Jacksonville, FL – In a powerful show of solidarity, nearly a dozen families directly harmed by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) united at Café Resistance on Thursday, December 19.
The “Justice for the Holidays” event was standing room only, organized by the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), transforming a space of shared grief into a rallying point for organized action against a sheriff’s office with a notorious record of excessive force. The gathering highlighted many cases and struggles.
The evening was charged with personal testimonies from family members.
The mother and sister of Rashaud Martin, who was killed in JSO custody in October after a mental health episode, spoke. The grandmother of Devon Gregory, who was shot over 23 times by JSO officers, demanded answers. The wife and young son of Justin Knight, who was found beaten and dead after being arrested by JSO, shared their story of loss and the fight for transparency. Yvonno Kemp, mother of Reginald Boston who was killed by JSO in 2020, pledged to keep fighting not just for her son, but for all families.
Xavier Green of the JCAC stated, “Families and loved ones affected by police violence are the glue to our movement for police accountability and justice. This event was about building more community and organization with the families and the fight for community control of the police.”
Families also condemned JSO’s use of aggressive surveillance as a tool to intimidate families from speaking out.
Moving from testimony to demands, the families united behind an agenda for action: justice for each individual lost; and the advancement of the community’s call for community control of the police with a civilian-led Public Safety Committee. These demands continue in direct response to JSO’s escalating violence, with 15 officer-on-civilian shootings this year alone.
Families and community members who attended left motivated to keep up the fight. At the end of the event, organizers and families in attendance wrote down dates of action coming up in the new year and ended with their fists up reciting “Assata’s chant.”
#JacksonvilleFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #JCAC #Featured
From Fight Back! News via This RSS Feed.