Take Legal Action Against Police Killings. #BlackLivesMatter. STDDs, Week 52

18 year-old Mansur Ball-Bey became the 743th person to be killed by police this year. The teenager was the 64th person to be killed by police for the month of August. Since his death yesterday, police have killed 5 others.

The media report about another young black man's death was that he had pointed a gun at officers who, in fear for their lives of course, shot him dead. Now we find out that he was shot in the back. Shot in the back three times means that the victim's back was toward the shooters, no? At least two police officers shot a young man as he ran from them. In a number of cases where there were dash and body cameras, we saw the police lie. We saw them lie again and again and again. We saw them plant evidence, and tamper with evidence, and fake injuries.

Why would we trust anything they say about anything? Why would their partner in crime - the media - quote them as if their reports are proven facts?

Now here's the thing, we know what's been going on. We have the figures, the websites, the reports, the YouTube videos, the cellphone cameras, the dash cams, and the body cams. We have the evidence. We know that we have a huge problem.

Now what are we gonna do about it?

Since January 1, 2015, 748 people have been killed by police. Since August 1, 2015 - 21 days - 64 people have been killed by police. (125 for the month of July.) Since #BLM protested at Netroots Nation on July 18, 2015, 113 people have been killed by police.

Members of the Support the Dream Defenders Group got tired of only talking about the tears of mothers, the anguish of families, the impotent rage of communities. We thought action was long overdue, so we borrowed a page from ALEC and, with the assistance of over 700 members of Daily Kos, wrote our own law. The Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act is our attempt to change the culture of policing in this country. It is our attempt to empower ordinary citizens to police the police. It is our attempt to put a stop to LEOs over-policing our communities to death. Our law gained the approval of members of the NAACP and the ACLU.  

Now that we have a law, what are you gonna do about it? We need the legislative help to get it passed and on to the President's desk.

Can you help? We ask that you do the following:

a) Print out the Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act and send it your representatives.

b) Email the law to your representatives and to civil rights organizations.

c) Tweet the law to your representatives and to the Democratic presidential candidates.

d) Call your representatives and ask what are they doing about police brutality in general and implementing our law in particular.

e) Contact your United States senator and contact your representative in the United States Congress. Call their office. Talk to a staff member. Call every week. Set up meetings. Organize a group to go to a meeting with your congressperson.

Remember, the aim is to change the culture of policing in this country.

The Michael Brown Over-Policed Rights Act Addresses: Racial prejudice in policing. Identification of problem areas like Ferguson, Missouri before they blow up. Violence in policing. Mass incarceration. Unfairness in policing (such as extraordinary numbers of alleged offenses per population). Allowing law enforcement officers to avoid answering for their mistakes. The current lack of reporting on policing statistics (especially regarding race and force, both lethal and non-lethal). Provision of body cameras to police officers. Elimination of weaponized police equipment in problem jurisdictions.

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Do you have other practical ideas to fight against police brutality? Please share in comments.