Truman condemns Memphis police officers’ brutal and horrific treatment of Tyre Nichols. We welcome swift action taken to charge the officers responsible for his death. Yet this is not an isolated incident; police violence claims far too many lives and more work remains.

Identity-based violence has devastating effects throughout American communities with Black, Jewish, AAPI, Latino, LGBTQIA+, Native American communities, and other historically marginalized groups bearing the brunt of such violence. Yet these communities’ perspectives are all too often absent from policy conversations intended to address these challenges. Targeted violence not only threatens the social fabric of the United States, it is a matter of national security. Such conduct degrades American democracy at home and the vitality and credibility of U.S. global leadership abroad. Moments like these erode America’s ability to serve as an example unto others.

Truman has long recognized that national security and foreign policy too often fail to deliver for the American people, especially historically underrepresented groups. Foreign policy and domestic policy are inextricably linked. America’s credibility to advance universal rights beyond our borders depends on our ability to defend and enforce those rights at home.

Our security should not depend on race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, or immigration status. In a democracy, law enforcement institutions cannot be seen to serve only some. Federal, state, and local authorities should take urgent action to tackle the racism pervasive in law enforcement institutions that yield cultures of impunity. The world is watching.