Chicago Coalition to FOP: Stop Fundraising for Officer Darren Wilson

As the nation continues to mourn the death of Mike Brown, an unarmed, African-American teen shot and murdered by police officer Darren Wilson, we are troubled to learn that the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 is engaged in a fundraising campaign on Wilson's behalf.

The United Nations has recently called for a review of police brutality in the United States and the Justice Department has launched a probe into the Ferguson police. As the international community acknowledges the troubling trend of police brutality disproportionately affecting black and brown communities in America, your gesture of solidarity for Wilson, who still hasn't been thoroughly investigated arrested or charged in Mike Brown's brutal killing, strikes a terrible and insensitive chord, and does not represent the people your organization claims to be bound to serve and protect.

At a time when thousands of people of color from all across Chicago and around the country live in fear of the police, the FOP is in a position to advocate aggressively for changes in policies that would truly make our communities safer and strengthen the integrity of CPD community relations. These policies include expanding inclusive community policing programs and opportunities for restorative justice, investigating allegations of systemic manipulation of crime statistics, and ensuring that any officer being investigated for civil and human rights violations is removed from duty.

The FOP's leadership should not be fanning the flames of hate, distrust, and human rights violations by fundraising for Darren Wilson.

We are a multiracial coalition of leaders, advocates, and activists that represent a broad intersection of communities in Chicago and across the nation. We are calling for the FOP to immediately halt its fundraising efforts for Darren Wilson, disable the fundraising page, and instead encourage donors to support organizations and programs that empower young people and strengthen community resources here in our neighborhoods.

It's time for the FOP to work with Chicago's communities as well as its own officers to begin to build trust and communication needed make our neighborhoods safer for their residents. At a time when Chicago gun violence is the center of national attention, we trust you as law enforcement to stand with, not against, the communities you have sworn to serve and protect.

We look forward to a decisive and expedient response to our requests. If the FOP does not respond appropriately to these requests, our coalition is prepared to mobilize the communities we represent to demand these significant changes, and we will not relent until the needs of our communities are met.

CT Carmona
LGBT activist & trans community leader

Charlene Carruthers
Black Youth Project

Kristiana Rae Colón
#LetUsBreathe Collective

Britteney Conner
#LetUsBreathe Collective

Tamara Fouche
Community Activist

Mariame Kaba
Director, Project NIA

Rajya Karipineni
Chicago Desi Youth Rising Organizing Collective

Alexandra Meda, Executive Producing Director
Teatro Luna

Veronica Morris-Moore
Fearless Leading by the Youth (FLY)
South Side Together Organizing for Power (STOP)

Wendell Mosby
Illinois State Director,
Young Elected Officials Network

Elizabeth Nungaray, Artistic Associate
Teatro Luna

Harish Patel
Civic Engagement Fellow,
South Asian American Policy and Research Institute
CEO, ishivest

Rebecca Reynolds
Executive Director,
Chicago Votes

Brian Sleet
Board of Directors,
Chicago Votes

Abigail Vega, Managing Director
Teatro Luna

Celina Villanueva
Immigration Rights and Community Organizer