This June, the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two Black Americans who were victims of police brutality, sparked anti-racism protests and discussions across the country that continue today. Emerging from the fire were organizations aiming to end racial disparities and address systemic racism.
Richard Montgomery High School juniors Julia Angel, Daniella Mehlek-Dawveed and Kyson Taylor co-founded one such organization, MoCo Against Brutality (MCAB). This student-led coalition strives to end police brutality and reform the criminal justice system on a local and state level.
After more killings of Black and brown citizens became publicized, the co-founders began doing their own research and learned about Emmanuel Okutuga, Robert White and Finan Berhe, three men who were killed by police in Montgomery County.
“We were shocked that their stories had not received coverage and found that this was indicative of a broader trend: Montgomery County’s issues with racism in policing and the criminal justice system are often overlooked, disregarded, or even covered up,” the co-presidents of MCAB said. “We wanted to do everything in our power to make sure that this did not continue. We wanted to channel our energy into organizing a sustainable movement and bringing genuine change. We wanted to give MoCo residents and students ways to elevate their voices and advocate for impactful change.”
MCAB aims to end police brutality and reform the criminal justice system county and statewide. This includes removing School Resource Officers from MCPS, reallocating funding from the Montgomery County Police Department to restorative justice approaches including mental health and other community services, demilitarizing the police, decriminalizing low-level offenses and involving community voices in decision-making.
It has also started a petition demanding Montgomery County and Maryland representatives better train officers, ban violent tactics and implement non-lethal weapons. Over 900 people have already signed this petition.
“Our current criminal justice is inherently prejudiced against people of color and is representative of the overall prejudice that American society has against these people,” the co-presidents of MCAB said. “Hundreds of people have lost their lives at the hands of police brutality, and countless more have had their lives significantly altered. No student should accept this, no parent or teacher should accept this, and most importantly, no councilmember or legislator should accept this.”
They also want to hold officers accountable by repealing the Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights (LEOBR), a statute that protects police from investigation and grants them additional privileges during it.
“We recently hosted a Town Hall on LEOBR with the ACLU. We host weekly Police Demands Coalition Meetings, present at numerous events, and arrange meetings with council members. We have many more action-based events in the works, specifically based around our SRO Removal and Repeal LEOBR Campaigns,” the co-presidents of MCAB said.
The organization has hosted multiple other events, such as an email storm to local and state officials demanding accountability, divestment and more. Additionally, they held a community presentation and discussion with Montgomery County citizens. They plan on hosting more events to conduct research, develop public awareness campaigns, pressure politicians and coordinate other advocacy actions.
“As we have become more involved in the advocacy community, we’ve built relationships with individuals from a variety of organizations who have had experiences ranging from racist microaggressions to losing a loved one at the hands of police violence,” the co-presidents of MCAB said. “While you may not have experienced police brutality, hundreds of Black and brown individuals do, and it is your obligation to fight for the members of your community and work to end police brutality in all of its forms.”
Anyone can get involved in MCAB by signing up for their weekly newsletter and other events, and by becoming a member through the organization’s interest form. Their Instagram page has many details and contact information.
“We fight for justice for the thousands of people of color in our state that are targeted by the racism of the criminal justice system,” MCAB said. “A system that institutionally preys on the people it is supposed to protect cannot exist within our society.”
Article by Maya Bhattiprolu of Winston Churchill High School
Graphic by Nyomi Fox of Walter Johnson High School