By Anna Phillips | September 24, 2020 at 9:36 PM EDT – Updated September 25 at 7:04 AM
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – Calls for further justice in the Breonna Taylor case continued in downtown Wilmington Thursday.
“We have a lot of people that are not satisfied with the verdict,” said Black Lives Matter Wilmington leader Sonya Patrick. “They’re angry. They want the system to change and we stand in unity, protest and policy and we demand change today. That is totally unacceptable because we don’t know whose going to be next. When you’re not safe in your own home, this is very disturbing.”
The group gathered at the 1898 Memorial and marched to City Hall where several speakers spoke, including Vance Williams who called their work a humanitarian act.
“People that believe in saving lives, people that believe in preserving lives,” he said, “a lot of times those that are passionate, those that dedicate their life to liberation for all of humanity, sometimes they’re labeled terrorists, villain, protester, activist, but we need to change that definition.”
Sonya Patrick reviewed the nine-point-agenda for police accountability they’ve laid out which includes:
1. A citizens review board with subpoena power
2. Mandatory cultural competency and implicit bias training for all new hires within Wilmington Police and the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office
3. At least 40% funding increase for community programs to develop more Freedom Schools
4. App for reporting complaints to law enforcement
5. Policy requiring termination of any officer who shoots/kills an unarmed person
6. Quarterly psychological evaluation for law enforcement
8. Demilitarized law enforcement
9. Mandatory wearing of body cameras
“We demand justice and people are getting sick and tired of being sick and tired, and we need the system to change, and we need it to change now,” Patrick said. “We’re going to hold all our public officials accountable for making the system better.”
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