Al Sharpton calls for police reform at funeral for Florida man killed by officer
Speaking Saturday at the funeral of Corey Jones, a black man who was fatally shot by a plainclothes police officer, Rev. Al Sharpton called for an end to police brutality.
"If we do not stop this policing problem, it doesn't matter if it's a rich area, a poor area, a white area, a black area," the activist said in West Palm Beach, Florida. "This has got to stop because it's going on everywhere."
Local authorities have been slow to answer requests from Jones' family with more information about the shooting, Reuters reports. Steven Banks, Jones' uncle, stressed his dedication to reforming policing. The death of his nephew, who was a well-known local drummer, comes as nationwide protests have drawn attention to how police have used deadly force against black people in cities like Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, New York.
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"We're going to go to Washington and not stopping until a bill is passed that's going to stop this brutality," Banks said. "I won't let it go until they swipe the pen and change is made."
Officer Nouman Raja reportedly fired six times at Jones, 31, who was stranded on a Florida highway with car troubles early Oct. 18.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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