On April 26, reporters with the Indianapolis Liberator joined Adam Sykes’ family and PSL Indianapolis for a rally outside of the Speedway gas station where IMPD officer Grant Snyder shot and killed Sykes. The rally took place on the two-month anniversary of Sykes’ death at the hands of the police.
We were joined by Kim Gray, the mother of Eric Taylor, who was killed by the IMPD in September 2023. She saw the work happening at the Liberation Center and made the decision to not only join the fight, but call for a new movement.
Watch Gray’s speech
Gray is still fighting for justice for her son, and we want to do everything possible to help her organize more mothers impacted by police terror to come forward, unite, and organize so we can put these killer cops where they belong: behind bars!
Listen to Gray’s heartbreaking story and powerful call to unite, and join us in the fight. Sign the petition for justice for Adam Sykes to get involved!
Transcript
Kim Gray: “…to stop 10…stop 11, shot and killed him. They swore him down. He had a gun and it was a gun in the car but he did not have it on him while he was outside the car. it’s just one of these things like where i had to connect with Nikki because I couldn’t find anyone…couldn’t find anyone to help me. So, when I seen [the] Liberation [Center] on TV on TV I gave him a call. And this is where I start my the beginning with trying to get some justice for my son, too.
Eric Taylor was his name.
Yeah, they depict him as spousal abuser. He loved his kids, he loved her, but police would change things and make it seem like your child was one of the most evilest person in the world, when to me, IMPD is evil. Yes, yes, is evil because they do not they don’t prosecute their own, no they don’t. They cover up. They take our body cams that they… that they show you, they cut it up, and then they give it to you and in the meanwhile they steady saying “oh well he was trying to he was trying to kill us he was trying…” No. They go out, they have the badge, they have the authority, and they use it to the fullest. And they kill.
So, Nikki is not alone and I hope that if there’s some more mothers out there that’s been through this. Please get in contact with the Liberation [Center] so we unite and we can get out here together, get out here together and do this and try to bring justice. Thank you.
Eric Taylor. They’ll be taking his… trying to get evidence together to take it to the grand jury between June and August. I need to make some noise myself, get the community involved, so they can get him to the grand jury. Which don’t mean they’re gonna find him guilty right, but I just want them to take it there. I want them to know we need time. Yes I need justice, I want justice. I want the officer fired, matter of fact. I want him in jail, I want him in jail! All killers deserve to go to jail!
Destiny Glover: We know that all victims of IMPD violence, all families, the community, the neighborhoods, we’re all affected by this. And we need to come together, and we need to put our bodies, and our strength, our creativity, our power, in the streets, because they’re going to keep doing this until we stop them. That’s what they’ve shown: they’re going to make excuses. They’re going to lie. They’re going to talk to her and edit this footage and they’re going to say “well, the lynchings were deserved.” They’re going to say, “well this wasn’t the perfect victim so we should get away with this.” And they’re going to say, “well they were homeless,” or maybe they were addicted to anything.
And so many people in this country are suffering and they don’t deserve to die for that suffering. We said that our people need help. We need housing, we need healthcare, we need jobs. We need our streets fixed. Our comrade couldn’t even get over the sidewalk to get over here. They left gravel. We have so many things that our taxpayer money needs to be going to that is not the cops. Yes, they don’t help us, they kill and that woman that they were called out to help? Why did they leave the scene of her issue to go kill AJ? And they weren’t even helping her.
So, I say that when we come out today we have power and we need to be in the thousands in the millions and we will be…it starts right here.
Featured image: Kim Gray addresses the rally with Nikki Schumpert, Adam Sykes’ mother, by her side. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.