Dozens of Congressional Black Caucus members and some Democrats were seen wearing “1870” pins Tuesday night as President Joe Biden delivered his second State of the Union address.
The numbered pins mark the year of the first-known police killing of an unarmed Black person in the United States, 26-year-old Henry Truman. Truman, was shot and killed by Philadelphia police officer John Whiteside after being accused of shoplifting.
The “1870” effort - which was created and led by New Jersey Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman – amplifies the decades-long fight against police brutality.
“Last month, history repeated itself,” Waston Coleman said in a video posted on Twitter. “From Henry Truman to Breonna Taylor, the murder of Tyre Nichols echoes countless other police killings of unarmed Black Americans.”
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A card that explains the “1870” button campaign reads: “153 years later, nothing has changed.”
Black people, who account for 13 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for 27 percent of those fatally shot and killed by police in 2021, NBC News reported in the wake of George Floyd’s death.
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The January death of Nichols, a 29-year-old unarmed Black man who was brutally beaten by Memphis police officers, sparked nationwide protest as calls for police reform continue. Nichols mother and stepfather, RowVaughn and Rodney Wells, attended Biden’s State of the Union address and his guests.
