"America's Peacemaker" Was Built for Moments Like Minnesota. DOJ Shut It Down.

After federal immigration officers killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti, protests intensified and trust in institutions fractured. That is exactly the kind of moment the Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service (CRS) was built for. Since 1964, its highly trained mediators and conciliators de-escalated civil rights conflicts and prevented further violence.

But DOJ closed down CRS last year.

Julius Nam spent a decade at DOJ, most recently with CRS. He and his colleagues were deployed to help facilitate constructive communication among local and state police, activists, clergy, city officials, and neighborhood leaders. CRS was on the ground after George Floyd’s murder, and should’ve been in Minnesota again after the fatal shootings last month.

CRS was called America’s Peacemaker for good reason. When DOJ removes proven capacity to reduce conflict, communities are left to absorb the consequences.