INDIANAPOLIS – Senate Assistant Democratic Leader Jean Breaux (D-Indianapolis) had the following comments after protesting continued this weekend around the state:

“This weekend in Indiana, and cities across America, people of different backgrounds and faiths came together to demonstrate their opposition to the continuing harassment and murder of black men and others of color throughout this country by a policing system rooted in institutional racism.

“George Floyd and Sean Reed are just two of the most recent names to be added to the list of unarmed black men killed by law enforcement officers. Our anger is real and justified and reflects years of pleadings for change. Yet, year after year, those calls for change fall upon deaf ears while the murder of black men at the hands of empowered, and oftentimes white, police officers continues.

“The killings must stop. The murders must stop. What we are now seeing is that violence begets violence – violence is one method to exact social change. Unless our nation steps up and begins to honestly address police brutality, I fear the violence in our cities and streets will continue.

“In a recent tweet, the venerable John Lewis implored all to ‘Organize. Demonstrate. Sit-in. Stand-up. Vote. Be constructive, not destructive’. Barack Obama reminded us that ‘We are the change that we seek’.

“To Hoosiers and Americans across the country, don’t stop organizing. Keep demonstrating by demanding that your elected leadership hear your demands for change.

“Insist that the rights and benefits of the Constitution of the United States be applied equally and fairly to black men, women and all peoples of color. And above all, vote. It has changed history. “