Brooklyn, NY – On Friday evening, December 20, two dozen New Yorkers gathered in the cold outside of the 71st Precinct to remember and demand justice for Eudes “Erd” Pierre.

Three years ago, the NYPD murdered Pierre on December 20. Pierre was in the midst of an apparent mental health crisis and called the police himself – when they arrived, the police shot him ten times, killing him only steps away from his family’s home. On November 20, 2024, the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board found that the cops who shot Pierre acted within NYPD guidelines.

The rally was organized by Justice for Eudes Pierre, an organization established by Pierre’s family which has spent the past three years fighting to remove the police from the response to mental health crises in the city. They say that Pierre needed help from trained mental health professionals, not the cops.

The demands that Justice for Eudes Pierre put forward are: to decriminalize mental health; the implementation of the #PeersNotPolice model as a mental health crisis response; the “Eudes Pierre Law” which would require 911 dispatchers to determine mental health distress and not send police as a response; community control of the police as put forward by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression; killer cops must face disciplinary actions, and end overfunding of the NYPD and fund our communities.

Sheina Banette, a family member of Eudes Pierre, addressed the crowd, saying, “Till this day, this family has not received Justice. We hold Officer Peter Lan and Officer Conrado Abreu-Gerez responsible for taking Erd away from us. Erd had so much life to live. His life mattered.”

After the initial rally, where the crowd directly confronted two police officers outside of the precinct, the family led a march to the corner of Eastern Parkway and Utica Avenue where Eudes Pierre was killed, and where the stretch of Eastern Parkway has been renamed in Eudes Pierre’s honor. There, the crowd heard again from the family and from a speaker from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Speaking on behalf of NYAARPR, Sharif Hall said, “As long as the NYPD are able to do whatever they please with no consequences, then we will not be free. That is why it's important that we do not stop fighting for Eudes Pierre, and everyone else who is unjustly killed by the NYPD. And the NY Alliance is going to continue to do just that, continue demanding justice for Eudes, standing in solidarity with his family, and continuing to fight for community control.”

The program concluded with a candlelight vigil. The family tied a banner commemorating Pierre to a railing at the spot where he was killed and arranged lit candles to spell “ILEP” to stand for “I Love Erd Pierre.”

#BrooklynNY #InJusticeSystem #JusticeforEudesPierre #Peersnotpolice #CCOP #NAARPR

Chicago, IL – On Sunday, November 10, over 100 community members packed into a People’s Town Hall on the northwest side of Chicago. Organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other progressive community groups, the event exposed that the racist Oath Keepers are present in the Chicago Police Department (CPD).

The People’s Town Hall demanded that Mayor Brandon Johnson fire the eight active duty CPD officers named in leaked Oath Keepers membership records. They also called to establish a civilian task force to root out white supremacist extremism from within the ranks of CPD.

CAARPR member Faayani Aboma Mijana opened the event and explained, “Progressive residents of Police Districts 14 and 17 on the northwest side, and 24 on the far north side, found that three of the officers’ names who were leaked in the Oath Keeper roster were stationed in their very districts. From this, CAARPR members and residents engaged in months of struggle that included raising the issue in their local District Councils, a grassroots level police accountability body established by the 2021 Empowering Communities for Public Safety ordinance.”

Mijana continued, “Districts 14 and 17 created enough pressure to force their Chicago Police District Commanders to field questions about the matter. The commander from 14th District bowed to pressure and pledged to raise the issue to those with hiring and firing power within CPD, but the Commander in 17th District grew antagonistic and shut down angry residents.”

Out of these localized struggles, the residents of these three districts linked their efforts and organized the town hall. They hope to unite their communities and the broader city to push their demands and win.

After Mijana’s introduction, the town hall brought on Deputy Inspector for Public Safety Tobara Richardson from the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The OIG released a report that pointed out glaring deficiencies in the CPD’s investigation into the eight officers. The OIG also proposed ways CPD’s internal investigating arm could rectify their investigation. Up to that point, CPD refused to do so. In addition to proposing rectifications, the OIG also called on the mayor to convene the task force to root out “extremism” from within CPD. The town hall united with the OIG in pushing forward this task force.

A panel of leaders followed Deputy Inspector Richardson. Chaired by Mijana, the panel included CAARPR’s Field Organizer Frank Chapman, progressive alders Carlos Ramirez-Rosa and Byron Sigcho-Lopez, progressive 14th District Councilor Ashley Vargas, and two representatives, Remel Terry and Abierre Minor, from the Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA), the city-wide police accountability body established by the ECPS ordinance.

The panelists emphasized the importance of firing these officers and rooting out racists from within CPD. They spoke to concerns that the impending Trump presidency will embolden these racist elements to inflict terror on communities.

In addition, the panelists charted out a path forward for the struggle, telling how pro-accountability district councilors and alders will need to sign onto the demands to pressure Mayor Johnson. The organizers and residents at the People’s Town Hall will take these lessons and use them to further build pressure on the city to remove the Oath Keepers and all white supremacists from CPD, and ultimately to bring the police under the full control of the community.

#ChicagoIL #CAARPR #CCOP #CCPSA

Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, November 25, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a press conference to comment on the recent findings of the jail audit that was released the week before. Two inmates’ mothers, Laquita Dunlap and Kerrie Hirte, spoke of their fights for justice and accountability.

The audit was conducted with input from fewer than 40 inmates, and with no public transparency or input whatsoever. The public expected to hear a preliminary report in December with the full audit report coming in 2025. Instead, the entire report was released suddenly and without any forewarning in November of 2024.

​The audit claims that the “mental health department at the Milwaukee County Jail stands out as a significant strength.” In fact, the audit took no input from families of loved ones who committed suicide in the Milwaukee County Jail.

Kerrie Hirte, the mother of Cilivea Thyrion, stated with teary eyes that her daughter was “tased, being picked on and her rights were not given.” Both Thyrion and her mother asked for her to be visited by a chaplain, and the jail denied it. Then, on December 12, 2022, Thyrion died of suicide in the Milwaukee County Jail at age 20. 

​Laquita Dunlap, the mother of Breion Green, also attended the press conference on Monday. Her son arrived at the Milwaukee County Jail in June of 2022 and committed suicide in less than an hour after being admitted.

The MAARPR statement stressed the importance of community input in this audit and highlighted the hypocrisy of some of the claims. While the audit reports that the mental health facilities of the jail are superb, another part of the audit explains how faulty the facility is. Auditors report watching an individual attempt suicide in a holding cell in front of them. They also report that the windows in cells which hold people on suicide watch are so dirty and full of scratches, that the guards are unable to conduct wellness checks on inmates, thus rendering the “constant” surveillance ineffective.

There is a great urgency around the jail audit. Milwaukee families and activists wants to know what is happening in the jail and how the deaths can be stopped. Six people died in the County Jail in an 18-month period from June 2022 to August 2023, and people incarcerated there can remain trapped for years. The Milwaukee Alliance statement demanded community input over the corrective strategies the County will put in place after the audit and promised to keep up the fight for transparency and accountability from the sheriff. 

#MilwaukeeWI #CCOP #InJusticeSystem #MAARPR