Change.org - Black transgender lives matter

Warning: Some readers may find this content upsetting. Kayla Moore’s family is fighting for justice. Kayla died in police custody in 2013. According to the family, the police wouldn’t give Kayla CPR because she was transgender. They alleged the officers made discriminatory comments about her and called her "It." Now thousands are demanding justice. They’ve signed this petition to support Kayla’s family and their quest for change. Add your name to demand that Kayla’s case be reopened. Justice for Kayla Moore 54,409 have signed madi rose’s petition. Let’s get to 75,000!

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In 2013, Kayla Moore, a black trans woman living with schizophrenia, was murdered by the Berkeley Police Department. The police were responding to a 911 call from Kayla’s roommate calling for help because Kayla was experiencing a mental health crisis. The officers immediately placed Kayla under arrest, wrestled her to the ground face down, and 6 officers restrained her using their full weight until she stopped breathing.  Police had found a warrant for someone with the same birth name as her. But despite police dispatch stating that it was for a man 20 years older than Kayla Moore, police still grabbed her and restrained her. In 2014, Kayla’s father, Arthur Moore, filed a wrongful death suit against the city, which alleges that the responding officers violated Moore’s rights & failed to adequately accommodate her after she was placed in police custody. It was dismissed in 2018, when U.S. District Judge, Charles Breyer, ruled that Moore’s father, Arthur Moore, did not provide enough evidence to show that his daughter was discriminated against related to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The judge had previously dismissed the excessive force & discrimination claims alleged by Moore’s family back in 2016. The family had alleged in their lawsuit that officers did not administer CPR because she was transgender, & that officers made discriminatory comments about her, calling her “it.” Now, the family is pressing to have their case heard in front of a jury after the initial suit was dismissed by a U.S. District Court judge in 2018. “The goal of the appeal is to allow a jury to fully examine the evidence related to the multiple claims in the family’s original lawsuit,” said Charlotte Halloran-Couch, an organizer with Justice 4 Kayla Moore. “We believe all of the family’s original claims deserve to be heard before a jury.” The family’s claims include allegations of excessive force by BPD, unlawfully arresting Moore based on a warrant that was for another individual of the same legal name, & police discrimination against Moore for being transgender, according to Halloran-Couch. Please sign this petition to support Kayla Moore’s family in appealing the wrongful death suit. Please sign to fight for the case to be reopened & properly examined & for her family to be heard. Please sign for Justice for Kayla Moore

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