175 S. Third, Suite 200
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(866)-883-0323
Emai: [email protected]
Website: weakmindsmatter.org.
Contact Person: Reginald A. Cooke, VP
Telephone: (866)-883-0323
Email: [email protected]
CANCER SURVIVOR TO HEAD NATIONAL EFFORT TO END POLICE
KILLINGS OF DISABLED AND MENTALLY ILL INDIVIDUALS
The killing of a New York woman who suffered from schizophrenia and threatened
police with a bat, has led to the formation of a new activist group for the mentally ill.
Columbus, Ohio (November 11, 2016). A woman who could easily spend her time focusing on
her own health issues, will head organization that seeks to end police killings of mentally ill and
disabled individuals in cities all across America. Kimeta Dover, a longtime nonprofit executive
from central Ohio, and a five-year cancer survivor, will serve as CEO and President of a newly
formed grassroots organization called “Weak Minds Matter.”
“Although I may struggle with cancer, my faith demands that I help this venerable group that
the Bible refers to as ‘the least of these,’ said Dover. “The killings of individuals who are mentally ill
or disabled by police is immoral, inhumane, and unconscionable, and I’m going to do everything I
can within this organization to help end this nightmare of shame in America for the law
enforcement community,” she added.
Weak Minds Matters was formed two weeks after the October 18th killing by New York police
of a 66-year-old schizophrenic woman by the name of Deborah Danner. Police claimed they shot
Danner because she threatened them with a bat. “Our organization believes that we have reached
the point in these police involved shootings in America, where the decision to end the life of a
mentally ill or disabled person needs to be made by the public, and not the police,” said Reginald A.
Cooke, Vice President of Field Operations for the organization.
The new group plans to organize ballot initiatives in every state, which would essentially allow
the American voter to decide the conditions and situations under which a law enforcement officer
can end the life of a mentally ill or disabled person. The ballot initiative is called ‘The BMIDA Law
(“Bring the Mentally Ill and Disabled in Alive”). “The first states that we’ll target for ballotinitiatives will be New York, Texas, California, and Chicago, because these areas have had high
profile cases where police have killed mentally ill individuals,” Cooke added.
A press conference will be held to announce the formation of Weak Minds Matter on
November 15, 2016, beginning at 11:00 a.m., at the Driving Park Public Library, Meeting Room 3,
1422 E. Livingston Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43205. The public is cordially invited.