Statement of the Hopewell Township Committee on the Death of George Floyd

All of us on the Hopewell Township Committee are outraged by the murder of George Floyd. Like all of you, we have watched protests spread from Minneapolis to cities across the United States. Tens of thousands of people have protested peacefully.

In Trenton on Sunday night, a few opportunists decided to move from protest to destruction and violence. As a result, residents woke on Monday morning to see their city damaged.

We recognize the need for change and understand this was far from an isolated incident. We support and honor those who protest peacefully, and we renounce opportunists who overshadow the desire for a better America for people of color by looting and burning.

Words spoken decades ago resonate today. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.” And Senator Robert Kennedy noted that when a person stands up for an ideal, acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, that person “sends for a tiny ripple of

hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

We stand with Black Americans. Killing Black women and men has to stop. We look forward to working with other Hopewell Valley community leaders, especially leaders of color, to understand what each of us can do to work towards a fairer and more just United States for all people of color.

Finally, we thank Hopewell Township’s Police Department for supporting our neighboring communities in Mercer County as peaceful protests continue. We are grateful for their professionalism and their service to the community.

Kristin McLaughlin, Mayor

Michael Ruger, Deputy Mayor

Kevin Kuchinski, Committee Member

Julie Blake, Committee Member

Courtney Peters-Manning, Committee Member