Chicago, IL – Standing in solidarity with the memories of those massacred in Charleston, South Carolina, activists here in Chicago linked their murders with the national epidemic of police crimes.

“We have to stop the police from occupying our communities. We have to have community control of the police. We have to win an elected, civilian police accountability council [CPAC],” said an angry LaCreshia Birts, as she addressed the 75 people gathered in the shadow of the federal building. One of the leaders of the Black Youth Project 100, Birts is also an organizer in the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

According to Birts, the murderer in Charleston was influenced by the national oppression of Black people, in which the police play a big role. “Police murders of our people breeds white supremacist ideas,” said Birts.

Birts passionately challenged the crowd to not let the deaths in Charleston be in vain. Pointing to community control of the police as a way to win the goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, she urged those in attendance to join the Alliance campaign for CPAC, and the planned march for CPAC on August 29 in Chicago.

“We have to do this work to stop the killing of Black people,” said Brits.

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