WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial issued the following statement in response to the Department of Justice bringing charges against former Louisiana State Trooper Jacob Brown:
“The incident with former Louisiana State Trooper Jacob Brown in which he assaulted an unarmed Black man with a flashlight more than a dozen times is another example of why we need police accountability and policy reform. It is also an example of the police abuse that takes place on our nation’s streets each day where the victim is injured but not killed and therefore the incident flies beneath the public’s radar. Indeed, without the video, it is unlikely that Mr. Brown would have ever been held accountable. That’s unacceptable.
“We applaud the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division for indicting former State Trooper Brown and taking steps to restore trust in policing in Louisiana. We renew our call, however, for the Administration and Congress to resume efforts to pass federal legislation that would ban the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants, eliminate qualified immunity, investigate police misconduct, create a nationwide police misconduct registry and require the use of body cameras. We can never give up on the effort to ensure our communities are safe from officers like former Trooper Brown. We must build on these actions taken by the Department of Justice by pushing for meaningful police reform and putting an end to this pattern and practice of abuse.”
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