Justice for Soheil
What happened; the protests and marches
(This was taken from ABC 11 News Article) Soheil Mojarrad was shot by Officer William Brett Edwards outside a plaza on April 20, 2019 after a report that he was trespassing. The shooting sparked a cry for transparency from friends, family and activists, since Edwards was wearing a body camera at the time but it was not turned on.
Days after activists showed up to a city council meeting in May, Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown sent a memo saying the department was taking action to prevent “the human error of not turning the camera on.” The department decided to alter the cameras to have them always passively recording video, with no audio, even if an officer fails to turn it on.
“On April 20, 2019, Mr. Mojarrad was not suspected of any serious or violent crime,” the complaint states. “He did not confront Defendant Edwards or otherwise threaten him. Rather he attempted, unarmed, to flee from Defendant Edwards to avoid confrontation with the police officer.”
There were many protests during the time following his death. If you want to learn more about Soheil from his father, he wrote a beautiful message about Soheil’s life leading up to this tragic event.
Dance 4 Soheil
the Festivities Begin
This is our brief history from Soheil’s death to today.
- Celebration of Life (The Wake) – Briefly after Soheil’s death, we gathered family and friends to celebrate his life, eat and gather together. This is where the idea to continue gathering began.
- Nash Square – We occupied Nash Square with the cities approval as an extension of the Celebration of Life, many friends came out to support us and listen to music and begin talks of our future together.
- Sanford, NC April 2020, we hosted our first Soheil’s Festival of Love, we had many local artists volunteer their talents on the stage and a core group of people help organize and run the event. The main message behind this was to bring awareness to police brutality in our world. We also cooked and fed everyone on site and this continued for the following 2 years.
- So Much Fest 2024 This brings us to this years event, revamped in so many ways but with the same message at the the heart and many original volunteers, organizers and artists involved.
Support and Donation
How you can help
- Attend Event- We would love to see people from all walks of life gathering peacefully and joyfully with us as we continue to bring awareness and abundance into our lives and the lives of our fellow people.
- Donations- This has always be a free event with donations encouraged. If you are interested in helping with event costs, please find a staff member at this years event.
- Volunteer- If you are interested in helping with this years event, please head to the event info page to read the rules and use the form provided.
