A coalition of community activists, clergy and others have issued an open letter to Birmingham city and police leaders concerned about recent officer-involved shootings, including the deaths of a man and a woman one month apart.

“As families grieve the losses of Vanessa Ragland and Jamal D’Angelo Williams, it has become clear that this administration must reckon with the reality of individuals being killed, harmed and hurt by police,” said the Rev. Eric Hall, co-founder of Black Lives Matter.

“Both Jamal and Vanessa were living with mental illnesses at the time of their murders,” the open letter states. “Their loss exposes the fragile conditions under which Black residents are forced to live in this city and illustrates the failure of city systems designed to protect the most vulnerable.”

City officials did not immediately have a response on the open later.

Williams, a 26-year-old father of two and beloved son and McDonald’s employee, was shot Nov. 28 when police responded to a Shot Spotter call at the Rev. Dr. Morrell Todd Homes public housing complex in the Kingston community.

He died within the hour at UAB Hospital.

Birmingham Police Chief Michel Pickett last week released body camera and surveillance camera footage of the deadly shooting and said Williams “posed an immediate threat” to officers and residents in the area.

The video showed an agitated Williams hit a vehicle, pin a woman to the ground, and walking around with a gun visible before he then pulled the gun out of his hoodie’s front pocket as officers approached him.

Williams’ mother, Priscilla Mahand, said her son had been diagnosed with bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia but did not take his medication because he didn’t like the way it made him feel.

Ragland, 36, was fatally shot Oct. 29 inside her family’s Birmingham home when officers responded there on a domestic violence call.

Video released by the police chief showed the officer was on the floor of a bedroom, struggling with two women on top of him, before he fired three shots and killed Ragland, who had gained control of his Taser stun gun.

The footage showed a chaotic struggle scene unfold in a tight space inside the small Brunson Avenue home.

Ragland’s family said she was autistic.

“Your administration must reckon with the frequency with which police responses end in death, particularly when residents are experiencing mental health or medical crisis,” the letter states. “A city cannon claim safety while its residents cannot trust that calling for help will keep them alive.”

“Black people in Birmingham deserve to make it home to their families with the same certainty and protection that police officers enjoy,” the letter states.

The letter also challenged the “despicable practice of vilifying victims of police violence by framing them as deserving of slaughter.”

“This ritual of posthumous character assignation is part of the state’s machinery to convince the public to accept police killings of Black people as reasonable, even necessary,” according to the letter.

The letter was signed by nearly 40 people including William’s mother and family members of Jabari Peoples who was fatally shot by Homewood police earlier this year.

The letter included the following demands:

• The immediate release of all unedited video footage and all internal communications related to the emergency response concerning the killing of Williams.
• Publicly acknowledge the deaths of Ragland and Williams by issues formal apologies to their families.
• Separate health and emergency responses from policing.
• Resource diversion and non-punitive responses for youth and residents living at or below the poverty line.
• Correct practices within the Birmingham Police Department.
• Make mandatory training for interactions with people with autism, psychiatric and developmental disabilities.
• Guarantee transparency and consistency.