Release Us: A Powerful Short Film on Police Brutality
500
innocent Americans are murdered by police every year (USDOJ). 5,000
since 9/11, equal to the number of US soldiers lost in Iraq.
In 1994
the US Government passed a law authorizing the Pentagon to donate
surplus Cold War era military equipment to local police departments.
In the
20 years since, weaponry designed for use on a foreign battlefield, has
been handed over for use on American streets...against American
citizens.
The
"War on Drugs" and the "War on Terror" replaced the Cold War with
billions in funding and dozens of laws geared towards this new "war"
against its own citizens.
This militarization of the police force has created what is being called an "epidemic of police brutality" sweeping the nation.
A NOTE ABOUT THE INCLUSION OF TRAYVON MARTIN
"The
inclusion of Trayvon Martin in this video was inspired by the Directors
of 'No Justice, No Peace," who dedicated their film to him along with
the victims of police brutality. Although I concede that Trayvon Martin
was not killed by a police officer, I chose to include him because his
murder at the hands of George Zimmerman is representative of American
Law Enforcement's general attitude towards young Black males (the single
largest demographic of those murdered by police), and the "Stand Your
Ground Law" which motivated Zimmerman to hunt Trayvon Martin down and
shoot him is a law which Florida Law Enforcement fully supports, ergo,
creating an extension of the police through this dangerous and aberrant
form of 'Community Policing.' I do not expect everyone to understand or
accept this, but it is a choice I stand behind in the hopes that his
inclusion makes a statement and fosters further dialogue about the use
of force in America."
~ Charles Shaw, Director
