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Coalition Protests New Guilford County Jail

April 12, 2012 |

Greensboro members of a grassroots organization are preparing to protest the opening of the new Guilford County Jail

October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality is a national group that promotes public awareness of what it calls inadequacies in how police departments interact with the racially and socially diverse citizens in their community. Thursday from 4:30-6:00 p.m. in downtown Greensboro, members of this group will stage a protest in front of the new county jail on Edgeworth Street.

Member Tim Hopkins claims this facility and others like it nationwide target disadvantaged African Americans and immigrant Hispanics. "There's all kinds of ways for intervention with these kids real early. They claim to never have the money to do this but quite frankly they made their statement by spending $100 million dollars on this jail. What $100 million dollars could have done to help these youth and offer them something other than the choices they have, such as going into the underground economy."

Meanwhile, Guilford County Sheriff B.J. Barnes accuses Hopkins and his group of stirring up conflict. "They say to stop racially targeted mass incarceration. I mean where is the proof of that? And my question is, where have you been? What have you been doing about mentoring some of these folks who don't have an education, commit a crime and go to jail?"

The new 1,032-bed jail will open in a few months.


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