Emily Jones’ parents want people to stop using her image to protest against Black Lives Matter

The parents of Emily Jones, a schoolgirl from Bolton who was tragically murdered, have issued a plea for people to stop using her image as part of the recent protests and movements. 

Emily Jones was sadly murdered on Sunday 22nd March 2020 in Bolton, she was just seven years old. 

Her picture, which was released by her parents, has been used by those opposing the Black Lives Matter protests as part of their ‘all lives matter’ campaign, claiming that her killing was ignored by the media because she was white.

In a statement released by the Greater Manchester Police, her parents Sarah and Mark said: “We are aware that many people are using the picture we released of our daughter Emily, when we publically paid tribute to her following the worst day of our lives, as part of recent protests and campaigns.

“Today we kindly ask the public to stop using the picture of our Emily from one of her days at school.

“We hold this picture dear to our hearts and to see it being used in this way is incredibly upsetting – Emily loved everything and everyone, regardless of their race, gender or beliefs. As we’ve said before, she was beautiful inside and out and had a heart as big as her smile.

“We can’t thank people enough for the support we have received as we continue to live through the nightmare that is life without Emily, but we’re still grieving over the loss of our beautiful daughter and seeing her picture being used as part of recent protests is causing us huge distress.”

They continued: “A woman has been charged with the murder of our daughter and we want to ensure that we respect the legal process and ask people not to speculate over the circumstances surrounding her death.

“We thank you for your support with this matter and hope that you can respect our wishes. We wish everyone health and happiness at this uncertain time.”

Eltiona Skana, 30, has been charged with Emily’s murder and is set to appear in court for a plea and pre-trial hearing on September 15th.

The Facebook post has received a lot of support for the family including one user saying: “I feel incredibly sorry for Emily’s family so wrong people using her photo for their own agenda please let this family grieve in peace”.

This isn’t the only time the parent of a murder victim has asked the public to stop using their imagery to protest against anti-racism recently.

Last month, Lee Rigby’s mum called for a stop to his memory being used to ‘fuel arguments’ against the Black Lives Matter protests. 

In the Facebook post, Lyn Rigby said: “Lee proudly served his country to protect the rights and freedoms of all members of this great melting pot of a nation.

“Seeing his image used to cause hate of any kind, especially for those exercising their freedoms in protest against this issue, hurts.”