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Mothers on the March as they walk from San Francisco to Sacramento, demanding accountability from State Attorney General Javier Becerra for the police killings of Mario Woods, Alex Nieto, Jessica Williams, Amilcar Perez Lopez, Keneth Hardy Jr and Luis Gongora.
Do No Harm Coalition Statement in Support of the March for Justice SF (marchforjusticeSF.org) On October 6th, a team of black and brown community members will embark on a 95 mile, 14 day march from San Francisco to Sacramento to demand justice and an end to the impunity of police involved killings in San Francisco. Members of the Do No Harm Coalition (DNHC), an organization of health workers demanding racial justice and an end to state violence, stand in solidarity with these marchers. DNHC will be providing medic support and medical consultation during the march, as well as participating in ongoing advocacy efforts. As health workers, we know that police violence has disastrous, potentially life-threatening consequences on an individual and community level. There are the lives lost prematurely, the anguish of grieving family members at the hands of the state, and the daily fear of black and brown community members that they might be the next target. All of these phenomena have well-documented consequences for mental health, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other cardiovascular health. In addition, police harassment and killings in San Francisco are inextricably linked to other processes that threaten the health and self-determination of our communities including gentrification, criminalization of homelessness, anti-immigrant sentiment, and racism. We are deeply concerned about the continued impunity and inaction on the part of the San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón to prosecute the police officers involved in the killing of over twenty unarmed community members since beginning his tenure. True healing cannot occur in our communities until there is accountability and transformation of the current policing infrastructure. When there is no justice, trust in institutions erodes which contributes to the fragmentation of our communities. Thus, we accompany the March for Justice in demanding immediate prosecution of all officers responsible for these murders, and that Attorney General Xavier Becerra take action to ensure a swift and thorough response. |
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