ASSEMBLY MOVES TO CURB POLICE VIOLENCE TOWARD PEACEFUL PROTESTORS

Sacramento, CA (June 2, 2021) - The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) California released the following statement upon the California State Assembly’s approval of AB 48 (Gonzalez), which would prohibit the use of kinetic energy projectiles or chemical agents by any law enforcement agency to disperse protests. The following may be attributed to April Verrett, President of SEIU Local 2015 and Executive Board member of SEIU California:

“California has seen our greatest challenges and weaknesses exposed over the past year – inequality, racism, exclusion of immigrants, and the economic vulnerability of the vast majority of people, whether poor, working-class, or middle class. Peaceful protests against structural racism and injustice have too often been met by violence in the form of projectile and chemical weapons dispensed by police; AB 48 will prohibit this practice and protect the right to peaceful protest we all hold dear.

“Racial justice can only be realized through a sustained, visible, and vocal anti-racist movement. SEIU members are committed to seeing this through, through speaking out to legislators, taking action in the streets, and standing up to racism and hate wherever we see it. AB 48 is a critical step toward creating the conditions that will bring justice forward. We’re glad the California Assembly supported this important bill, and we are committed to doing everything needed so that ours is the last generation to fear the police.”