The International Commission of Inquiry on Systemic Racist Police Violence in the United States released its final report of its investigations into police violence across the country. The commission found that traffic stops are a common precursor to police killings and uses of excessive force against Black people.

One of the cases covered was that of Gambian American Momodou Lamin Sisay, 39, of Lithonia, Georgia. On May 29, 2020, Sisay, was pulled over for an expired car license. Frightened of the police because of the George Floyd case, Sisay continued to drive. Officers forced his car off the road and shot him while inside the vehicle because he refused to comply with verbal orders. More than 200 bullet holes were found on Sisay’s car.

While not getting much news coverage in the United States, the family of Sisay says the investigation was important to them. “It’s a step toward closure for us because we know at the US domestic level, we will not get justice just as it didn’t make the national news there,” Lare Sisay, Mododou’s father, told Port Of Harlem.

The commission also found that The War on Drugs is a significant driver of police violence against Black women and girls. The Commissioners found that cis- and transgender Black women, girls, and femmes are disproportionately killed by police in the United States and are routinely subjected to humiliating treatment, disrespect, and mis-gendering by police who have injured or even killed them. They found a pattern of police destructing or manipulating evidence in cases involving all people of color.

The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL), and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) convened the Inquiry and met via Zoom after weeks of live hearings involving cases of Black people killed by police as well as months of review of documents.

The investigate cases were diverse and inclusive as were the commissioners. The commissioners included attorney Max Boqwana from South Africa to Professor Osamu Niikura of Japan.