Note to readers: This story has been edited from its original publication to list the correct name of Des Moines Black Liberation Movement.
Activists gathered on the steps of the Iowa State Capitol on Tuesday to mourn the state s more than 5,000 COVID-19 deaths, presenting a casket of flowers at the building and ringing bells to represent the lives lost.
Each flower represents one Iowan who died due to the novel coronavirus, Trinity Las Americas United Methodist Church Pastor Emily Ewing said at the event, as did each bell toll. The organizers chose to memorialize 3,891 people in the demonstration, for the people lost in 2020.
AP
A coalition of racial justice organizations and community advocates are calling on state leaders to take urgent action to control the spread of the coronavirus within Iowa s jails and prisons.
A coalition of racial justice organizations and community advocates are calling on Iowa officials to take aggressive and proactive steps to slow the spread of the coronavirus within the state’s jails and prisons. The groups are sending a letter to state officials including Gov. Kim Reynolds, the Department of Corrections and the Board of Parole, as well as Immigration and Customs Enforcement, calling for urgent action in the often overcrowded facilities, where staff have struggled to control explosive outbreaks.