In the wake of protests following the death of George Floyd in Minnesota, the list of lost demonstrators is growing.
This weekend, Black Lives Matter activist Oluwatoyin Salau was found dead in her hometown of Tallahassee, Fl. at just 19 years old. This follows the recent loss of a Black transgender man named Tony McDade, who was murdered by Tallahassee police. A suspect has been taken into custody surrounding the death, but friends of Salau say there’s much more to the story.
Sources close to Salau say she was a victim of sex trafficking near Florida A&M University. The afternoon she went missing, she tweeted that a man assaulted her, having offered to take her to a church.
“He came disguised as a man of God and ended up picking me up from nearby Saxon Street,” Salau tweeted, according to the Tallahassee Democrat. “I trusted the holy spirit to keep me safe.”
Salau said she had also been sexually assaulted a few days before she’d gone missing and contacted police. Ashley Laurent, a friend of Salau’s, said a police officer told them more evidence was needed to pursue an investigation. This has prompted people online to condemn the Tallahassee police for their mistreatment of both McDade and Salau.
Sign a petition to demand justice for Salau here.
