In 2017, Michigan legislators introduced what has been dubbed “Blue Lives Matter” bills. The bills will be heard in committee Tuesday, March 6, 2018. The bills add police officers to protected status and add additional penalties to those who are found to commit felonies against cops based on their ‘perceived’ occupation.

If these bills pass, police officers would have another way of using the state to silence and further criminalize those speaking out against their actions.

In an effort led by Detroit Police Chief, James Craig, there has been a push to insert a narrative that police are being threatened like never before. However, national research shows that law enforcement officers are not under attack; they are the safest they have ever been in recent history.

Police deaths are at the 2nd lowest numbers in more than 50 years. Meanwhile, 987 people have been killed at the hands of police in 2017, and 27% of those killed were Black people who make up only 13% of the US population. Police officers already have protections and yet, this Legislature has done little to none to address the violence that people experience from police.

We must stop these bills now! Please sign this petition to tell Michigan lawmakers NO to “Blue Lives Matter” bills.