Brooks’s niece Chassidy Evans said. “On June 12, one of our biggest fears became our reality. Not only did we lose another black, unarmed male. This time it landed on our front doorstep. Not only are we hurt, we are angry. When does this stop? We’re not only pleading for justice. We’re pleading for change.”
Cousin Tiara Brooks : “How many more protests will it take to ensure that the next victim isn’t your cousin, your brother, your uncle, your nephew, your friend or your companion so that we can finally end the suffering of excessive police force?”
Widow Tomika Miller:”I’m scared every day. My family members go out … (and) I don’t even know if they’re going to come home.”
Cousin Gymako Brooks: Life shouldn’t be this complicated. Life shouldn’t be where we have to feel some type of way when we see a police or someone of a different color. If you ask how this young black man was? Look at your children when you see them laugh. That innocence. That joy. That pureness of soul. You’ll have a glimpse of what we lost.
If you missed the whole press conference, watch it. It’s raw and eloquent and profound.
This has to stop.