Did you see my email last week? Today, Attorney General Eric Holder is visiting Ferguson, Missouri — the town currently being policed like a warzone after the tragic shooting of Michael Brown last week. In the last few days, protesters have been corralled into padlocked protest zones, bombarded with tear gas, and patrolled by police armed with weapons designed for combat.

While Eric Holder is on the front lines, we need to make sure he knows people across this country are looking to him to help end the siege on communities of color. The Department of Justice, headed by Holder, is one of several federal agencies funneling billions of dollars to our local police departments to help them purchase military weaponry and equipment. And as is usually true with overly aggressive policing, communities of color have been hardest hit by this militarization.

Holder can help lead us out of this war. Let’s call on him to do it.

Nearly 25,000 ACLU supporters have already called on the federal government to stop funding the war on communities of color – will you join us?

Thanks for taking action,

- Anthony

		Tell the DOD, DHS and DOJ: Our communities are not warzones
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On Saturday, local police fatally shot an unarmed African-American 18-year-old named Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. In the days that followed, there have been massive protests in Ferguson and heavily armed SWAT teams are roaming the streets in response.

Our communities are not warzones.

And yet the police, armed to the teeth, treat us like the enemy, especially if we're black, young, poor or homeless. Tanks are rolling through our towns. What will it take for police to start protecting communities of color, not waging war on them?

Part of the problem is that the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice are funneling billions of dollars to state and local law enforcement agencies every year to help them purchase military weaponry and equipment. What business do the DOD, DHS, and DOJ have funding a war here at home?

Tell the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Justice: Stop funding the siege on communities of color.

The scene in Ferguson is tense; the presence of what looks like a military force doesn't seem to be helping. When did "protect and serve" turn into "us versus them?"

"Bring it. You f***ing animals, bring it," one police officer was caught on video telling protesters. In Ferguson and beyond, police officers are waging war through racial profiling and hyper-aggressive tactics. And the sad truth is that the scene isn't much different than the 1950s, with police using fire hoses and billy clubs to beat back civil rights protestors. The weaponry has changed, but the targets are still the same.

Ersula Ore. Eric Garner. Jahmil-El Cuffee. Rosan Miller. Marlene Pinnock. Al Flowers. Alonzo Grant. This is just a sample of the men and women who have been savagely and unnecessarily beaten or even killed by police officers across America this summer. Enough is enough.

With our country's long history of aggressive policing in communities of color, it shouldn't surprise us that these wartime tools and tactics are hitting poor and black neighborhoods hardest. To start undoing the damage, the feds need to stop funding this war.

Time for the DOD, DHS and DOJ to stop turning police into soldiers who wage war against communities of color.

Good policing is about trust, which has been severely eroded through the use of excessive force and police brutality. If police forces across America continue to militarize and treat communities of color as the enemy, they will increasingly be seen as an occupying army.

Stopping the funding and incentivizing of police militarization is a crucial first step to ending this war.

Thank you for taking action,

Anthony Romero for the ACLU Action team

More Information:

https://www.aclu.org/blog/criminal-law-reform/another-day-another-124-violent-swat-raids

https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/racial-profiling