Bishop Barber issued the following statement on Saturday, May 30, 2020: “As we continue to mourn the senseless death of George Floyd, we also now mourn for the death of a Federal Protective Services officer who was shot and killed while monitoring protests in downtown Oakland last night. Murder is never justified, and we express our heartfelt sympathy to the families who have lost loved ones. The violence which comes from systemic racism has caused too much suffering for people of color in our land. As we pray for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the great feast of Pentecost, may our minds and hearts truly be converted, so as to rid ourselves of the sin of racism.”
Bishop Barber also expressed strong support for this
statement from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.