Community activists, including Black Lives Matter organizers, published an open letter to Birmingham officials making demands following the shooting deaths of two people in separate incidents.

Jamal Williams and Vanessa Ragland were both shot and killed by Birmingham Police within the past six weeks.

The letter to Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, Police Chief Michael Pickett, Deputy Chief of Public Safety Carlton Peeples and the Birmingham City Council states that both Williams and Ragland were living with mental illness.

According to investigators, Ragland was shot and killed in October after police responded to a home in reference to a domestic situation. As they attempted to control the volatile situation, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA) said Ragland continued to figh

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