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Oprah, Ariana Grande and More Champion 8 Can’t Wait, Project to Reduce Police Violence

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8 Can’t Wait, a project launched on June 3 by activist group Campaign Zero, aims to reduce police violence by enacting eight policies in cities across the United States. The policies — which include banning chokeholds and strangleholds, requiring de-escalation and a warning before shooting, exhausting all other means before shooting, a duty to intervene on excessive force, a ban on shooting at moving vehicles, limiting the types of force and weapons that can be used, and requiring comprehensive reporting — would reduce police violence by 72%, according to the group’s data.

The movement and corresponding social media push via #8CantWait has gained high-profile support from actors including Lupita Nyong’o and Kumail Nanjiani, directors such as Taika Waititi and Elizabeth Banks, and innovators like Jack Dorsey and Oprah Winfrey to encourage people to contact their mayors to enact this change.

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Organizer and activist DeRay Mckesson spoke to GQ about some of the challenges behind organizing 8 Can’t Wait.

“The hard part is this analysis and data is new and the first of its kind,” he told GQ. “And the police say, ‘If you restrict our ability to use these types of force, you make us less safe.’ That actually isn’t true. In cities where there are more restrictive force policies, the police are actually safer, and communities are actually safer. The police will also say things about crime being rampant if they can’t use force. That’s not true either.”

Oprah Winfrey praised 8 Can’t Wait’s “succinct and clear message.”

Ariana Grande encouraged her fans to “please check out your city to see what can be done locally.”

Lupita Nyong’o cited urgency, writing, “Too much is at stake to wait.”

Read more support for 8 Can’t Wait below:

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