As our nation continues to struggle with overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic, we the members of the North Carolina Black Elected Municipal Officials must pause to speak about another pandemic continuing throughout our nation, the murder of Mr. George Floyd.  

We feel the murder of an unarmed and nonviolent African-American male by four Minneapolis police officers was nothing short of repugnant.  

As locally elected African-Americans, we have received an extremely high number of calls from our constituents expressing their concern and anger regarding the acts of these officers.  

The North Carolina Black Elected Municipal Officials fully condemns all forms of police brutality, systemic racism, and discrimination of minorities.  

These actions have no place in our society.  

We work closely with police officers and fully understand the important roles they play in our communities, but will never condone any type of excessive use of force.

Our President Valerie Jones stated, “Watching the video of Mr. Floyd’s death was unbearable and truly disheartening. That type of brutality is completely unnecessary for an unarmed and compliant man.  I pray that the officers are brought to justice.”  

Every citizen in this country is entitled to their right to protest.   

We’ve seen an unprecedented amount of demonstrations in our state, nation, and across the world.  

We encourage everyone to exercise their right to protest in a peaceful manner.  

We stand united as an organization to end all forms of racism, discrimination, and police brutality.  

We will continue to act upon our mission to serve our communities, our state, and our nation.