Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights initiative to offer free autopsies for ‘police-related’ deaths

Colin Kaepernick is launching an autopsy initiative through his Know Your Rights Camp that will offer free, secondary autopsies to family members of anyone whose death is “police-related.”

Know Your Rights autopsy initiative

The Know Your Rights Autopsy Initiative will provide free, secondary autopsies conducted by board-certified pathologists who will disclose the preliminary findings and issue the final autopsy reports to families.

The autopsy can be requested by anyone with a close relationship with the victim — such as a spouse, partner, relative, close friend or lawyer. The autopsy must be authorized by a legal representative, according to the organization.

“We know that the prison industrial complex, which includes police and policing, strives to protect and serve its interests at all costs,” Kaepernick said.

“The Autopsy Initiative is one important step toward ensuring that family members have access to accurate and forensically verifiable information about the cause of death of their loved one in their time of need.”

Goal

The goal of the Autopsy Initiative is to eliminate concerns about reliability and objectivity of the first autopsy conducted, the risk of manipulation of evidence, and potential bias on behalf of the coroner or medical examiner and/or the use of faulty forensic procedures.