Travon Free used his time in the spotlight at the Oscars to attack police for their use of force.
“Today, the police will kill three people, and tomorrow, the police will kill three people, and the day after that, the police will kill three people because, on average, the police in America every day kill three people,” Free said during his acceptance speech.
Free, who was a co-winner in the live-action short category, then went on to quote the late writer James Baldwin and said it was “despicable” to be indifferent to the pain black people face at the hands of police.
NOT ALL POLICE SHOOTINGS ARE ALIKE, AND PRETENDING SO MINIMIZES POLICE BRUTALITY
“And so I just ask that you please not be indifferent. Please don’t be indifferent to our pain,” Free said.
Attacking the police now at the Oscars? This is why people don’t watch anymore. pic.twitter.com/0rKy1Uvp4F
— ??Maggie VandenBerghe?? (@FogCityMidge) April 26, 2021
Free’s comments come as multiple high-profile police shootings have rekindled the debate over police use of force that raged for much of 2020, which also played out amid the trial of former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted last week of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
Free hinted early in the evening that he may use the platform to address the issue, revealing on the red carpet that he was wearing a jacket lined with the names of people who have been killed by police.
The comments came after Regina King, the presenter who opened this year’s show, started the broadcast by taking aim at Chauvin.
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“I have to be honest. If things had gone differently this past week in Minneapolis, I might have traded in my heels for marching boots,” King said. “As a mother of a black son, I know the fear that so many live with, and no amount of fame or fortune changes that.”
