I wanted to use this time to read to you everything that was said to Bernard Placide, Jr before Officer Sharpe murdered him. I’m doing that because I want it to be on the record for this public meeting, but also because I don’t believe that you’ve all forced yourself to watch that video.

If you had watched that video there’s no way you could claim to be operating in good faith while not moving to fire the Police Chief who promoted Sharpe while she is still under investigation by the Attorney General.
If you had watched that video, there’s no way you could allow this city to move forward like nothing happened.

So I’m bringing it to you here to make sure you’ve actually heard the way that your police officers treat your constituents, the residents of Englewood.

It was less than 60 seconds between when they first saw Bernard, until the time he is fatally shot by Officer Sharpe.
60 seconds where he is alone in his room, a threat to no one.
60 seconds where there is only screaming by officers at Bernard, escalating the situation. No one speaks to him as a human being nor tries to calm the situation, to resolve it peacefully.

I quote:

Come out now
Put your fucking hands up
Put your hands up now or you’re going to get shot.
Put your hands up
Put your hands up
Put your hands out or you’re going to get shot, I’m not kidding
Hands up now
Drop the knife
Drop it
Drop it 
Drop it now
You need to drop the knife
Drop it
Drop it
Drop it
Drop the knife
Drop it

End quote.

There was no knife in the room with Bernard.

Policing is a racist system, not just in Englewood, but certainly in Englewood. It will take more than firing the chief to fix that racist system here, but as you keep reminding people, that’s the only thing you think you can do. So why haven’t you done it?

Imagine if right now officers stormed into this room. Pointing a gun at you. Screaming at you to drop a knife you don’t have.

Imagine if you had less than 60 seconds to process what was happening, what they were even saying, and what they wanted you to do.

Imagine for the last 10 seconds they tased you, causing you to lose voluntary control of your body, no longer able to drop anything, or obey their commands. That’s how a taser works, it shocks your nervous system, takes your brain out of loop, forces you to not be able to control your own body, exactly as the officers should have been trained it would do.

Imagine one of those officers approaches you, still screaming, now pointing their gun at you at close range. And your body still won’t do anything your brain tells it to do, you’re frozen, you can’t comply even if you put every ounce of mental effort into doing what they’re screaming at you to do.

Bang.