A sign in Tacoma, Washington, advocates #JusticeForJackie. Photo by Lesley Salyers
Family and friends of Jacqueline Salyers, a member of the Puyallup Tribe of Washington who was shot and killed by a police officer, are still seeking answers about her death. Salyers, 33, was killed on January 28 after being stopped by officers in Tacoma. The police department said she was shot when she tried to drive away but family and friends don't accept that account, citing conflicting evidence from the scene. Family members are also upset because they weren't told that Salyers was pregnant at the time of her death, Indian Country Today reported. They said they have been unable to properly grieve for their loved one. "Normally, at this point, we would have put away the photos and mementoes of the person and after a year would have a giveaway to honor them," Salyers’s uncle James Rideout, who is acting as a family spokesperson, told ICT. "But this time, we have to constantly relive, rehash, discuss, figure out everything about Jackie’s death." In hopes of securing answers, family and friends are holding a march to a federal courthouse and a police station in Tacoma next Wednesday morning. Rideout said the route will cross a major highway. "That means we will shut down a major highway. Someone told us, ‘you don’t want to do that.’ Well, we do," Rideout told ICT. Get the Story:
Native Woman Shot Dead by Cop Was Pregnant, Family Learns After Her Burial (Indian Country Today 3/10)
Justice for Jaqueline Salyers (Revolution Newspaper 3/7)
Police Fatally Shoot UNARMED Native American Woman Who Was Only Sitting In A Parked Car (Counter Current News 3/6)
Join the Conversation
