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In 1936, the Citizens Committee Against Police Brutality was formed in Washington, D.C., combining the National Negro Congress, NAACP, Washington Bar Association, and others.
Their goal was to fight violence committed by police officers, who were consistently exonerated after killing Black residents.
But just because courts decided cops weren’t to blame didn’t mean D.C. community members agreed. They decided to plan their own trial. Hundreds arrived for the pre-trial meetings alone, hungry to showcase their interpretation of justice.
In May 1937, the public mock trial commenced at John Wesley A.M.E. Zion Church. Community members took on court roles, Howard University Dean, Lucy Slowe presided as a judge, and civil rights lawyer George E.C. Hayes acted as a prosecutor. Eyewitnesses testified, giving those abused by police a voice.
The trial wasn’t “official,” but it placed legitimacy on the community, not anti-Black D.C. authorities.
Nearly a century later, Black Americans are still finding ways to combat police violence and offer healing to violence victims. Community-based dialogue and processes delegitimize the current criminal legal system as we mobilize for reparations, police alternatives, abolition, and more.
The Citizens Committee reminds us that we get to decide what change we want to see and whose lives we value. And they sent an enduring message: that police violence is unacceptable.