The North Carolina chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots networks, released the following statements after a North Carolina deputy shot and killed Andrew Brown, Jr., a Black man, while executing a search warrant in Elizabeth City.
“Our hearts are with Andrew’s grandmother Lydia, his aunt Clarissa, and his whole family and community on this terrible day,” said Alanna Miller, a volunteer with Duke University Students Demand Action. “We are glad there will be an inquiry into this deadly shooting and will fight to ensure it is thorough, transparent, and delivers accountability.”
“Andrew Brown, Jr. should still be alive today,” said Madhavi Krevat, a volunteer with the North Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We join in Andrew’s family’s demands for a thorough investigation into his shooting, and we’ll fight for a criminal justice system which actually delivers justice for all, unlike the one we have today.”
In an interview with the Associated Press, local NAACP leader Keith Rivers said, “When is it going to stop? We just got a verdict yesterday [referring to the guilty verdicts handed down Tuesday in the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in the murder of George Floyd]. Is it open season now? At some point, it has to stop. We have to start holding the people in charge accountable.”
To reduce police violence and the disproportionate impact it has on Black and brown communities, it is essential that every law enforcement officer in America works for an agency with evidence-based policies—strong guardrails on when police may use force against civilians, ensuring police are held accountable when force is used, and prioritizing de-escalation, dignity, and respect.
Research suggests that implementing specific use-of-force policies can save lives. One 2016 study of 91 large police departments found adoption of use-of-force reform policies—exhaustion of other means prior to shooting, bans on chokeholds and strangleholds, use-of-force continuum, de-escalation, duty to intervene, restrictions on shootings at moving vehicles, and warning before shooting—was associated with fewer people killed by police.
Black Americans are shot and killed by police at three times the rate of white Americans, and data from Mapping Police Violence shows that most people killed by police are killed with guns.