Takiyah Thompson and Deandre Harris
On Tuesday, police in North Carolina arrested Takiyah Thompson, a young Black woman and activist, for her role in taking down a Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina. And while Takiyah was swiftly brought up on felony charges for a non-violent act of protest, law enforcement has yet to make any arrests in the near fatal beating of a black man in Virginia at the hands of white supremacists.
Right up the road in Charlottesville, Virginia, now four days after Deandre Harris was nearly beaten to death, not a single one of the five white supremacists who criminally assaulted him with deadly weapons has been arrested yet – even though we have properly identified at least two of them and have clear facial identification for the others.
Comparing police response to these two situations highlights the double standard black people are faced with when it comes to the justice system. An inanimate object has more value than the life of a living, breathing, black human and warrants a more swift and severe response from law enforcement; white supremacists get a pass while Takiyah does not.
Let law enforcement know where their priorities should be by supporting both Takiyah and Deandre.
What you can do1. CALL THE DURHAM SHERIFF Michael D. Andrews (919) 560-0853 and demand no charges for the people who toppled Confederate statues in Durham.
2. CONTACT THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF VA, Mark Herring. Demand that he prosecute the five white supremacists who brutally attacked Deandre Harris. (804) 786-2071
Email: mailoag@oag.state.va.us & mkelly@oag.state.va.us (Michael Kelly, Director of Communications). Script below.
3. CONTACT THE GOVERNOR OF VA, Terry McAuliffe. Retweet this, write on his Facebook page, call him here 804-786-2211. Script below.
USE THIS SCRIPT (feel free to ad-lib, of course)
I am calling about the assault of 20 year old Deandre Harris by a group of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. At least five men participated in this felony. Many of them used deadly weapons. The use of racial slurs also makes this a federal hate crime. Why you have not arrested and charged Dan Borden and Michael Ramos for this hate crime and when they will identify and arrest the others? Please act on this and release a statement about it immediately.