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Resources:
Center for Constitutional Rights (800) 764-0235
National Coalition on Police Accountability (312) 663-5392
National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights 212 614-5355 rperez@boricuanet.org
National Peoples Campaign - 39 West 14th Street, #206, NY, NY 10011. (212) 633-6646;
(Fax) (212) 633-2889
Speak Out! - POB 99096, Emeryville, CA 94662 Phone: (510) 601-0182; Fax: (510)
601-0183; speakout@igc.apc.org |
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Police
brutality changes journalist's life
By Art Marroquin, Cal State Fullerton June 14,
1996
Latino Reporter Home Page
Racially motivated police beatings are stories most reporters want to cover. But
for minority reporters, these beatings are more than stories. They represent horrors
minorities potentially could suffer everyday. Such was the case for syndicated columnist
Roberto Rodriguez. Five Whittier, Calif., policemen cracked his skull when he was 24 years
old. The officers were convicted in the racially motivated beating after two trials which
spanned two-and-one-half years. Now 42, Rodriguez said he was lucky to live to tell about
his experience in his book, "Assault With a Deadly Weapon." The book was
self-published in 1984 and will be re-published by Bilingual Press in May 1997.
Rodriguez plans to discuss his experience and those of other Latinos as part of the
panel session, "The Justice System, Police and Latinos- Not Just Black and
White." The discussion will be held from 3:45 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday in the Ohio Room.
It will concentrate on specific cases of police brutality against Latinos, how the media
can better report such cases, how the Latino community can build bridges with the police
and why it's more than "just a black and white issue," said Teresa Puente, a
Chicago Tribune reporter who will moderate the session.
The prevalence of racially motivated police beatings is difficult to assess because
national statistics are not available, according to a Justice Department spokesman.
"One reason I write and talk about police brutality against Latinos is because of
what happened to me," Rodriguez said of his efforts for the past 17 years. At the
time of his beating, Rodriguez was covering the David Dominguez trial, in which police
officials were accused of kidnapping and killing a man. "That same night, the police
got me," Rodriguez said.
Another topic to be discussed is the April 1 police pursuit that spanned more than 70
miles, ending in the clubbing of two Mexican nationals by Riverside County sheriff's
deputies in South El Monte, Calif. In a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties
Union, one of the victims, Alicia Soltero-Vasquez , alleges deputies used excessive and
unreasonable force after the chase. "The sheriffs involved were doing street justice
against someone who wasn't fleeing capture when the truck stopped," said Ann Bradley,
spokeswoman with the ACLU's Los Angeles office.
The televised beating shows deputies Tracy Watson and Kurtis Franklin yelling in
English-for Soltero-Vásquez to get down. Watson said the Mexican nationals were not
obeying his commands, so he used "necessary force" to bring Soltero-Vásquez
down. Mark Lohman, spokesman for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department, said the
administrative police investigation was concluded last week, but would not comment on the
case. "If the police don't know a language, it's no excuse to beat
immigrants," Rodriguez said. "You wouldn't beat a Frenchman who doesn't speak
English." Latino activists are comparing the Soltero-Vasquez incident with the
videotaped beating of Rodney King in 1991.
Since the King beating, Southern California police have been responsible for close to
30 unjustified killings of Latinos, according to the Mexican-American Bar Association in
Los Angeles. In a separate study, the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights reports
that police unjustifiably have killed about the same number of Dominicans, Puerto Ricans,
and other Latinos in the New York area. "For me, calling it racist is beyond the
point, it's dehumanization," Rodriguez said. "If the police view the person
behind the gun as less than human, then it's another issue."
Joseph A. DeLopez, commander of the 23rd district of the Chicago Police Department,
will present the law enforcement view on Friday's panel. He will discuss how police and
Latinos can break the language barrier and build better relations. In September 1994,
police looking for a "Hispanic" who caused a disturbance in Lincoln, Neb.,
killed 29-year-old Francisco Rentería. In June 1995, three off-duty sheriffs deputies
allegedly beat 50-year-old Rudolph Garcia in a Texas nightclub. He died three days later.
The following month, Los Angeles Police Department officer Michael Falvo shot Antonio
Gutierrez. Police say the 14-year-old Gutierrez had pointed a gun at the officer. An
autopsy later revealed Gutierrez was shot in the back. The Justice Department is
investigating the Garcia and Gutierrez cases.
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Emotional vigil addresses Adams' police brutality
By Marques Harper, Associate News Editor
Published by The Daily Targum November 11, 1996
It has been two months since New Brunswick resident Carolyn "Sissy" Adams was
fatally shot by a police officer. And friends and family members who gathered downtown for
a candlelight vigil in her memory are still waiting for answers.
Members of the New Brunswick Coalition Against Police Brutality and the community left
last night's emotional memorial ‹ which started from a parking lot near the Mount
Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church urging each other to form stronger community
networks. "You all know better than I do about police brutality. How many vigil are
we going to have," said Tina Wos, a Douglass College junior and member of 100 Black,
yesterday. "Incidents like this are going to happen. They are not scared of us."
The police brutality coalition has been working to educate New Brunswick communities in
order to put an end to police brutality, Bill Irwin, a member of the coalition, said.
"It is to show that we haven't forgotten about Sissy or other police brutality
cases in New Brunswick," Irwin said. "We haven't forgotten about the violence.
And we're demanding justice."
Adams, 39, was killed on Powers Street when a bullet from Officer James Consalvo's gun
pierced her heart and lungs. In the Sept. 10 slaying, Consalvo, 29, shot Adams in self
defense when she bit his finger and resisted arrest as they began wrestling in the street,
authorities said. Consalvo spotted Adams, who he suspected was a prostitute, waving
down a car on Commercial Avenue, officials said. Adams had prior arrests for solicitation
and drug possession.
