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Demonstrators march across Brooklyn Bridge in protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in New York City, June 4, 2020. Photo: Reuters / Andrew Kelly / File.
More than 800 US rabbis and cantors have signed a letter calling on law enforcement to not interfere with peaceful protests taking place across America following the recent police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The letter — an initiative of the Reform Movement’s Religious Action Center (RAC) — began, “As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel said, to march is to pray with our feet. Throughout American history, the right to protest peacefully has been a hallmark of free expression.”
“In the past week, clergy of all faiths have joined in and supported protests happening in cities nationwide, spurred by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police,” it noted. “Like Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Dreasjon ‘Sean’ Reed and too many others to name, Mr. Floyd was a victim of the nation’s long history of brutality against people of color, and particularly Black men.”
The letter concluded, “Protests are a just response to all-too-familiar anger, frustration, and pain. I stand for the right to peaceful protest and call on our nation’s law enforcement and elected officials not to interfere with this bedrock First Amendment expression.”