Over 2,000 movement leaders, scholars, journalists and people of conscience have signed their names to the solidarity statement in support of the Denver anti-racist organizers facing decades in prison on bogus felony charges. The outpouring of support across the country and around the world has helped secure the release of the organizers from jail, but the fight continues to demand that authorities drop the charges. Nearly 15,000 have signed the petition.
This is an attack on the entire movement! The Denver activists were targeted because of the leading role they play in the struggle for justice for Elijah McClain, a young Black man who was ruthlessly murdered by officers of the Aurora Police Department.
Below are just some of the prominent individuals and organizations that have signed on in support.
Add your name to the statement below!
Free the Denver anti-racist organizers! Drop the charges!
We, the undersigned, stand in solidarity with the anti-racist organizers who were arrested in Denver, Colorado as part of a coordinated police operation. We demand that the charges against them be dropped.
On Sept. 17, several protest leaders, including four members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, were arrested in Denver, Colorado in a coordinated police attack. The organizers now face over 30 bogus charges including “kidnapping” and “inciting a riot,” and potentially years in prison. They were targeted because of their dedicated organizing efforts in recent months to denouncing the police murder of Elijah McClain in Aurora, Colorado.
The same District Attorney, Dave Young, who has refused to charge the police officers who murdered Elijah McClain, directed these felony arrests of the organizers who have been protesting against him. He is engaged in a corrupt abuse of his authority to silence his critics and the demands for racial justice, a declaration of war against the First Amendment.
This attack is part of a larger assault on the anti-racist movement directed from the White House, Governor’s mansions, and local governments and police agencies around the country.
We understand that this can happen to any protester, who has used their voice to mobilize in the mass movement against racism in every single corner of the United States. We stand united against this attack on civil liberties and the ongoing movement for Black Lives.
Demands:
- Drop all the charges!
- Stop the assault on the movement and on free speech!
* – listed for identification purposes only
