For Immediate Release

Contact: Amy Couch, 202-238-9088, acouch@americanhumanist.org

(Washington, D.C., September 12, 2017) Leaders at the American Humanist Association (AHA) denounce the U.S. Department of Justice’s decision not to bring federal charges against the six police officers involved in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray, an African American man whose in-custody death caused major protests and unrest in Baltimore.

“How can our trust in the justice department ever be rebuilt when there’s no accountability?” asks Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the AHA. “This repeated devaluation of members of our society must not continue to derail justice. As humanists, we must continue to stand together against racism and police brutality.”

“What happened to Freddie Gray was a complete injustice,” adds Ashton P. Woods, co-chair of the AHA’s Black Humanist Alliance. “This is not surprising as it is indicative of the current system of laws that we live in, one that protects the police. When the rights of ordinary citizens are violated by those sworn to protect them, there is no, if any, recourse afterwards. Yes, Black Lives Matter and Freddie Gray will always matter because of these injustices and the lack of consequences for those in uniform who commit them and  continue to walk away with their freedom.”