The silent protest started by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick to kneel during the national anthem in protest to the scourge of police violence and brutality disproportionately meted out to Black people has continued to spread. It has brought a backlash against those who have joined the protest whose right to voice their views in this manner has been challenged. Kaepernick's protest itself was in response to the tens of thousands who have been taking to the streets demanding justice throughout the country since the police murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO in 2014.
When President Trump weighed in on the debate he simply added fuel to the fire. The message has become lost somewhat as a debate over the right to protest itself. But this was always a protest against police brutality and racism.
On the one year anniversary of the deadly police shooting of Terrence Coleman in Boston, MA we call on all supporters of this righteous protest to join with us as we stand up to the backlash and bring the focus back to the victims of police brutality and their families.
We are calling on the State Attorney Maura Healy to reopen the cases of police involved shootings of Terrence Coleman, Usaamah Rahim, Burrell Ramsey-White, Ross Batista, Denis Reynoso, Eurie Stamps, and all other victims of police brutality in the state of Massachusetts. We also protest in solidarity with the people of St Louis who have been taking to the streets since the acquittal of officer Jason Stockley for the murder of Anthony Lamar Smith in September.