New York City — In response to the announcement by Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio that a curfew and doubling of police presence will be imposed on New York City following days of largely peaceful protests, Courtney (Keris) Miller, Community Organizer, Citizen Action of New York, released the following statement:
“You can’t say you’re with the protesters when we are saying that we want a structural change in how our country polices Black people, and then turn around and increase policing.
Spraying us with tear gas that’s making us sick and exacerbating our health conditions, plowing people with police cars, shoving protesters for yelling, showing up in riot gear – the NYPD’s response is violent. What are those in power actually trying to protect by doing this? It’s clear from their response that Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio aren’t interested in protecting the people, because the people are united. What they’re actually protecting and serving is property and profits.
They should use their power instead to reduce the presence of police in our communities, advance police accountability by fully repealing 50-a and defund law enforcement while shifting resources to non-police interventions that actually create safe and healthy communities.”