FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 26, 2014

Contacts:

Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, No FEAR Coalition, nofearcoalition@aol.com, 240.731.9577

Alli McCracken, CODEPINK National Coordinator, alli@codepink.org, 860-575-5692

Rally at the Justice Department for Mike Brown and Against Police Brutality and Militarization

When: Wednesday, August 27th at 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Where: In front of the Department of Justice, Constitution Ave between 9th & 10th St NW, Washington DC

Washington, DC – On Wednesday, August 27 at 4pm, activists will rally outside the Justice Department to call on the Attorney General to help secure justice for Michael Brown and the people of Ferguson, Missouri, as well as an overhaul of US law enforcement tactics in order to stop police brutality and the militarization of our police forces.

The rally speakers will feature the following legal experts and community organizers: Institute of the Black World President Ron Daniels, No FEAR Coalition leader Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, No FEAR Coalition Director of Communications Kevin Berends, Nathan Sheard of CODEPINK, Matthew Fog of Bigots With Badges, Veterans For Peace National President Patrick McCann, Reverend George Gilbert, Attorney Nkechi Taifa, and Ayanna Gregory.

After the rally, the group will march to Busboys and Poets on 5th & K St NW to attend “Ferguson and Beyond – The Way Forward,” a town hall meeting on police killings of black men which begins at 6:30 PM. The town hall speakers include Ron Hampton, former head of the National Black Police Association and Hilary Shelton, Director of the DC NAACP.

“Michael's murder is symptomatic of a systemic, racist culture that condones the murder and incarceration of black boys and men at rates highly disproportionate to the general population. U.S. police or vigilantes kill a black man every 28 hours,” says Marsha Coleman-Adebayo of No FEAR Coalition. “We need the full support of the Attorney General’s office to make sure that Michael Brown is not simply another name added to the anonymous statistics and meaningless deaths of African-Americans at the mercy of a merciless system.”

Matthew Fogg, a retired US Marshall stated: "the criminal justice system is racist and aimed at destroying the lives of African-American boys and men. I was ordered to target the Black community for drug related imprisonment instead of following the evidence. There are Michael Brown situations occurring throughout the country and the next one could be a member of your family."

The action co-sponsors include No FEAR Coalition, National Black United Front, Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church, WPFW Radio, Congress Against Racism and Corruption in Law Enforcement, We Act Radio, Federally Employed Women-Legal and Education Fund, Blacks in Government - Heritage Chapter, Popular Resistance, Bigots with Badges, Peace Action Montgomery, Blacks in Law Enforcement of America, the DE Justice Collaborative, WarisACrime.org, The Institute of the Black World, We Act Radio, Green Shadow Cabinet, Veterans for Peace, Coalition 4 Change, RootsAction, Net.We and CODEPINK.