Tallahassee, FL – Fifty students at Florida State University (FSU) gathered together, Sept. 8, to commemorate African American lives lost to police brutality and to speak out against police crimes. Regina Joseph with Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led the vigil, introducing speakers from student groups such as DREAM at FSU, and the Black Law Student Association at the FSU College of Law.

The students chanted, “No justice, no peace, no racist police!” and, “Indict, convict, send that killer cop to jail, the whole damn system is guilty as hell!” They also held signs reading, “Stop police crimes,” and “Justice for Sandra!” Sandra Bland was the African American woman who died in police custody after a traffic stop outside Houston, Texas.

Despite the rain, the activists stayed and lit candles under their umbrellas for a moment of silence to commemorate those who lost their lives due to police violence. Then, in an emotional moment, Joseph read the names of those killed by police in the months of August and September 2015. The complete list is 820 people killed by the police so far this year.

“It doesn’t end here,” said Joseph. “We need to continue to organize. Every 28 hours a Black person is killed by a cop or a vigilante. We need to confront heads of power like Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum and TPD Chief of Police Michael DeLeo and tell them we will not be silent in the face of police terror.”

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