"Silence
is the voice of complicity." That adage is taken seriously by the
October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality, Repression and the
Criminalization of a Generation. For nine years now they have worked in
conjunction with many other organizations to stage a National Day of
Protest to bring attention to what they describe as a "national epidemic
of official brutality."
In New York City on October 22nd, hundreds
of activists, students, and concerned citizens joined the friends and
families of victims of police brutality for a rally in Union Square Park
before marching to Times Square.
Some
protesters brought their own handmade signs to the demonstration. For
example, there was Carol Taylor, author of The Little Black Book,
which provides guidance to Black young men on how to avoid being shot by
the police. She displayed a sign pointing up the death of 18-year-old
Emanuel Chamelta who died in a grocery store after an officer’s gun
"just went off." "How come NYPD cops’ guns always just happen to go off
with people of color?" she asked.
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The
assembled crowd listened attentively as parents and family members of
victims of police brutality – overwhelmingly Black and Latino - told
what had befallen their loved ones. Among the speakers were Juanita
Young, mother of Malcolm Ferguson who was shot point blank in the
temple; Margarita Rosario, mother of Anthony Rosario and aunt of Hilton
Vega who were both executed while lying face down on the floor; and
Nicholas Heyward, Sr., whose son, Nicholas Jr., was a 13-year-old honor
student when he was cut down in a stairwell while playing with a toy
gun.
Also speaking was Jose Mateo, Sr. whose son was
killed by police after he had called for medical assistance. When the
police arrived, they handcuffed and kicked his son, who died later that
night. To try to justify what they’d done, the police said Jose Mateo,
Jr. had been using drugs, but a medical investigation later proved that
he was drug-free.
Maria
and Jose Santos also told about the death of their son in Rikers Island
while awaiting a hearing on charges of parole violations. Even though it
is well known that all of the cell furniture is immovable, Jose Santos,
Jr. supposedly moved a chair into position and then committed suicide by
hanging himself with a sheet.
Cynthia Howell, accompanied by her young son Dante
Howell, spoke about the death last year of her aunt, Alberta Spruill.
The entire City was stunned upon hearing that around 6 AM one Spring
morning, a squad of heavily armed officers broke down the door of
Spruill’s Harlem apartment and threw in a flash grenade. Then, despite
her screams of "I can’t breathe!" and her telling them that she had a
heart condition, they handcuffed her to a chair while they searched her
apartment. Within hours, Alberta Spruill was dead.
Referring to these "no-knock warrants" as they’re
called, Howell stated, "We have to work as hard as we can to get these
policies changed because there's nothing good happening with them out
here."
Other
speakers included Oct. 22nd’s National Coordinating Committee
member, Carl Dix; noted Civil Rights Attorney, Lynn Stewart, and
representatives of the Haitian Coalition for Justice. Poets Moana,
Kahlil "Sheik" Mustafa, and Haiku provided artistic expression.
As day faded into evening, the protesters took their
message to the streets. Marching behind the banner "Stolen Lives: Killed
by U.S. Law Enforcement" which lists the names of 2,000 people whose
lives have been taken from them, they raised their voices in chants such
as "NYPD You Can't Hide / We Charge You with Homicide," "We Refuse to
Close Our Eyes / 2,000 Stolen Lives," and "Hey Cops What Do You Say -
How Many Kids Did You Killed Today?"
The protest ended with a short rally in Times Square.
Read Donna's Last Column
