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Washington Mystics guard Ariel Atkins declined to answer basketball-related questions following her team’s win on Tuesday night, instead asking the media to spread the word about the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act on the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd.
The Policing Act is meant “to hold law enforcement accountable for misconduct in court, improve transparency through data collection, and reform police training and policies.” One of its main goals is to ban chokeholds, like the one that killed George Floyd. You can read the full details of the bill here.
The bill passed the House of Representatives in March and is now stalled in the Senate.
Ariel Atkins asks media to tell public about George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, which would ban chokeholds and has passed the house and is in the Senate. She says to get informed and call your senators. #WhatReallyMatters#BiggerThanBasketball
— Swish Appeal (@SwishAppeal) May 26, 2021
Mystics guard Natasha Cloud also declined to answer questions related to basketball and laid out a list of reforms that she said need to be focused on.
Natasha Cloud wants people to reach out to senators, asking them to:
— Swish Appeal (@SwishAppeal) May 26, 2021
"- ban chokeholds and other restrictive maneuvers
- end qualified immunity for all gov't actors
- have better accountability policies to meaningfully address rampant systemic racism and policing" (1/3)
Natasha Cloud wants people to reach out to senators, asking them to:
— Swish Appeal (@SwishAppeal) May 26, 2021
"- ban racial and religious profiling
- prohibit no-knock warrants
- mandate a federal standard that use of force only be used when necessary
- demilitarize our police" (2/3)
Natasha Cloud wants people to reach out to senators, asking them to:
— Swish Appeal (@SwishAppeal) May 26, 2021
"- develop a national public database of police misconduct
- strengthen the federal gov't's ability to hold officers accountable for rights violations while on duty." #BreonnaTaylor #SayHerName (3/3)
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was murdered by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin over the simple matter of an allegedly fake $20 bill. Floyd’s death sparked a national outcry for change that has still yet to come. Chauvin was found guilty in April and will be sentenced in June.
Breonna Taylor, who Cloud made a point to mention at the Zoom press conference after the Mystics’ game, was killed during a mistaken drugs raid on March 13, 2020.