US-INDIA GLOBAL REVIEW JUL-SEP 2020

And this history is in part why Minneapolis - and the entire nation -- is reeling in pain." Gupta in a May 31 tweet, addressed AG Barr, demanding, "... where is your stmt on what USDOJ will do to build communi- ty-police trust? That recognizes how racial injustice has corroded people's faith in the legal system and its impact on public safety?" She recommended opening a "pattern & practice investigation." South Asian Americans Leading Together, SAALT, came out swinging following Floyd's death, calling it "state-sanctioned police brutality", and contended that it marked the "1,014th murder by U.S. police in the past year." South Asians For America, pre- viously South Asians For Obama, said, "We encourage others in the South Asian American community to speak out against violence and police brutality. As fellow minori- ties, South Asians are in a unique position to understand and sup- port the African American com- munity. ... South Asians who immi- grated to America after 1965 ben- efited from the civil rights move- ment started by African Americans." Lawmakers & Enforcers Indian-Americans "need to stand in solidarity against injustice and racism while urging nonvio- lent action," Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Illinois, told News India Times. "We must all condemn violence of all kinds whether it’s done by a policeman against George Floyd, or whether it’s done by looters or others.” New Jersey State Senator Vin Gopal urged Indian-Americans to speak out, organize, build links with local police departments, and do that in ways that still observes COVID-19 protocols in these dan- gerous times. "It could happen to an Indian- American," Gopal told News India Times referring to Floyd's killing. "Remember 9/11? after which Indian-Americans were targeted." "We need to empathize. By joining up to speak out, putting our views out on social media," he said, because for now, public meetings under COVID were not the best idea. "I cannot, and should not pre- tend that I have ever experienced the plight or experiences of America’s black community—but I want to understand, and I stand with our black community in their fight for justice. Watching this video was sickening, inhumane, disgusting and horrifying. Point blank - it was murder sanctioned by individuals sworn to protect us," Gopal said on Facebook. "We cannot afford to let this tragedy pass into yesterday’s headlines. America needs healing, and our black community deserves justice for the bigotry and systematic prejudice that many black Americans face every day," Gopal added noting that while the prejudices that arose from hundreds of years of slavery cannot be wiped out overnight, "we can and must come together as a nation to agree that it (sys- temic racism) exists, to heal the wounds in our nation’s psyche, and to make sure that this kind of tragedy never happens again.” New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, in a thread on Twitter, noted the steps taken by his department to avoid an event akin to Floyd's killing, among them - requiring an independent grand jury investigation every time a civilian dies in police custody; overhauling the disciplinary process; organizing hundreds of listening sessions; requiring every police department to implement an "early warning system" to iden- tify personnel at risk of harmful behavior; imposing new statewide rules "governing law enforcement interactions with historically mar- ginalized communities." 22 US-INDIA GLOBAL REVIEW JULY-SEPTEMBER 2020 Ela Dutt | Editor, Parikh Worldwide Media Raja Krishnamoorthi Photo: Twitter@CongressmanRaja