[New York Governor Andrew Cuomo\Police Violence]
Cuomo: “I stand in solidarity with the thousands of peaceful demonstrators demanding police reform, criminal justice reform, and racial equality, shouting in one collective voice: Black Lives Matter.”
Photo: YouTube
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released the following statement ahead of today’s “Get Your Knee off Our Necks” March on Washington:
“Our nation once again finds itself in a moment of anguish and anger after yet another senseless shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a police officer, this time in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
I stand in solidarity with the thousands of peaceful demonstrators demanding police reform, criminal justice reform, and racial equality, shouting in one collective voice: Black Lives Matter.
It is fitting that tomorrow’s march marks the 57th anniversary of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s visionary ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, which was a call for a more just and equal America. Sadly, we have yet to realize Dr. King’s dream.
We all have a role to play.
The painful truth is that while the names of the victims change, the color of their skin does not. Jacob Blake, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Amadou Diallo, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, and untold others continue to fall victim to the racism that is deeply embedded at the core of our criminal justice system.
The anger and outrage felt by so many is a warranted response to a flawed system that devalues the lives of Black men and women.
In New York, we turned our anger into action by signing into law the nation-leading “Say Their Name” Reform Agenda, which fundamentally reforms and reimagines the state’s criminal justice system. But we know the work is nowhere near finished. Our state has a proud history as the birthplace of social justice movements and progressive action that seek to achieve social and economic equality for all.
Let us recommit ourselves to that goal and show the nation that at the end of the day, even if it is a long day, love wins – always.
