Decarcerate Memphis has released a statement claiming that they are not responsible for the “vandalization” of mayoral candidate Sheriff Floyd Bonner’’s campaign headquarters.”
“Decarcerate Memphis is not responsible for the action that took place Sunday evening at Sheriff Bonner’s campaign headquarters,” said the group in a statement.
According to its website, Decarcerate Memphis is an organization that exists to “apply common sense strategies and a community-oriented approach to the problematic system of policing. We do this by demanding funds are equitably allocated and resisting the criminalization of the poor.” The group comprises community leaders, activists, attorneys, strategists, and clergy.
The organization shared a video to its social media pages showing protesters and organizers defacing Bonner’s campaign headquarters with the caption “#bodybagBonner is on the lam. He’s bad for 201 and bad for the 901.”
While the organization shared the video, the statement added that “[our members] are a part of a broad coalition and shared the video to stand in solidarity with those who performed the action.”
In a post, which has since been deleted, KWAM news anchor Ben Deeter shared a statement from Bonner, in which he named Decarcerate Memphis in association with the vandalization of his headquarters.
“Last night a group of radical activists who support my opponent vandalized our headquarters and are burning our yards. The group ‘decarcerate Memphis’ wants to defund the police and free dangerous prisoners from jail and we can’t let them win,” the statement read.
The group responded to this claim on social media, saying that Bonner had made “false criminal accusations of ‘vandalism.’
“Sheriff Bonner has accused Decarcerate of vandalizing his headquarters when no evidence exists of this. Vandalism is the deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property, neither of which happened as a result of this action,” the organization said in their statement. They also said that Bonner’s broadcasting of “outright lies” is a “gross misuse of power.”
According to Decarcerate Memphis, they were “targeted” because they are currently seeking “accountability and transparency” from Bonner’s office. They said Bonner has ignored requests to meet with the group.
“He is a danger to the community as a Sheriff and if we do not pass transparency and accountability measures, there will be more cataclysmic outcomes for Black and brown neighbors,” the statement said. “We demand justice and accountability for the 50+ people who have died under his leadership and for Jarveon Hudspeth, who was killed by a Sheriff’s deputy on June 24.”
Prior to these claims, the group has made several public posts demanding answers for “the 50+ people who have died under his [Bonner’s] leadership.”
