Defending oneself from abuse and violence should never be criminalized. Love & Protect condemns the arrest of Cierra Finkley and calls for all charges against her to be dropped.
On August 18, 2015, in Madison, Wisconsin, 24-year-old Cierra and her 5-year-old daughter were almost killed by her abusive boyfriend, Terrence Woods. Although he had been court ordered to stay away from Cierra, he showed up at her home, and after trying to run her and their daughter over with his car, he kicked in the door to her home and lunged at her. Fearing for her and her daughter’s life, Cierra stabbed him in self-defense.
Like Marissa Alexander, Cherelle Baldwin, Paris Knox, Tewkunzi Green and too many other Black women, Cierra is being criminalized for defending herself against life-threatening violence. Cierra was arrested, and finally released on bond with GPS monitoring on August 21.
Next Thursday, August 27, in a court hearing, the district attorney will introduce charges against her. Instead of receiving support to heal from not only the trauma of having to defend herself, but also from past abuse, Cierra is being further victimized by the criminal punishment system. We ask the state: What option did Cierra truly have? Had she been unable to protect her daughter, she may have met the same fate as Tondalo Hall or Arlena Lindley – being imprisoned for failure to protect their children from abusive boyfriends.
Love & Protect calls for all charges against Cierra Finkley to be dropped. Through love, we resist this act of state violence. The state yet again refuses to properly identify victims and abusers in situations of domestic violence, and fails to protect the lives of the victims.
We stand in solidarity with Cierra, her family, and the Young Gifted and Black organization. We urge everyone to sign this petition, telling District Attorney Ismael Ozanne not to bring charges against Cierra Finkley.
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