KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The murder and manslaughter case against Derek Chauvin is now with the jury for deliberations, and activists in Kansas City are watching closely.
“No matter if you’re here or in Chicago, St Louis, or Los Angeles… as Black men and Black Americans, we all see ourselves in the situations that happen,” Justice Horn said. “We see ourselves when someone is getting pulled over or getting apprehended because it could be us.”
Horn organized the protests last summer in Mill Creek Park. He’s spent the past year trying to bring about change.
“Our goal as a community should be to make sure we never have to protest again, that we never have to be in the streets marching for Black lives,” he said. “So what are we going to be doing today as a collective, as a community, to make sure the next generation isn’t doing this? I think that’s what we should be focusing on.”
Horn said he plans to join other community leaders Wednesday when they meet with Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas, Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker and Kansas City Police Chief Rick Smith.
Horn would like to see the demilitarization of the police department, in addition to officers undergoing deescalation and diversity training. He also would like the city prosecutor to stop charging protesters and for police to “abolish the use of tear gas in Kansas City.”
“I know it’s tough to deal with pain, to deal with all of this, but we should also work to make sure the next generation isn’t continuing this cycle,” he said.
