DEMANDS:

Justice for Joshua Ruffin
We demand justice for the April 8, 2020 murder of 17-year-old Joshua Ruffin in Columbia, SC.

We demand:

• Release the names and bodycam footage of all officers involved in the murder of Joshua Ruffin;
• Fire and prosecute all officers involved in the murder of Joshua Ruffin;
• Pay restitution to Ruffin's family by the City of Columbia police department.

Defund and Demilitarize Police   
We call on each other to build on existing resistance to state violence and repression, and in doing so to create and strengthen healthy, resilient, and self-determining communities.

We demand:

• Ban the use of tear gas and rubber bullets:   
  
  • The use of tear gas as a weapon of warfare is prohibited under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. This weapon is even more lethal under a respiratory pandemic.
• Drop all charges against protestors:
  
  • People have a right to assemble, protest, and speak out against injustice without being detained.
• Pay restitution to victims of police terror:
  • Victims and their families have large medical bills as a result of police terror, including the recent brutality against protestors. Pay for medical bills, compensation for lost time from work, psychological support, as well as funeral expenses for murdered victims.
• Suspend paid administrative leave for officers under investigation of police violence.
• Remove police from our schools: 
  
  • Immediately end contracts between local school districts and police departments. 
• Redirect funds:
  • Redirect the $42 million (28% of the City of Columbia’s 2019-2020 Budget) that has been allocated to the police instead to affordable housing, public transportation, public works projects, and more. Taxpayer money needs to benefit the taxpayers.
• FREE ALL THOSE INCARCERATED!!!