Tacoma, WA – The Tacoma Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TACAARPR) held a film screening of The Alabama Solution on August 29, as a part of the fight for justice for Ronald Amir Harris.

Ronald Harris, a 23-year-old Black man, was found dead in his cell in Pierce County Jail before his trial in 2022. The county ruled it a suicide but refused to provide any evidence or do an investigation, leading many to conclude he was murdered by prison guards.

“May 2, 2022 changed my life. This was the day that I found out my son was murdered. Even though the judicial system claims that my son committed suicide, there was no evidence to support that,” explained Ray Charles Harris. “In fact, there's more evidence to support that my son was murdered.”

The Alabama Solution is a documentary that exposes what many Black Americans are already well aware of: prison guards murder and politically repress prisoners all over this country. These killer prison guards are protected by the judicial system and typically get away with excessive force and murder.

“Ronald Amir was never convicted of a crime; he was killed before he ever got to court. An unconvicted individual who died in custody under suspicious circumstances,” stated Tanderlon Carter, longtime friend to Ray Harris and beloved community member. “This statement is to be used towards the focus on the denial of due process, and the fight for truth. Let us plan to use a special approach by protesting with signs and social media for the lack of accountability, and fight for the structure of truth.”

The Tacoma Alliance has launched a petition demanding an investigation into Ronald Harris’s death by the Washington Office of Independent Investigation. They are demanding the evidence in Ronald Harris’s death be released to his father, something Pierce County has refused to do. Many Freedom of Information Act requests have been denied, some remaining in a “pending” status for over nine months.

“If they have nothing to hide, why won’t they release the photos or location of his death to his father?” asked Moon Gosserand. “If anyone else died under these circumstances there would be an investigation, but, because it’s likely that a prison guard or officer committed the crime, the county is covering it up.”

Gosserand’s claim is well supported by national trends exposed in the film. Similar deaths were covered up in Alabama. Often these deaths are politically motivated.

“Pierce County prosecutors, in order to frame me for a crime that I did not do, they impersonated themselves as a doctor and a nurse and got on the stand and committed perjury in order to get a false conviction on me,” Ray Harris explained, “Four years later, Ronald decided to file a complaint on the station.”

Ray Harris and TACAARPR believe that the open legal case against Pierce County prosecutors was a political motivator in the murder of Ronald Harris.

“Ronald Amir was never given his day in court. However, the system became his judge, jury, and the executioner of an unconvicted human being. Ronald Amir left silenced. We demand the truth. They called it suicide to close the case. Although a life stolen and a trial denied, therefore innocent until proven guilty, unless he dies behind closed doors,” spoke long-time friend Carter.

Ronald Harris’s death is sadly not the only one of its kind in Pierce County. Innocent people are killed by police or prison guards at an alarming frequency, like Manny Ellis or Rhoda Butler. TACAARPR is continuing to fight for full community control of the police to prevent more cases like this, and to ensure greater justice for those already impacted.

“They want us to believe that he gave up on life before he was to ever give himself a chance to fight for his innocence. We refuse to accept the depth of this narrative written by the very walls that failed to protect him. This system has committed an unforgivable injustice that fails the law of the constitution for Ronald Amir Harris,” Carter concluded.

Ray Harris was clear that TACAARPR would not rest until they have won justice, “We have to find out what happened to my son, and we have to stop anybody else from dying under his circumstances.”

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