The recent killings of George Floyd and Ahmaud Aubrey have focused national attention on cases of police brutality and racially motivated hate crimes.  On May 18th, a police officer in Sarasota was recorded on cellphone video using unlawful tactics to detain a young black man by applying a knee to his neck.  Police Chief Bernadette DePino, who spoke to the Sarasota Democratic Black Caucus on June 4th, said that the officer has been placed on administrative leave while the matter is being investigated.  

With the issue of police misconduct being raised loudly both locally and around our nation, we call on the police chief and the department to act as swiftly as possible to shed light on the flagrant use of this potentially deadly practice in Sarasota.We also strongly protest the candidacy of Martin Hyde for City Commission, who is blatantly and defiantly running for office despite displaying racist behavior toward a Latino youth at his private tennis club several months ago.  Racism does not belong on the Sarasota City Commission.

We are pleased to see that younger generations of citizens are now protesting against long-standing racial injustices, both locally and nationally.  We sincerely hope that the fire, energy and commitment to equality for all that today’s protesters show will translate to the ballot box in the August primary and the general election in November.

These are critical times for our country—with the growing loss of lives stemming from the pandemic, the loss of jobs and the resultant economic crisis, and the deeply felt outrage over the way racism continues to infect our society.  We are all concerned about these developments—and looking ahead to the fall, we are especially concerned about the way these developments might affect our elections.  

Submitted by the Sarasota County Democratic Party, Sarasota Democratic Black Caucus and Sarasota Democratic Hispanic Caucus.