June, 10 2015, 08:30am EDT
Civil Rights Group Responds to the Resignation of McKinney Police Officer Eric Casebolt
ColorOfChange.org Urges District Attorney George Willis to File Criminal Charges Against Officer Casebolt
WASHINGTON
McKinney Police Officer Eric Casebolt resigned following widespread public outrage at a video showing him brutally attacking and unjustly arresting Dajerria Becton and other Black teens at a pool party.
Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorOfChange.org released the following statement:
"Officer Casebolt's resignation is an important step in the right direction, but not enough to hold him fully accountable or shift the discriminatory and violent culture of policing that has allowed him to brutalize Black people for years.
Within 24 hours, more than 80,000 ColorOfChange members took action to demand Collin District Attorney George Willis prosecute Officer Casebolt to the fullest extent of the law. If Officer Casebolt wasn't a police officer, it is likely he would face criminal charges for his brutal action in a matter of hours. We won't wait any longer for Prosecutor Willis to take definitive action to prosecute Casebolt and investigate the policies and patterns that led to this tragedy.
As we have seen time and time again, unless violent and discriminatory officers face criminal charges, they will continue to target and harm Black communities. Police accountability is critical for transforming deeply entrenched a policing culture that say it's okay to racially profile and brutalize Black folks. What DA Willis does in this moment will highlight where he stands on the critical issue of equal justice and accountability for those who create harm regardless of whether or not they carry a badge.
Black people should not have to demand justice every time police abuse or kill. Yet, if there had been no video of Officer Casebolt's violent assault and people across the country had not raised their voices to demand justice for Dajerria, Officer Casebolt would most likely still be an officer today. In addition to Officer Casebolt's prosecution we urge Attorney General Lynch and the Department of Justice to investigate the broader issues that allow police brutality and racism in McKinney."
Color Of Change is the nation's largest online racial justice organization. We help people respond effectively to injustice in the world around us. As a national online force driven by over one million members, we move decision-makers in corporations and government to create a more human and less hostile world for Black people in America.
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"So if you're wondering if Donald Trump is trying to kill your kids, yes, yes he is," said one critic.
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Public health advocates, federal lawmakers, and other critics responded with alarm to The New York Timesreporting on Friday that an attorney helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. select officials for the next Trump administration tried to get the U.S. regulators to revoke approval of the polio vaccine in 2022.
"The United States has been a leader in the global fight to eradicate polio, which is poised to become only the second disease in history to be eliminated from the face of the earth after smallpox," said Liza Barrie, Public Citizen's campaign director for global vaccines access. "Undermining polio vaccination efforts now risks reversing decades of progress and unraveling one of the greatest public health achievements of all time."
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According to the newspaper:
Mr. Siri is also representing ICAN in petitioning the FDA to "pause distribution" of 13 other vaccines, including combination products that cover tetanus, diphtheria, polio, and hepatitis A, until their makers disclose details about aluminum, an ingredient researchers have associated with a small increase in asthma cases.
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The Times pointed out that experts consider placebo-controlled trials that would deny some children polio shots unethical, because "you're substituting a theoretical risk for a real risk," as Dr. Paul A. Offit, a vaccine expert at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, explained. "The real risks are the diseases."
Ayman Chit, head of vaccines for North America at Sanofi, told the newspaper that development of the vaccine began in 1977, over 280 million people worldwide have received it, and there have been more than 300 studies, some with up to six months of follow-up.
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Trump toldNBC News last weekend: "Hey, look, I'm not against vaccines. The polio vaccine is the greatest thing. If somebody told me to get rid of the polio vaccine, they're going to have to work real hard to convince me. I think vaccines are—certain vaccines—are incredible. But maybe some aren't. And if they aren't, we have to find out."
Both comments generated concern—like the Friday reporting in the Times, which University of Alabama law professor and MSNBC columnist Joyce White Vance called "absolutely terrifying."
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Ryan Cooper, managing editor at The American Prospect, warned that "they want your kids dead."
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Multiple critics altered Trump's campaign slogan to "Make Polio Great Again."
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) responded with a video on social media:
Without naming anyone, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), a polio survivor, put out a lengthy statement on Friday.
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