While President Obama was saluting the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, a group of protesters in New York sought to honor Americans who died in a very different kind of battle — victims of police brutality.
Demonstrators with the Peoples Power Assemblies laid out black towels with outlines symbolizing the bodies of Michael Brown, Akai Gurley, Aiyana Jones and 17 other people of color who died at the hands of cops. They posted cards for those victims who never saw age 21 and held up a 45-foot banner on the boardwalk saying, “Stop Killing Black People.”
“We mourn the soldiers killed over in wars, and we need to recognize there’s war happening here,” said Peoples Power Assemblies co-organizer KaLisa Moore, who noted that more than 450 people have been killed by police this year. The movement aims to “bring awareness to the war that’s happening in our own communities,” she said.
(Photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)
