Meek Mill spoke out about the injustices faced by black men in America after a death row inmate, Nathaniel Woods, was executed in Alabama despite widespread questioning of his culpability in the murder of three police officers in 2004. Woods, alongside fellow death row inmate, Kerry Spencer, was convicted of capital murder in 2005 and was sentenced to death for shooting and killing the three Birmingham officers and wounding another. Woods was pronounced dead on Thursday night after receiving a lethal injection, despite activists protesting his death sentence and Spencer even claiming full responsibility for fatally shooting the officers and maintaining Woods innocence. The Supreme Court had put a temporary halt on the execution but lifted it within hours. Woods' attorneys petitioned Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey to stay his execution, but Ivey refused.
Meek took to Twitter to express his outrage, declaring that Woods had been "lynched" and urging white Americans to step up against racism in the justice system.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1235839630315900930
"A black man that didn’t kill nor plan to kill got lynched in 2020 in Alabama!" Meek tweeted. "As a black man how can you believe in the American justice system ..that shit gotta change and if you are white and not a racist STEP UP because you guys have majority control over the system today!!!" He followed this tweet up with a statement about the history of lynching, and further urged white people to take a stand.
https://twitter.com/_/status/1235840696881254401
https://twitter.com/_/status/1235840839361806338
"Lynching should be banned off the simple fact they used to do that to slaves!" he declared. "Facts!" he continued, "We live in WHITE America and it aint gon change til the whites help us minorities out." As a prison reform advocate, Meek has been very vocal about the pervasive issues within the justice system. He founded the REFORM Alliance, a collective committed to "dramatically reducing the number of people who are needlessly trapped in the system," after he was unjustly imprisoned for minor probation violations. Meek continues to be outspoken about the widespread injustices within the system.
