SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson issued the following statement:

“I am deeply troubled by the events of the past week and the continued, senseless violence against communities of color, particularly against members of the African American community. The recent murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor ignited movements across the country. But let me be clear — racism has always been a plague on our communities and institutions. It is real and it is pervasive.

“I am committed to ensuring that government institutions are accountable to all communities. This means committing to the systemic and institutional change necessary to do better. This requires action.

“On July 1, my office will publish a plan to the Legislature that, if enacted, ensures the collection and reporting of instances of deadly force used by law enforcement officers. We will continue to support these and other transparency measures.

“In addition, over the past year, my office organized meetings to address hate crimes and hate incidents across our state. Recommendations from this work will include the development of strategies to raise awareness of hate crimes and hate incidents, as well as improve the response by law enforcement to those situations. I deeply appreciate the hard work of the Hate Crimes Working Group. We look forward to sharing this work soon.

“I am proud of the work that is happening. I also recognize that there is much more work ahead of us. I am committed to standing up for the rights of ALL Washingtonians.

“We are in this together.”

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The Office of the Attorney General is the chief legal office for the state of Washington with attorneys and staff in 27 divisions across the state providing legal services to roughly 200 state agencies, boards and commissions. Visit www.atg.wa.gov to learn more.

Contacts:

Brionna Aho, Communications Director, (360) 753-2727; Brionna.aho@atg.wa.gov