Protest held against new crime bill in Washington, DC
A large number of US activists have descended upon the streets of Washington, DC to protest a controversial crime bill put forward by the city’s mayor.
The protesters rallied through the US capital on Tuesday, while chanting slogans against racism and “police terror.”
The sizable crowd, organized by the Black Lives Matter movement, was holding banners and signs that denounced Mayor Muriel Bowser’s newly-proposed crime bill.
To curb crime rates, Muriel has proposed an increase in the number of police officers in southeast Washington, which is mostly populated by African-Americans.
Protesters believe the bill criminalizes the community and adds to their problems. They argue that instead of boosting police presence, the city needs to raise wages and increase affordable housing to effectively reduce violent crime.
Earlier on Monday, the movement organized another similar event in Los Angeles, California targeting Mayor Eric Gracetti.
Tens of the group's supporters confronted Gracetti at a town hall meeting in South Los Angeles, forcing him to hastily retreat to his car while surrounded by police.
Local activists said they are willing to do what it takes to keep in front of the public issues like police reform and better representation for black Angelenos.
"Our lives are on the line," said Melina Abdullah, a California State University professor and an organizer for Black Lives Matter. "We cannot live in a city that has such disregard for black life."
Police behavior in the US has raised nationwide debates with a string of police killings of unarmed black men adding fuel to the issue that has resulted in the creation of the Black Lives Matter movement.
According to the Guardian, American law enforcement officers have killed at least 547 people by the end of June this year and if the trend continues at the current rate, the death toll is expected to cross 1100 mark by the end of 2015.
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