On the last day of Black August, in solidarity with 163 community members who were politically targeted by the Phoenix Police Department and politically prosecuted by Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) during last year’s protests for Black lives, Mass Liberation AZ and Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro directly issued these demands to the Department of Justice.

As part of its pattern or practice investigation, the Department of Justice repeatedly sent invitations to meet with both organizations, despite public criticism by both groups. The groups responded by holding a Zoom call with the lead attorneys and investigators with the Department of Justice. The call consisted of defense and civil attorneys, and community organizers. Lead investigators Maureen Johnston, Nancy Glass, and Jorge Castillo, represented the DOJ at the meeting. 

During the call, community organizers explained why the community is reluctant to work with the DOJ and why these demands must be met. These concerns included the DOJ’s handling of the investigation in Ferguson that ultimately harmed the community in Missouri and sabotaged their movement—all of which is part of a pattern of behavior within the DOJ that is likely to harm and retraumatize our community here in Arizona. Rather than answer these community concerns, the DOJ tap-danced around direct questions. They utilized ingratiation as a tactic to avoid accountability; making statements to appease and pacify community leaders. Each representative talked about how much they “respect and appreciate” the work of the organizations — all the while, shifting the focus of the call away from the demands. At one point, when the group asked the DOJ to focus on the demands, Nancy Glass told a Black woman she was being “confrontational” and said it was “not fair” to require the DOJ to answer. 

With regards to including the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office (MCAO) in their investigation, community organizers reminded the DOJ of the well documented fact that MCAO colluded with Phoenix Police and played an equal role in the orchestration of these political prosecutions since 2020. And that MCAO stepped out of its traditional role of prosecutor, thereby piercing any immunities it would usually enjoy. DOJ representatives stated that they have the authority to expand on the investigation, yet at no point during the call did any DOJ representative utter a single word of commitment to do so. At the close of the call, the group told the investigators they would not meet with the DOJ again until the DOJ makes a public commitment, through the media, to meet these demands.

If these investigators cannot see their own pattern and practice of harm, how will they be able to identify pattern and practice in Phoenix?