From the President

Seattle King County NAACP on Tacoma Charging Decision: "We are witnessing the dawn of accountability for police"

5/27/2021

Carolyn Riley-Payne, president of the Seattle King County NAACP, issued the following statement today on the charges announced today in the brutal killing of Manuel Ellis:

“Today we learned that it is possible for police in Washington State to be held accountable for brutal, unjust violence perpetrated against Black and brown people. We wish that this was not a remarkable thing, but for now, in the year 2021, it is.

“Our thoughts now are with members of Manuel Ellis’s family, who were forced to watch video of a man they loved being shocked with a stun gun, hogtied, and hooded while calling out, in his last words, “I can’t breathe, sir!” Several of Mr. Ellis’ relatives are longtime members of our branch and we are heartbroken over the loss and grief they have suffered in the 14 months since he was taken from them at the age of 33.

“It is no coincidence that these charges were announced just over five weeks after a Minneapolis police officer was convicted of murdering George Floyd, another unarmed Black man. And it should be no surprise that they come just weeks after a legislative session that saw Washington state lawmakers create an Office of Independent Investigation and pass laws banning the use of choke holds, neck restraints and military equipment. For we are witnessing the dawn of accountability for police.

“But our progress is fragile, and it can only be sustained if we continue to fight for justice for each and every Black and Brown man, woman and child murdered by police for no reason but the color of their skin. We must continue to fight for the defunding of government agencies charged with the unempathetic enforcement of laws, investing that money instead in organizations focused first and foremost on protecting and serving our most vulnerable communities, especially those long tormented by the oppressive forces of systemic racism. We must demand an inquest process in King County that will finally provide answers and justice for the families of Black and Brown people killed by police, including Damarius Butts, Isaiah Obet, Charleena Lyles, Eugene Nelson, Robert Lightfeather, Curtis Elroy Tadde and many others. And we must disempower those individuals and institutions that seek to prevent police from being held accountable for unjust violence.

“As with the conviction of the police officer who murdered George Floyd, we hope that these charges are a sign of things to come and not an anomaly never to be repeated. And we are determined to make it so.”

President Carolyn Riley-Payne
Seattle King County NAACP
Branch 1136

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Carolyn Riley-Payne, president of the Seattle King County NAACP, issued the following statement on today’s verdict in the trial of Derek Chauvin:

4/20/2021

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“We are heartened to hear that Derek Chauvin has been found guilty of murder in the death of George Floyd – but we are not satisfied. This verdict shows that the thin blue line of police silence can be broken; that police officers have it within them to stand up and hold their fellow officers accountable; that prosecutors can muster the resources and evidence to secure a guilty verdict against police when they have the will do to so; and that juries are capable of seeing the truth, which is that Black and brown people in America continue to be killed by police for no other reason than the color of their skin.

But this is just one verdict, and it came only after a summer of nearly non-stop mass protest, with echoes of Mr. Floyd’s last words, “I can’t breathe,” filling streets from Seattle to Washington, D.C. It should not take a national movement to secure justice for a single Black man killed by a police officer. But it did, and it will.

Because we know that our work is not done, that Black and brown people continue to be targeted, assaulted and killed by police every day, and that they rarely see justice. We see it in our backyard, in King County, where Black and Indigenous people are killed at a vastly disproportionate rate. We live in an America where white people can storm the U.S. Capitol and go home safe and unarmed, while Black and brown people are effectively sentenced to death for counterfeit dollar bills and loose cigarettes.

It has to stop. We cannot accept the status quo. It is time to end policing in Seattle and King County as we know it and build a new system that honors Black and brown lives. As our community celebrates this rare victory tonight, we must channel our emotion into sustained action. We must fight to secure justice for other victims of police violence. We must remember those here in King County who have lost their lives at the hands of the police: Shaun Suhr, Charleena Lyles, Tommy Le, and too many others. We must strive for a day when holding police accountable is routine. We must not let this day be an anomaly.

And as we honor this moment, we must do so with respect for our community and each other. We must be ready to take action tomorrow.”

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