The country is fed up with the killing of innocent black people at the hands of law enforcement. Since the video of George Floyd being killed by Minneapolis police officers was revealed to the world, more than 970 protests had taken place in about 400 cities and towns across the country since the end of May. Protesters gathered in Austin, Texas the weekend of May 30th and 31st, to call for justice for Floyd and Michael Ramos, who died after a police officer fired his rifle at him as he was driving away. The protests turned violent after riot police began firing rubber bullets and tear gas at peaceful protesters.

 

Austin-based photographer Rahim Fortune captured these images the first week of June to combat the “toxic images depicting us” in the news — and to show how people in the community have been affected.

 

“My heart is with everyone grieving the loss of a loved one, the children left without a classroom, and pregnant mothers caught in a medical system under distress,” Fortune says. “We must demand justice for what has been done to our people. Without it, there will be no future.”