The worldwide protests calling for justice for Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Brianna Hill, and Tony McDade and reaffirming that Black lives matter have already made a lasting impact on society. Already, the protests, social media posts, petitions, and countless donations have lead to the arrest of all four officers involved in Floyd’s murder, an FBI investigation into Taylor’s case, plans to defund the Minneapolis police, and a plan to pass Breonna’s Law, which would limit no-knock warrants. But the fight for justice doesn’t stop here, and many on social media are calling to reopen the cases of Black people who were senselessly killed and deserve justice.
If you want to continue fighting for Black lives and the many we’ve lost already, sign these petitions, which call to reopen Tamir Rice’s, Sandra Bland’s, and Trayvon Martin’s cases, among others:
- Tamir Rice was 12 years old when the police shot and killed him for playing in the park with a toy gun. The petition calling to reopen the case is close to its 1,500,000 signature goal, and every signature counts.
- Christian Taylor was shot and killed by a police officer in 2015. Taylor’s autopsy determined his cause of death as homicide, but officer Brad Miller was only fired for “inappropriate judgment.”
- Kendrick Johnson was found dead on a wrestling mat in a school gym in 2013. His family believes he was murdered, and this petition (which is addressed to the U.S. Supreme Court) has more than a million signatures so far.
- Darrius Stewart was killed in 2015, and although his mother continues to try to file a case, the filings are repeatedly dismissed. His mother filed another suit in February, and this petition calls on Donald Trump, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, Senator Lamar Alexander, and the Tennessee House and Senate to recognize the case.
- Kenneka Jenkins was found dead in a freezer in Crowne Plaza Hotel in 2017. According to this petition, the surveillance footage from the hotel appeared to be manipulated and a rape test was not performed. Signing this could help reopen the case and determine what happened to the young woman.
- Darrien Hunt was killed by Utah police for cosplaying with a fake sword in 2014. He was shot and killed as he was running for his life. This petition is calling for 75,000 signatures.
- Sandra Bland was arrested during a routine traffic stop in 2015. She was found dead in her prison cell three days later. This petition needs about 200,000 more signatures before it hits its goal.
- LaVena Johnson died while serving her country in Iraq in 2005. The Army claims she died by suicide, but her family does not believe their account. So far, more than 33,000 people are calling on the case to be reopened and investigated.
- Trayvon Martin was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in 2012. Zimmerman remains free, auctioned the gun he used to kill Martin for $100,000, and had the nerve to sue Martin’s family for defamation. Sign this petition to reopen his case.
Most of these petitions are *this close* to reaching their signature goals, so take five minutes and make your voice heard.
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Shannon is a news writer at Cosmopolitan.com, and when she's not obsessing about Cardi B, she's thinking about Justin Bieber and still trying to memorize Beyoncé's Beychella choreography.
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