Within 24 hours of the now infamous photo of SCPD Chief Mills taking a knee with SC Mayor Justin Cummings to express solidarity for The Black Lives Matter movement, SCPD sent our local officers to aid Oakland PD in policing Black Lives Matter protestors. In Oakland, and across the nation, unarmed protestors are being brutalized with tear gas, rubber bullets, flashbang grenades and mass arrests. We call on SCPD to refuse to use our officers to aid in the escalation of violence, and to uphold Americans’ constitutional rights to peacefully assemble. We call on SCPD to acknowledge that more police does not necessarily equal more peace and to adhere to values of de-escalation. We ask that SCPD goes beyond symbolism and takes tangible action to preserve the rights of protestors to advocate for the basic human rights of Black people in America. At a time when national leaders are calling for more force, more violence and more escalation, we need to make a local decision to safeguard human rights and support protestors’ right to democratic expression. We ask SCPD to suspend providing mutual aid to police forces in Oakland, because our community does not consent to our officers being involved in further police instigation against Black communities and racial justice causes.