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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | May 29, 2020

SEATTLE — Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party, issued the following statement regarding the decision to charge the police officer who killed George Floyd with murder:

“George Floyd should still be alive today, but he is not the only one to suffer racist violence. Breonna Taylor did not deserve to be gunned down innocently in her own home. Ahmaud Arbery was lynched by two white men. Christian Cooper did not deserve to fear for his life while bird watching in Central Park.

While many people in this country are focused on how we get back to “normal,” we must remember that normal for Black Americans is the fear that institutional racism could end their life or take the life of a loved one.

We owe them more than words; we owe them more than legislation; we owe them a daily commitment to use whatever power each of us has to effect change until every American — regardless of the color of their skin — can move through our society without fear. Everyone can and must help bend the moral arc of history towards justice, and today’s decision to charge George Floyd’s killer with murder is only a small step towards justice for him and his family.”

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