Tom Brady, Drew Brees and some 1,400 plus NFL, NBA, and MLB players and coaches signed a letter showing support for a bill to end qualified immunity for police officers following George Floyd’s death.
“Today, on behalf of 1100+ athletes & coaches and 300+ front office personnel across the @NFL @NBA & @MLB, we urge Congress to pass the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, introduced by @justinamash & @AyannaPressley,” a tweet from the Players Coalition read Tuesday. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
“We demand accountability for police brutality,” it added. “It’s time for change.”
Today, on behalf of 1100+ athletes & coaches and 300+ front office personnel across the @NFL @NBA & @MLB, we urge Congress to pass the Ending Qualified Immunity Act, introduced by @justinamash & @AyannaPressley
We demand accountability for police brutality. It’s time for change. pic.twitter.com/ro7eRmvSK6
— PlayersCoalition (@playercoalition) June 10, 2020
The post included a link to the letter directed to the members of the United States Congress that said the “time for debate about the unchecked authority of the police is over,” per ESPN.com. (RELATED: Minneapolis 3rd Police Precinct On Fire After Officers Evacuate Building Amid George Floyd Riots)
“We are tired of conversations around police accountability that go nowhere, and we have engaged in too many ‘listening sessions’ where we discuss whether there is a problem of police violence in this country,” the letter read.
“There is a problem. The world witnessed it when Officer Chauvin murdered George Floyd, and the world is watching it now, as officers deploy enormous force on peaceful protestors like those who were standing outside of the White House last week,” it added. “The time for debate about the unchecked authority of the police is over; it is now time for change.”
According to the letter the players, coaches and general managers are asking the following:
We are writing to ask that you pass the bill to end qualified immunity introduced by Representatives Justin Amash and Ayanna Pressley. Congress passed the Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871 to give ordinary citizens recourse when powerful public officials violate constitutional rights. By passing that Act, codified in 42 U.S.C. 1983, Congress told its citizenry that no one is above the law, especially those who abuse government power. A healthy democracy requires no less; citizens must know that if those who promise to uphold the law and protect the community fail to do so, there is a remedy available. The law, as one author has noted, is “a bulwark of American liberty.”
At the end of the post, it included a list of some of the biggest names in the NFL, NBA and MLB.
The Player’s Coalition, according to the website, was “founded in 2017 by co-founders Anquan Boldin, NFL 2015 Walter Payton Man of the Year, and Malcolm Jenkins, 2017 NFLPA Byron ‘Whizzer’ White winner and is governed by a Task Force Board of 12 voting members.”