Controversy surrounding the shooting of Brandon Tate-Brown by Philadelphia Police has sparked activism on Penn’s campus.
On Jan. 30, members of Students Organizing for Unity and Liberation, an activism group on campus known as co-organizers of the die-in at Amy Gutmann’s annual holiday party, placed posters around campus asking “Who Killed Brandon Tate-Brown?” in an effort to spark campus conversation and awareness. This was part of their on-going Ferguson Friday demonstrations.
Brandon Tate-Brown, a 26-year-old black man, was shot in the head and killed by Philadelphia police officers during a traffic stop on Dec. 15, 2014 in the Mayfair section of Philadelphia. Police reported that Tate-Brown was allegedly reaching for a weapon when they shot him.
There were two places on campus where sheets with spray-painted messages were placed: the Covenant sculpture on Locust Walk and the bridge over 38th street. The signs were taken down that same day.
Tate-Brown’s death came at a time when national attention is focused on questions about the use of excessive force by police officers and the fairness of the U.S. legal system, particularly for people of color.
Members of SOUL later released a public statement on Facebook explaining the meaning behind the posters.
“SOUL chose to highlight Brandon Tate-Brown because we believe that ALL Black lives matter and that no one should have to go on trial for their death post mortem,” the group said in their public statement.
The group also chose to highlight two other major issues surrounding the death of Tate-Brown — lack of police transparency following the incident and what they believe to be a prejudicial rush to excessive use of force against blacks.
Other members of the Philadelphia community have spoken out regarding the connection between this case and others happening around the country, namely Brown’s mother who shared her outrage regarding law enforcement in an interview with NBC10 Philadelphia following the incident.
“I would like to know why the police, law enforcement, has the right to kill instead of disabling,” the victim’s mother Tanya Dickerson told NBC10 Philadelphia. “It has to stop, this is enough already.”
