UNRESOLVED

Florida Activists Protest Police Remarks on Dead Suspects

Hold “Black Girls Matter” rally at police station.

A group of activists in Florida staged a protest late Thursday in front of the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office under the banner “Black Girls Matter.” The protesters said they wanted to call attention to remarks made by the sheriff’s department after three teen girls in an allegedly stolen vehicle drowned in March after a police chase. The sheriff’s office later described the 15-year-old and 16-year-old girls as “not good kids” who were “heavily engaged in criminal activity.” Activists say the police showed a clear bias against the girls in the incident and didn’t do enough to save them from drowning. The sheriff’s office has not commented on the protest, but it has released dash-cam footage of the chase and a lengthy report on the fatalities.