Members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be wearing a black pin at the State of the Union address Tuesday night that reads “1870,” the year the first free, unarmed black man was killed by a police officer in the United States.
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) came up with the idea and designed the button because she “wanted to do something that reminded people of what’s been happening far too often in our country right now.”
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Coleman, who made the comments on SirusXM’s The Dean Obeidallah Show, said she chose the bold, black pin with white lettering so that it would prompt more questions.
“Someone’s going to say ‘What is that?’ and I’ll have a chance to talk to them about what this pin represents and why I thought it was important to wear it,” she said.
Coleman said America has not made the progress she had hoped in the 153 years since a police officer in Philadelphia shot and killed Henry Truman, a 26-year-old black man. At the officer’s trial, he claimed he had no choice but to shoot because a mob had formed. Witnesses disputed the story and testified they saw him chase Truman into the alley and that when Truman turned and asked what he had done wrong, the officer shot him.
During the SOTU several members of the Congressional Black Caucus will be wearing these buttons
1870 refers to the first known instance of a police officer killing an unarmed (free) Black person in the United States, Henry Truman of Philadelphia on March 31, 1870. pic.twitter.com/gFrme5miGY
— Haley Talbot (@haleytalbotnbc) February 7, 2023
“We have not gotten better,” Coleman said. “We are getting worse at this and we really have a crisis on our hands, and black men and women, particularly black men, are not safe driving home, minding their own business, sitting in a car, standing on the corner, walking, whatever. We need serious criminal reform policies. We need police to be trained to patrol and protect and serve in diverse communities. We need de-escalation training. We need accountability.”
Coleman said she made 100 pins and that they have been “in high demand.” Some Democratic lawmakers outside the Congressional Black Caucus are also expected to wear the pins.
Police reform and accountability are expected to be a part of President Joe Biden’s annual address. Members of Tyre Nichols’s family are expected to attend.
Nichols was severely beaten on Jan. 7 by a group of Memphis police officers who stopped him during a traffic violation. Video released showed five black officers holding Nichols down repeatedly and kicking, punching, and hitting him with a baton as the 29-year-old cried out for his mother. Nichols died from his injuries three days later.
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The officers have been fired and charged with second-degree murder.
Michael Brown Sr. is also expected to attend. Brown’s 18-year-old son, Michael, was killed on Aug. 9, 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, by police officer Darren Wilson during an altercation that captured the nation’s attention and lead to the Black Lives Matter movement that swept the country.
