Microsoft employees have signed a letter, addressing to the top executives of the company to take some action against the ongoing civil unrest in the nation.?
The over 200 Microsoft employees have urged CEO Satya Nadella to cancel contracts with the Seattle Police Department and other law enforcement agencies and formally support #BlackLivesMatter movement.?
The email was signed by over 200 Microsoft employees and was addressed to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella?and executive VP Kurt DelBene with the subject line saying, ¡°Our neighbourhood has been turned into a warzone,¡± while asking for ¡®defunding and demilitarisation¡¯ of Seattle Police Department.?
The letter (first reported by OneZero) states, ¡°Every one of us in the CC line are either first-hand witnesses or direct victims to the inhumane responses of SPD to peaceful protesting,¡± while describing the extent law enforcement is going to shut down the protests in Seattle¡¯s Capitol Hill.?
The letter further stated, ¡°Those who choose to support the movement in ways other than boots-on-the-ground protests have also suffered the results of the SPD response."
The letter also included instances of how brutally police is treating protesters and how it is affecting people who aren¡¯t actively participating in the protest too with, ¡°24/7 helicopter noise, teargassing, flashbanging, rubber bullets, gun shots, and vans/buses filled with armed law enforcement.¡±
One Microsoft employee wrote, ¡°Tear gas streams into apartments through cracks in the wall as far as a mile away. The sound of flashbangs and fired tear gas canisters reverberates through the night, past 2 to 3 a.m. most days this week, including last night. Worse yet is the fear and stress that these employees are dealing with, fear that has been compounded by SPD¡¯s ever-escalating response.¡±
The authors (Microsoft employees) of the letter further stated, ¡°We need awareness and empathy across every level of management asap so that the burden of educating our coworkers doesn¡¯t fall on those of us in the middle of a public safety and mental health crisis.¡±
Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had shown support to the movement through an internal email to its employees where he promised the company would ¡°look inside, examine our organization, and do better,¡± while also pledging $1.5 million to institutions like Minnesota Freedom Fund, Black Lives Matter Foundation and Innocence Project.