FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 8, 2026
Press contacts:
Rebecca Farmer, rebecca@change-llc.com, 415-269-6275
Ashley Chambers, ashley@ellabakercenter.org, 925-953-2302
The Ella Baker Center Stands in Solidarity with the Family of Cyrus Carmack-Belton Following Not Guilty Verdict for the Man Who Shot and Killed Him
OAKLAND — At the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, we are sitting with grief and anger at yet another instance of failed accountability for the murder of a Black life. We stand in solidarity and heartbreak with the family and community of Cyrus Carmack-Belton as they face this unimaginable loss.
Cyrus is a 14-year-old Black child who was shot and killed in Columbia, South Carolina, by a shop owner who had falsely accused him of shoplifting water bottles in 2023. This week, Rick Chow—the person who killed Cyrus—was found not guilty in his murder trial. The ongoing lack of accountability our communities face is another trauma inflicted on a grieving family.
Cyrus should be alive today. He should be with his family, his friends, and his community. Instead, his loved ones are forced to carry the weight of a legal system that once again affirms the devaluing of Black lives.
The verdict is another example of the system doing what it was always designed to do—advance anti-Blackness. The reality is that there is no justice in courtrooms that preserve and protect a legacy of devaluing Black life.
Black and Brown communities continue to suffer harm, trauma, and murder from unjust systems that dehumanize us.
Our communities are disenfranchised every day, whether it is the U.S. Supreme Court dismantling the voting rights of Black communities, or economic policies that favor the privileged few. We live within systems that fail Black communities time and time again.
At the Ella Baker Center, we fight for a world where safety is rooted in care, accountability is rooted in relationships, and justice is rooted in healing. The verdict and this tragedy stands in stark contrast to that vision.
We recommit to holding one another and working to create a liberated world where we all can thrive. Our commitment to ending criminalization, advancing racial justice, and building communities grounded in care remains as urgent as ever.
We know that true safety lies in community. Community safety is found in solutions like living-wage jobs, affordable healthcare and housing, funding for education and youth programs, in healing practices and restorative justice.
Part of that solidarity is how we show up for each other. For those of us who are Latine, it’s important to show solidarity and support for Cyrus’ family and the Black community who are grieving right now — just as Black communities have shown up in solidarity against federal immigration attacks that impact us.
We send love and solidarity to Cyrus’ family, friends, and the entire Columbia, South Carolina community as they live through this unbearable tragedy.
Today, and every day — from Oakland to South Carolina to Minneapolis and every community across the country — we stand with the families of all the victims of violence steeped in anti-Blackness. This is a moment for us to come together in community to create spaces for love, grief, and healing – and to channel these into collective action.
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