montgomery County, Bill of Rights Defense Committee, Council on
American Islamic Relations (Maryland), Defending Dissent Foundation, and HandsUpCoalition DC.

 

What do we want? Justice!
How do we want it? Here's a list
MCCRC advocates:
  1. Nationally: passage of the End Racial Profiling Act supported by Maryland Senator Ben
    Cardin    ; a complete end to federal funding of militarized policing; Justice Department
    investigation of and, when necessary, intervention in the Michael Brown, Eric Garner,
    Tamir Rice, and similar cases.
  2. In Maryland: reform of the "Law Enforcement Officer Bill of Rights" a.k.a LEOBR reform
    so investigations of police homicides and other abuses begin immediately and can be requested
    more easily; allowing jurisdictions to create civilian review boards with real power to
    investigate police; renewal of the "Driving While Black" Act requiring law enforcement
    record-keeping and reporting of motorist race in all vehicular stops; care with police 'body
    cameras': not another surveillance tool    ; going beyond marijuana decriminalization
    to legalizing and taxing it like alcohol.
  3. In Montgomery County: consideration and passage of the Local Civil Rights Restoration
    Act    , esp. its racial profiling, surveillance, and federal immigration law enforcement provisions.
These demands build on efforts of coalition members Hands Up DC and the Bill of Rights Defense
Committee, as well as allies and partners including the ACLU of Maryland and the newly active
Coalition for Justice and Equality.

Please monitor our blog and Facebook page for updates, and bookmark our 2015 Maryland
lobbying page. 

Thanks for all you do!

Montgomery County Civil Rights Coalition
mococivilrights.wordpress.com