Washington, DC – The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a faith-based coalition of 34,000 churches comprised of 15 denominations and 15.7 million African Americans says that the Louisiana House Bill 953 is foolhardy, misdirected and can have unattended consequences if this Bill is passed and signed by the governor.
No God fearing person who believes in goodness will ever just arbitrarily kill a police officer. The Church will be the first one to condemn any killing of any police officer. But, we clearly understand that there are many police officers who should not wear the badge because they are biased and racist towards African Americans. The Black Church will never in its existence give the police carte blanche moral protection just because they are under the shield of blue. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that is including the police. This Bill which will make them a double protected class in the state of Louisiana and other states who are thinking about passing similar Bills, will make it a crime even to say hello to a police officer if he did not like the way you said hello one can be charged with a hate crime. Everyone knows that police officers that administer the laws on the books can charge any citizen at any time with resisting an officer even if you did not put your hands on him. This Bill will make a police officer a God like figure and that in itself is an immortal sin.
Rev. Anthony Evans, President of the National Black Church Initiative, “This is a classic case of why African Americans cannot trust law enforcement or white supremacy. They will always change the rules of the game, society and the notion of fair play. We will never win and always be the victim as long as they anoint themselves judge, jury and executioner. This law is un-American it’s un-democratic and completely unworkable in every respect. Governor Edwards is what we call in the south, a man without a soul who will create a social dynamic that can only lead to moral chaos and death.”
NBCI will initiate a suite against the State of Louisiana and its governor for violating the Equal Protection Clause under the state of Louisiana and on the federal level. This type of legal overkill in protecting one class of individual over and against the balance of society violates an egregious amount of the Equal Protection Clause. NBCI is now consulting with Civil Rights Organizations to challenge this law in court.
