08/31/2026
JUSTICE FOR KENNETH WILLIAMS SR.!
Black Lives Matter Grassroots – Gary stands with the family of Kenneth Williams Sr. in demanding answers and justice.
The information being released about Kenneth’s killing is confusing and incomplete. We are being told to trust the accounts of the police agencies involved—but Gary and Lake County have earned no such trust. Their history is one of secrecy, lack of accountability, and the overpolicing of Black communities.
Let us be clear: “Acting erratically” is not a death sentence. Being Black is not a license to be killed.
If Kenneth was experiencing a crisis, he deserved treatment, not trauma. Care, not violence. De-escalation, not death. State violence has always been used to control, terrorize, and cripple Black communities—and racism under capitalism continues to make Black lives disposable.
For three weeks, Northwest Indiana workers—especially Black residents of Gary—have faced devastating neglect after storms left families without power, food, and basic necessities. Now we are confronted with more violence from the state.
This is a system that neglects us when we need help and polices us when we demand to survive.
Gary and the Region knows this history. We remember Vincent Smith Jr., Kemote Cobbs, Melvin Bouler, Rashad Cunningham, Thomas Watkins, William Spates, and Jamal Williams. Too many Black lives. Too many families. Too little accountability.
WE DEMAND:
- The immediate release of ALL audio and video recordings of the shooting and the events leading up to it—including any recordings from the Gary Metro Center.
- An independent civilian investigation and review. We will not accept cops investigating cops.
In 2014, Black Lives Matter Gary (now known as BLM Grassroots Gary) came into existence around demands for accountability and community control. Those demands are just as urgent today.
Whether they allow Gary residents to suffer for weeks without power or respond to someone potentially in crisis with deadly force, the message is clear: this system treats Black working-class people as disposable while corporations and politicians talk about “revitalizing” our city.
REVITALIZATION WITHOUT JUSTICE IS DISPLACEMENT.
POLICING WITHOUT ACCOUNTABILITY IS STATE VIOLENCE.
A PERSONAL CRISIS SHOULD NEVER BE A DEATH SENTENCE.
We have resisted before. We will resist again.
JUSTICE FOR KENNETH WILLIAMS SR.!
RELEASE THE RECORDINGS!
INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATION NOW!
BLACK LIVES STILL MATTER!
