Fresnans join rally at state Capitol to support racial, identity profiling bill

Around 40 Fresnans joined 1,000 people from around the state Wednesday in Sacramento to rally at the Capitol in support of a bill to curb profiling by police.

Assembly Bill 953, the Racial and Identity Profiling Act of 2015, would seek to eliminate profiling based on race and identity, such as gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability and religion.

VIDEO: Black Lives Matter protesters demand Gov. Jerry Brown’s support

If approved, AB 953 would:

▪ Modernize the state’s definition of profiling to account for identity characteristics beyond race.

▪ Require law enforcement agencies to uniformly collect and report data on all stops, including the reason for each stop.

▪ Establish an advisory board to analyze law enforcement agencies’ racial and identity profiling policies and develop policy recommendations.

The bill moved out of the Senate Appropriations Committee and is headed to the Senate floor for a full vote.

A recent Washington Post analysis found that unarmed black men were seven times more likely than unarmed white men to die by police gunfire this year. A U.S. Department of Justice report in 2011 found that American Indian and black drivers were more likely to be pulled over than drivers of other races, and white drivers were ticketed and searched at lower rates than black and Latino drivers.

The Rev. Bryson White of Faith in Community and Saint Rest Baptist Church in southwest Fresno said those statistics show there’s a real need for AB 953. If implemented, he said, the bill won’t end profiling but is a crucial step toward holding law enforcement accountable.

“We’ll see if the governor listens,” White said.

Twenty people, including two from Fresno, sat in a circle Wednesday afternoon outside Gov. Jerry Brown’s office following the rally, chanting freedom songs. The Rev. Chris Breedlove of Community United Church of Christ and Thomas Weiler of Faith in Community were prepared to be arrested.

The Rev. D.J. Criner of Saint Rest Baptist Church spoke during the rally about one of his experiences with racial profiling. The rally included organizers with the American Civil Liberties Union and PICO faith-based community organizing affiliates. Afterward, some 200 people stayed in hopes that Brown would meet with them.

There were no arrests, and Brown didn’t meet with the group.

White said he’s been profiled innumerable times. Once, when he was maybe 19, an officer pulled him over on the Figarden Loop. The officer had his gun drawn but not pointed at White and tapped the driver’s side window of the car with it to get his attention. White said the officer told him his offense was going 45 mph in a 40 mph zone.

Speeding should not warrant that kind of response, White said. He said he’s had several weapons drawn on him but never been arrested.

“And I feel like I’ve gotten off fairly easy,” he said. “I know several people who have been actually assaulted.”

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Fresnans join rally at state Capitol to support racial, identity profiling bill."