Community Assistance: Help the Lawrence Family!

The Freedom to Learn Campaign unequivocally supports the message and goals of the Black Lives Matter movement, and we stand in solidarity with all who are currently protesting state violence and the Black lives lost at the hands of police. As we endeavor to support incarcerated individuals through higher education in prison, we recognize that the violence and harm inflicted by law enforcement agencies onto communities of color are inextricably related to our mission. As we strive to center and amplify the voices and needs of incarcerated students and people, we’d like to share Lawrence Miller’s story.

Lawrence and his wife, Carla, are citizens of Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Like many others, they felt compelled to protest racialized state violence in their communities in the wake of the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and countless others. Although they protested peacefully while maintaining social distancing measures, Lawrence was wrongfully rushed and arrested by the Champaign Police Department on May 31st. WCIA captured the incident on film here.

He was then charged with assault of a peace officer by the Champaign County State’s Attorney, Julie Rietz, for allegedly slapping an officer’s wrist while being detained. Because this is a felony charge, his bail was set at $50,000--$5,000 of which was to be paid upon being released. Lawrence was taken to the Champaign County Satellite Jail, where his mask was taken away from him and he was not permitted to shower or call his loved ones. 

Lawrence is considered to be high-risk for COVID-19 because he has both asthma and sickle cell anemia. He was also at risk of losing his full-time job if he was not able to get out of jail and go to work. As such, Carla took out several loans to pay his bail and ensure his safety. Although the Champaign County Bailout Coalition offers support to incarcerated people by performing bails, they were unable to assist before Lawrence was bailed out by his family. Carla and Lawrence are now facing the possibility of COVID-19, the necessity of quickly paying off the high-interest loans taken out to get Lawrence released, and future legal expenses. We would like to help and call on our community to join us in doing so. 

In order to support Carla and Lawrence in their fight against an erroneous felony charge for peaceful protesting, we have organized a fundraiser to go towards their loans and legal expenses. If you would like to donate and support local folks who are in need of help, please do so at the link here. 

All donations will go directly to the Miller family. Thank you so much for reading, and please share!