As the world prepares to celebrate the world coming together for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, an ugly spectre is rearing its head: brutal police violence, disproportionately against poor, Black Brazilians.

The numbers are staggering. In 2015, 645 people were killed by Rio police alone. This year, 322 were killed by police before June. One in five killings in the city are committed by police. The Olympics provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shine a huge spotlight on this brutal violence.

Visa, Coke, Samsung and McDonalds -- some of the world’s most powerful corporations -- are Olympic sponsors. These public-facing brands don’t want to be associated in any way with police violence. When Russia introduced horrible anti-LGBT laws in advance of the Sochi Olympics, millions of us spoke up.

Will you do the same against police violence? Tell Olympic sponsors to condemn the brutal tactics of the Rio police force.

According to observers on the ground in Rio’s infamous, sprawling slums, authorities send officers in with the clear intention to fight. And it’s poorer, Black or mixed-race Brazilians who are far more likely to come into conflict with the police. It’s gotten so bad that American Black Lives Matter activists have travelled to Rio to show solidarity with Brazilians suffering under a police force with seemingly unchecked power.

Since 2007, more than 2,000 officers have been suspended for excessive use of force. Brazil has said it will flood Rio with 47,000 police officers and 38,000 soldiers during the games, which can only lead to more bloodshed. Visa, Coke, Samsung and McDonalds can’t pretend that the Olympics are about peace and harmony while the police kill Black Brazilians with impunity.

Demand Olympic sponsors speak up against police violence in Rio.

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