Sylville Smith’s life matters. La vida de Sylville Smith importa

Sylville Smith

The statement below, issued in English and Spanish by Voces de la Frontera in Milwaukee, condemns the acquittal on June 21 of a Milwaukee police officer in the 2016 killing of community member Sylville Smith.

“We are heartbroken and angry that the criminal justice system has again failed to hold a police officer accountable for killing a Black man,” said Christine Neumann-Ortiz, Executive Director of Voces de la Frontera. “Sylville Smith’s life matters. He was murdered by the same legal system that racially profiles Latinxs, separates immigrant families through deportation and labels millions of people of color as criminals. He was murdered by the same economic system that outsources jobs from good paying factories, defunds public schools and health care, and evicts and forecloses on Black, Brown and working-class families. We especially urge Milwaukee non-Black Latinx and immigrant community members to protest this verdict. We cannot demand justice for Latinx and immigrant families without demanding justice for Black families separated by the police killings of loved ones.

“Voces de la Frontera condena la ­exoneración del policía de Milwaukee en el asesinato de un miembro de la comunidad: Junio 21, una vez más un policía fue exonerado después de asesinar a un hombre afroamericano, esta vez en Milwaukee. Voces de la Frontera publicó la siguiente declaración:

“Estamos tristes y enojados que el sistema de justicia penal otra vez no ha castigado a un policía por matar a un hombre afroamericano,” dijo Christine Neumann-Ortiz, directora ejecutiva de Voces de la Frontera. “La vida de Sylville Smith importa. Él fue asesinado por el mismo sistema legal que discrimina en contra de los latinxs, separa a las familias inmigrantes por la deportación y nombra a millones de personas de color como criminales. Fue asesinado por el mismo sistema económico que está cerrando las fábricas que proveía trabajos buenos pagados, que está cortando fondos de las escuelas públicas y el cuidado de salud y desaloja a las familias de color y de la clase trabajadora. Animamos especialmente a los latinxs e inmigrantes de Milwaukee a protestar este juicio. No podemos exigir justicia para las familias latinas e inmigrantes sin exigir justicia para las familias afroamericanas rotas por los asesinatos policíacas.”

Voces de la Frontera, a national leader in the movement for immigrant and worker rights, is the largest grassroots Latinx membership organization in ­Wisconsin: www.vdlf.org.

Workers World Milwaukee bureau

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Workers World Milwaukee bureau

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