The events of the slaying are under review by the Middlesex County grand jury, who has
spent the past four weeks hearing the testimony. While the panel's finding could be made
public in the upcoming weeks, Adams' mother Louise said last night that she hasn't seen
any major developments in police and community relations since her daughter's death.
"One thing it's to let outsiders know we can get together and stick together,"
she said about the vigil. "I haven't seen no changes."
During last night's vigil, 75 friends and community leaders prayed and gathered support in
yesterday's cold temperatures before marching in silence to Powers Street where Adams was
killed. "Love still abides. I know the greatest thing is love. It's time for
change," Louise Adams said. "It's time to fight for justice. Any time I can
move, you call me, and I'll be there."
A tree covered in yellow ribbon with flowers is the lone reminder of the incident, and
marchers placed their candles on the curb in front of the tree to pay respect to Adams. Carrying
signs opposing police brutality, they also discussed how minorities have been victimized
by police in other parts of the state. Keith Joseph, a member of the coalition, agreed,
saying that the communities, particularly communities of color, must form political
alliances.
He said that information about police brutality should also be translated into Spanish
for the city's large Latino population. "When they come at us and attack, they say
peace, peace, peace," Joseph, also a member of the New Jersey Freedom Organization,
said. "We can start challenging the city machine. We have to build our
organizations."
NYC Anti-Police Brutality Protest: "Guliani
Protects Killer Cops"
We had a wonderful time at the City Hall Xmas Tree Lighting on Tuesday night
(Dec. 9, 1997). For the second year in a row, families whose loved ones have been killed
or injured by police or racist gangs disrupted the ceremony when Mayor Giuliani began to
speak. We carried pictures of the family members and posters that read: "Families
whose loved ones are killed by police NEVER have a Merry Christmas -- Giuliani protects
killer cops."
We agreed that at a pre-arranged signal (2 whistle blasts) we would begin chanting
"No Justice, No Peace -- Killer Cops Got to Go." After about an hour of
Christmas carols sung by elementary school students from Park Slope, Giuliani moved to the
podium. During the time the choir was singing, uniformed and plainclothes police
positioned themselves near all of the protestors they recognized. We had split into about
8 small groups; and the city hall security police were working hard on their
walkie-talkies to identify and prepare to move on us.
As soon as the mayor started to speak, the whistle blew; and the chanting began.
Police moved immediately to pull protestors out of the small crowd. They took out: the
mother and sister of Anthony Baez (killed by a police chokehold); the mother of Anibal
Carrasquillo (shot in the back); the mother and father of 15-year old Frankie Arzuega
(shot in the back of the head); the nephew of Jose Librado Sanchez (shot by police in the
restaurant where he worked); the mother of Anthony Rosario (shot in the back while he lay
prone on the floor); the mother of Manuel Mayi (killed by a racist gang almost 7 years
ago); and the mother of Jovan Gonzalez (beaten by a racist gang this past summer).
Eventually, they grabbed the other protestors: members of the National Congress for Puerto
Rican Rights, MUEVETE, the Boricua Youth Conference, and the Committee Against Anti-Asian
Violence, as well as some other friends who had come down to join the protest. Legal
observers from the National Lawyers Guild stood by, prepared to intervene if necessary.
Since we've done this before, we had discussed beforehand how the police would probably
move against us; and we had previously agreed that we would not resist arrest. So we
allowed ourselves to be "escorted" away from the main ceremony. Once we had all
been pulled out of the crowd, a line of police began to push us with their massed bodies
out of the city hall parking lot. We continued chanting and blowing whistles (everyone had
one).
We attempted to reenter City Hall Park; but were blocked by another line of cops. While we
faced off with this group, we sent about 10 people around the other side to where the Xmas
tree was; and they began chanting there.
The official city hall ceremony ended earlier then advertised; and we regrouped 2 blocks
away to analyze the action and make sure everyone was ok. The purpose of the action
was to let Giuliani know that there was no "time out" in the fight against
police brutality. Especially, during the holidays, which is the most difficult time for
the families that have lost loved ones, we wanted to be in his face -- and by our actions
give meaning to the slogan "No Justice, No Peace." We all agreed that our
mission had been accomplished. The families in particular were energized by the
confrontation. We have all learned together that the most effective way of dealing with
the pain of their loss is to collectively fight those who are responsible.
The action was even more sweet because of the participation of Altagracia Mayi. That
afternoon, five hours earlier, the street where her son died -- after being chased 16
blocks and beaten to death by a white gang -- was renamed MANUEL MAYI CORNER. It took six
years to get the City Council to pass a bill authorizing the street name change and to get
Giuliani to approve it. We scheduled the ceremony for that afternoon; because we feared
that if we waited, Giuliani would cancel it in retaliation for the Xmas tree disruption.
The street re-naming was an intensely emotional event for the Mayi family, their
friends and supporters. Now, Manny's name will live on forever. Even as we
continue the struggle to imprison the criminals who killed him, that street corner will
stand as testimony to his life and his family's love and commitment to get justice.
After the street re-naming, people were invited to the Mayi home for lunch. And a few
hours later, Altagracia Mayi, left Queens, got on the train to city hall, and joined other
mothers, risking arrest, to make SURE the issues of police and racist gang killings were
not ignored -- to make sure that no matter how hard he tried to dismiss them and their
concerns, Mayor Giuliani could not escape their demands for justice. I can't think of a
better way to start the holiday season.
Richie Perez
National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights
rperez@boricuanet.org
212 614-5355 |
