The Sacramento, California, Black Lives Matter chapter is looking for sponsorship to get its members trained in firearms safety in order to protect its community.
“As black folks, we have learned that we are running out of resources when it comes to being protected,” Tanya Faison, the founder of BLM’s Sacramento chapter, said in the fundraiser. “Police are killing us. White nationalists are threatening us. The president is supporting the nationalists.”
The group set a goal to raise $2,000, which it says would be used to train 10 of its members how to hold, clean, and store firearms.
“We need to be armed. There is nothing wrong with it,” Faison said in a CBS13 interview.
Faison cited police accountability and the rise in white supremacy as reasons her members need to be ready to protect themselves.
“Get protection in these times when we know we cannot call the police for help and where we know that we need to stay safe because it is a really volatile time right now,” Faison said.
“I want us to be independent from the system, and I want us to be educated and informed on what we are doing,” she continued.
Faison said that the fundraiser has nothing to do with the group’s protest efforts, instead citing the need to be able to defend against someone breaking into your home and attacks from white supremacists, especially because she believes police cannot be counted on.
“We need to be armed, we need to be safe, we are citizens here, we have equal rights here, the Second Amendment is our right too,” Faison said.
According to retired New York homicide Detective Dr. Alfred Titus Jr., the rise in gun sales this year has been largely driven by African Americans.
“Gun sales are up 95% in the first six months of the year and 58% in African Americans in gun sales,” Titus Jr. said. “What I’m seeing here is the community feels like they are pretty much on their own.”
Titus Jr., now an assistant professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said he doesn’t believe more people arming themselves will lead to safer communities.
“In the beginning, there is going to be a lot of testing and trying people out. It’s going to lead to an increased amount of violence,” he said. “Two people have a gun, they may end up shooting it out when they would have normally called the police and no shots may have been.”
“It’s a sad state, it’s definitely a sign of the times,” Titus Jr. continued.
But BLM Sacramento said it just wants to encourage responsible gun ownership.
“What I am happy about is that they are going about it the right way,” Titus Jr. said. “They’re getting licenses. They’re getting trained. They are legally doing this to make that they fit into the restrictions that society has set for everyone.”
