We are outraged about the ruling to dismiss charges against Mark Dial, the officer who shot and killed Eddie Irizarry within five seconds. In just five seconds, Mark Dial chose to kill, stealing the life of a beloved son, brother, friend, and community member. While we have seen this before, it is no less devastating to see the system double down on the double standard of accountability for agents of the state and Brown and Black communities.

To be clear, there isn’t a different standard of accountability, but a total and complete lack of accountability when police kill. Killing and dismissing the charges show us our lives don’t matter, not to the state, not even when they kill us within five seconds. Five seconds.

This ruling shows police are exempt from the laws and standards of decency other citizens are law bound to uphold. This ruling shows us police can kill us with impunity.

Moments like this reaffirm our calls for abolition. We double down on our work to end the status quo—a status quo upheld by the courts. But singling out the abolition of one system is not enough. It will never be enough to abolish the police. We must abolish and dismantle the cops, the courts, each and every system that treats our communities as disposable and expendable.

– Robert Saleem Holbrook, Executive Director