On Tuesday, a statement from Dr. Melina Abdullah, Director of BLM Grassroots and Co-Founder of BLM Los Angeles, was released in regards to the trial of Jussie Smollett.
Abdullah, a police abolitionist and former professor at California State University, called Smollett’s trial “a white supremacist charade” and said he “has been courageously present, visible, and vocal in the struggle for Black freedom”.
Smollett has been charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to the Chicago police and filing a false report. He has maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
In an abolitionist society, this trial would not be taking place, and our communities would not have to fight and suffer to prove our worth. Instead, we find ourselves, once again, being forced to put our lives and our value in the hands of judges and juries operating in a system that is designed to oppress us, while continuing to face a corrupt and violent police department, which has proven time and again to have no respect for our lives.
Dr. Melina Abdullah
Abdullah claimed that BLM members and those that support Defund the Police cannot believe the police. “In our commitment to abolition, we can never believe police, especially the Chicago Police Department (CPD) over Jussie Smollett,” she explained.
She continued, saying “CPD is notorious for its long and deep history of corruption, racism, and brutality”.
She ended the statement by saying “Black Lives Matter will continue to work towards the abolition of police and every unjust system”. “We will continue to love and protect one another, and wrap our arms around those who do the work to usher in Black freedom and, by extension, freedom for everyone else”.