MOTHERS from across the United States poured into Washington, DC on Saturday, choosing Mother’s Day weekend to march for justice for the ‘epidemic’ of young unarmed black teenagers killed at the hands of the police.
Dubbed the ‘Million Moms March’, the event featured hundreds of people marching to the US Department of Justice.
The march was organised by ‘Mothers for Justice United’, which describes itself as ‘an organisation of mothers whose children have been killed by police officers and white vigilantes’.
Citing the deaths of unarmed black men such as Michael Brown of Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner of Staten Island, New York, the group said it is aiming to stop the ‘epidemic of the killing of unarmed people of color by police.
‘We, the mothers of this movement, are calling on all concerned community members to join us in our fight,’ the group wrote on the Million Moms March Facebook page.
‘Together we unite to stand against police brutality and racial injustice and to demonstrate our love and determination to protect our children and our country.’
As the crowd marched from Capitol Hill to the Justice Department, protesters shouted: ‘No justice. No compromise’ and ‘Black lives matter’. Mothers and others participating held up photographs of those killed by police.
The crowd was carrying an abundance of signs and yellow balloons with peace symbols on them, as well as many flower bouquets.
One of the placards read: ‘From Baltimore to Palestine, Ferguson to Ayotzinapa. A mother’s work is never finished. Stand up! Fight back!’
Mothers for Justice United was created by Milwaukee’s Maria Hamilton after she lost her 31-year-old son, Dontre, during a ‘confrontation’ with police.
A little more than a year ago, police officer Christopher Manney confronted Dontre, who was reportedly mentally ill, at a local park with a pat-down. When Dontre resisted, he was hit with a baton and shot 14 times.
‘This is a call for everybody to wake up,’ Maria Hamilton said as the march began. We are here on behalf of our babies to tell the United States government that we aren’t going anywhere. We aren’t going to continue to keep burying our babies. Do something and do it now.’
Police eventually determined the pat-down was unnecessary, violated Manney’s training and escalated the situation. Manney was fired but never charged with a crime.
‘I believe Dontre planted, his physical life planted a seed for this movement. I know that his death will never be in vain. I had to let him go in order to have this work done,’ Maria Hamilton said about Saturday’s march in DC.
