About The Movement

The #ReleaseRiverside campaign was born in April 2020, after a month of advocacy from community-based organizations and family members for the early release and responsible reentry of people locked up in the Riverside County jail system. While our immediate goal is the release of our community members threatened by COVID-19 behind bars, the ongoing mission of #ReleaseRiverside is to create sustainable solutions that lead to anti-racist systemic change and the liberation of people in our county. Riverside has a long history of racism and violence, from the use of the death penalty to the over-representation of Black people behind bars. We know that prisons and jails are not the solutions to our social and economic problems. Both before the introduction COVID-19 and since, and we advocate for Riverside to prioritize community wellbeing over the carceral system. Sheriff Chad Bianco has displayed blatant disregard for community concerns around COVID-19 conditions inside jails for months. In response to his apathy and inaction, we launched the push to #BootBianco on June 7th. #BootBianco is a project to advocate for transparency, accountability and the defunding of the Riverside Sheriff’s Office. It is also platform to expose the injustices imposed on Riverside by Sheriff Chad Bianco. As prison industrial complex abolitionists, we recognize that any sheriff will contribute to harm against communities of color. Because of this, we are not advocating for a "better" sheriff; rather, this is a call to action to hold those currently in power accountable and build a community that keeps us all safe. For more information visit our toolkit at bit.ly/bootbianco