Attorney General Eric Holder offers policing reforms in wake of Ferguson

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• Screenshot??
• U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder speaks at Ebenezer Baptist Church?

??In the first stop on what will be a nationwide tour, the United States’ top law enforcement officer says the White House will soon launch new plans to curb racial profiling. ?

Parts of his audience last night in Ebenezer Baptist Church want more than that.?

“In the coming days I will announce updated Justice Department guidance regarding profiling by federal law enforcement,” Attorney General Eric Holder told the packed house of worship on Monday night. Those policies, he said, “will institute rigorous new standards and robust safeguards to help end racial profiling once and for all.” ?

The guidelines would expand an existing ban on racial profiling in federal national security cases, but it would apply only to federal law enforcement, not local police. Separately, however, the NAACP of Georgia will push an anti-racial-profiling state law in the General Assembly next year.?

Holder’s visit comes a week after nationwide demonstrations against a St. Louis County grand jury decision not to indict Ferguson, Mo. police officer Darren Wilson for the August shooting of unarmed black 18-year-old Michael Brown. ?

“The rifts that this exposed in Ferguson and elsewhere must be addressed,” he said.????

Holder also said that the Obama administration would continue its support for police body cameras. Earlier in the day, President Obama said he would ask Congress for $263 million for the devices plus training.?

The Atlanta Police Department is already piloting several types of cameras and studying on best policies like access to the data and privacy matters. One top officer has said cameras make police-public interactions “much friendlier.”?

Obama and Holder are also supporting the Smarter Sentencing Act. That U.S. Senate bill would allow work to begin on more flexible sentencing guidelines to replace mandatory minimums. The White House has also set its sights on state laws that disenfranchise felons, even after they’ve served their sentences.?

“We’re marshaling a broad coalition, again, of bipartisan leaders to urge state lawmakers … to repeal and to rethink… unjust policies like felon disenfranchisement,” said the attorney general.?

In Georgia, convicted felons cannot vote until finishing their incarceration plus any probation or parole. On one end of the spectrum, some states never deny felons the vote, even in prison. On the other end, others require ex-cons to petition personally if they want to cast a ballot.?

Some two dozen protesters in the audience interrupted Holder’s speech, standing as one, chanting slogans including “no justice, no peace.” They soon filed out to great applause, with Holder offering “I ain’t mad at ‘cha” and praising their level of concern.?

A total three to four dozen protesters from various groups and communities rallied outside. The protesters want “people (to) realize that our lives are being stolen and they’re not being valued enough for indictments, trials and jail sentences,” said protestor Queen K.?

Meanwhile, back indoors after Holder’s speech, audience members lined up behind microphones, limited to a minute of comment, many unleashing personal tales of pain. The speakers included the family members of Jayvis Benjamin, shot and killed by Avondale Estates police in 2013.?

“To this day we have not had any movement in his case,” said aunt Tawanna Seals. “I’m asking as a family …what can we do? We have been turned away, we have gone through several lawyers. As a family, what can we do to bring peace and closure to our family for Jayvis?” ?

Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer asked Seals and several other speakers to send him their contact information and also suggested they connect with the NAACP, Moral Monday, or other community group representatives stationed in the church lobby. The pastor also praised the protestors outside and offered them meeting space.???? ? ?

• Maggie Lee??
• The aim is for “people (to) realize that our lives are being stolen and they’re not being valued enough for indictments, trials and jail sentences,” said protestor Queen K.?

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EDITOR’S NOTE: To view our complete coverage on local protests and responses to police brutality, visit the #ShutitdownATL page.
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