Million Mom March Descends On Washington For Racial Justice

The number of people killed by police officers in potentially racially motivated shootings have skyrocketed this year and filled the media with graphic images of violence, and some moms have had enough.

The parents of those killed in police actions are descending on Washington D.C. Saturday in what organizers are calling the Million Mom March to demand an end to police brutality and racial injustice.

The rally, organized by Mothers for Justice and the Coalition for Justice, marched from the U.S. Capitol building to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Maria Hamilton, founder of Mothers for Justice United, told USA Today she and her fellow moms were tired of being ignored.

“This is a call for everybody to wake up. We are here on behalf of our babies to tell the United States government that we aren’t going anywhere. We aren’t going to continue to keep burying our babies. Do something and do it now.”

As the mothers and other protestors marched through the streets of the capital, many held signs and pictures of their loved ones killed by police officers. They chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Compromise,” according to the USA Today.

The protest, advertised on Facebook, drew moms from across the country along with grieving spouses and family members to protest the violent police action that took their children from them. The moms were also joined by Code Pink and Justice League NYC.

Saturday’s Million Mom March has taken Mother for Justice United founder Maria Hamilton from the streets of Philadelphia to the capital, according to Fox News.

Her son, Dontre, was killed by police officer Christopher Manney after cops received a call of a man sleeping in the park. Manney was fired from the department, but not charged criminally.

Hamilton founded the movement to bring together parents who have lost children to police violence.

“I believe Dontre planted, his physical life planted a seed for this movement. I know that his death will never be in vain. I had to let him go in order to have this work done. May 9th will be the march for unity for all the moms across the U.S. that have lost their loved ones. We want the federal government to change the laws across the board. We need to have them set the laws up where the police chief and different areas of police officers across the U.S. have the same rules and regulations when protecting us.”

One Million Mom’s seems to be a catchy title, but Saturday’s Million Mom March isn’t related to the Million Mom March in 2000, which protested gun violence, according to KPCC.

Nor is it related to the anti-gay group One Million Moms which tried to convince JC Penny to fire their spokeswoman Ellen DeGeneres in 2012, according to the Inquisitr.

[Photo by Gabriella Demczuk/Getty Images]