Today, Center for Policing Equity Co-Founders Drs. Phillip Atiba Goff and Tracie Keesee released the following statement on the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado:
Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those senselessly murdered in Boulder, Colorado. Every person should be able to go about their lives free from terror. The partners with whom we work every day bear the brunt of our collective decision to let the terror of gun violence spread unabated.
While the facts are still emerging, and no other victims have been named, we understand that Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley is among the 10 people killed. According to Chief Herold of Boulder, Officer Talley was the first to respond, running towards the danger and placing himself between the gunman and the patrons who feared for their lives.
This is what courage looks like. We mourn Officer Talley, who gave all that he had to protect those he was sworn to keep safe. At a time when so few in power appear ready or able to help, his actions remind us that some are willing to sacrifice for our collective good — that our neighbors, friends, and colleagues are better than the versions we too often see.
Communities are hurting from a pandemic, a politics that revel in meanness instead of service, and gun violence that our nation — alone in the world — appears unwilling to end. Today, our hearts are in Boulder. Every day, our efforts will be devoted to ending the daily terror of violence in every community.