To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Tell Congress: Pass the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act. No more Fergusons!
What the police have done in Ferguson, Missouri is outrageous—and we must ensure that it never happens again. The federal government should not be providing military equipment to local law enforcement agencies to terrorize people. Please support the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act, and vow to do everything in your power to make it pass.
Why is this important?
Police in Ferguson, Missouri could transform their town into a war zone—because of armored vehicles, assault weapons and body armor provided by the United States military.
And police militarization has happened in cities all over the country.
Section 1033 of a military spending bill passed in 1996 allows the Pentagon to give “surplus war material” to local police departments. Since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has also offered grants to local law enforcement agencies to “combat terrorism and fight the war on drugs.” As a direct result, we see situations like what we saw in Ferguson.
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-GA) will soon introduce the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act in Congress—which would end the federal government’s program of providing billions of dollars worth of military equipment to local police. It’s about time.
Sign the petition to Congress: No more Fergusons. Pass the Stop Militarizing Law Enforcement Act.