Mothers Speak Out Against Police Violence and for Policy Change - 3/13/2024

Human Rights & Justice

Guests: Gwen Carr (mother of Eric Garner, killed by police during use of a prohibited chokehold) Patricia Elam-Walker (mother of Denzel Elam Ruff, brutalized by police during a vaping arrest on the Ocean City boardwalk)

Sonia Pruitt (former police captain, Montgomery County, MD and former Chair, National Black Police Association)

Episode 78 of Human Rights and Justice features Gwen Carr, one of the "Mothers of the Movement" and mother of Eric Garner, who was killed by police during use of a prohibited chokehold during his arrest. She will join DC award-winning author Patricia Elam-Walker, mother of Denzel Elam Ruff who was brutalized by police during a vaping arrest on the Ocean City boardwalk. These two mothers are joined by Sonia Pruitt, former police captain of Montgomery County, MD and former chair of the National Black Police Association. This episode during Women’s History Month with a panel of three mothers will share their thoughts about police violence — one whose son was killed, one whose son was brutalized, and one who once wore a badge and seeks policy changes so the same does not happen to her twin sons. Carr, a key figure with Mothers of the Movement (a group of African American women whose children have been killed by police officers), has used her grief to highlight police injustices and advocate for change. Elam-Walker has chillingly stated that she "was only an inch away from becoming one of them [Mothers of the Movement].” Pruitt, now retired, teaches at both Howard University and Montgomery Community College, highlighting the "Black Police Experience." This illustrious panel also explores the slippery slope that can flow from negative consequences of police enforcement of minor infractions, and discusses important policy changes that can be effectuated to insure that no more mothers are thrust into this traumatic club.