#WalkingWhileBlack is not a crime

Jacksonville, FL – Around 25 members of different civil rights organizations spoke out at the Jacksonville city council meeting, Dec. 12, to demand an end to the racial profiling and the racist ticketing policies of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Members of the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC), the Northside Coalition, the Jacksonville Progressive Coalition, UNF Students for a Democratic Society as well as the local Southern Christian Leadership Conference spoke out at city council, saying that #WalkingWhileBlack is not a crime and demanded a halt to the pedestrian ticketing program run by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.

_#WalkingWhileBlack is not a crime _

Jacksonville, FL – On June 20, Devonte Shipman, a young African American in Jacksonville, was stopped and harassed by police officers for simply walking across the street. Claiming to have seen him illegally cross the street, Officer J.S Bolen of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) harassed and badgered Shipman, even threatening him with jail time. Shipman recorded the encounter with his cellphone, a clip that went viral and made national and international news.