WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — "Madame Attorney General, you have the unique opportunity and constitutional responsibility to change this narrative," Congresswoman Maxine Waters told reporters on the steps of the Justice Department, flanked by more than a dozen African-American lawmakers.
The event followed two nights of violence in the US State of North Carolina after police shoot 43-year-old African American Lamont Scott and a subsequent refusal by police to release a video of the incident.
Participants at Thursday’s Black Caucus press conference said more than 130 African-Americans have been killed by US police this year under suspicious circumstances. Many were unarmed and others had weapons in states where laws allow people to carry firearms.
Congressman John Conyers urged the Justice Department to investigate and file additional lawsuits against police departments to when such killings occur.
Conyers cited a provision in US federal law that allows federal authorities to target discriminatory "patterns and practices" — a strategy used successfully in lawsuits against the US cities of Baltimore and Ferguson following deaths of unarmed African Americans in encounters with police.
Immediately after the press conference, participants entered the Justice Department headquarters with a letter outlining their demands for US Attorney General Lynch.
