On August 11 over two dozen people gathered in Dallas, Texas to hold a vigil for 15-year old Jordan Edwards who was killed by Roy Oliver, a Balch Springs, Tx. police officer last April in a flagrant act of police violence.
Oliver fired a rifle into a vehicle in which Edwards was a passenger. Oliver said the car was backing toward him when he fired and that he feared for his life, but body camera footage showed that was a lie and that the vehicle was driving away.
No one in the car was involved in any illegal activity, and Jordan’s brother, who was driving, was nevertheless held overnight by police for questioning.
Oliver’s actions were so brazen that he was charged with murder and fired in May 2017. However, justice has not yet been served as Oliver quickly posted bail, his trial has been delayed two times since then, and an attempt was made to move the trial out of Dallas.
Jordan’s family and the Dallas community are demanding that District Attorney Faith Johnson revoke Oliver’s bail and that he be convicted and sentenced for his crime in the upcoming trail which is finally set to begin in Dallas on August 20.
After the vigil, the gathering marched through the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas to demand justice for Jordan.
The demonstration was organized by the North Texas Action Committee, in conjunction with the Party for Socialism and Liberation and other progressive organizations.
Olinka Green, an organizer with NTAC who spoke at the vigil said, “When the people unite for a good and just cause, stand up to fight evil, hate mongering, and destroy this police state of brutality, then America will be a country I would like to raise my African American sons in. Until then I fear for every man of color and woman who lives here.”
Police brutality is a form of social and economic control in the United States. All progressive and revolutionary people should continue to speak out against the blatant racism exhibited by police, and stand against police brutality, in solidarity with the communities that are disproportionately affected by these evils.
