>From: "Jon Corlett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >>From Revolutionary Worker ( www.mcs.net/~rwor ) January 16, 2000 Page5 > >Chicago Police Murder: The Cold-Blooded "Disappearance" of Antione Thomas > > >The cops had put a hat on his head-to cover up the bullet wound. And he had >tears on his cheeks-showing that he was alive for at least some time alter >the shooting. Antione was shot around 6:30 p.m. But witnesses said that the >cops sent away two ambulances. At 8 p.m., Antione was taken out in a body >bag and put in a paddy wagon. > > > > On the evening of December 27, the Chicago police stole the life of >20-year-old Antione (Antwan) Thomas in a stairwell at the 4022 S. State >building, on the north end of the Robert Taylor Homes projects. Antione was >the filth Black person shot and killed by the Chicago police in 1999. > > Antione was a slightly mentally retarded young man who attended school and >was expecting to be a father in July. His friend K., his fist over his >heart, said, "It hurts right here. I was raised up with him...We�d be >talking outside, joking." > > One person who was present at the shooting said that he, Antione and two >others were going up the stairs of the building when they came face to face >with a man holding a gun. Antione and his friends did not know that this was >a plainclothes cop-part of a police invasion of Robert Taylor Homes under >the pretext of an "anti-drug" raid. The witness said they were running back >down the stairs, away from the armed man, when they heard a shot. Then they >realized that Antione was not with them. He had been shot, the bullet going >through the top of his head. > > The cops immediately began to cover up their crime. The police would not >let anyone go up to where Antione was shot. J. recalled with anger, "We were >like, �Go on, get him, he�s shot.� They said, �Nobody�s coming in this >building.�" At the front of the building, cops stood in a huddle. J. said, >"They plotted for an hour what their story >was going to be." > > Detectives showed people a Polaroid picture of Antione�s body after he was >shot. The cops had put a hat on his head-to cover up the bullet wound. And >he had tears on his cheeks-showing that he was alive for at least some time >alter the shooting. Antione was shot around 6:30 p.m. But witnesses said >that the cops sent away two ambulances. At 8 p.m., Antione was taken out in >a body bag and put in a paddy wagon. > > The police never contacted Antione�s mother, Arvella Thomas. When she >learned of the incident and went down to the station, the police made her >wait for two hours before they would even talk to her. She and other family >members were given the runaround at the medical examiner�s office-then the >police intimidated them into leaving. The family was not able to see Antione >�s body until the following afternoon. > > The police concocted a typical story straight out of their book of lies and >coverups. They claim that the cops were at Robert Taylor to conduct an >"investigation" into narcotic sales. A police spokesman claimed thatthe cop >who shot Antione had "announced his office as a policeman." Then, according >to the police story, the cop "was confronted by several men who charged at >him, causing the officer�s weapon to discharge." > > The day after the shooting, young men were seen distributing a flyer at >Robert >Taylor Homes saying, "Let it be known that this was a direct attack on the >community, retaliation for the shooting death of one officer Cenale, who was >shot in this same community not long ago." Four men are already locked up >for the shooting of this cop. And the police have used the incident to >intensify the repression and terror against this community. > > One young man said that the police regularly storm the buildings with their >guns drawn: "They knock people down with their pistols out. There�ll be >shorties there by the elevator, and they be pointing their guns at the >shorties." This dehumanizing brutality usually goes on in the name of the >"war on drugs," and is especially directed at young Black men. But everyone >is a target in the eyes of the police. As C. said, "They don�t have no >respect for the community. They come in your house. Your mother asks what >they�re doing, they said, �B***h, shut the fuck up.�" In one incident, the >cops put a kid in the trunk of their car when no one would ID a picture >they had. A young man described the scene: >"They said. �OK, tell us his name, or shorty�s gonna ride with us.�" > > On December 28. Antione�s family and organizations opposing police >brutality held a press conference. Among the participants were the Oct. 22 >Coalition and Gwen Hogan, whose husband Kelsey was murdered by the Chicago >police in August. > > On two nights alter the shooting, 70 youth from the community took the >streets and marched to the police station to demand justice for Antione >Thomas. The tremendous anger of the people was clear at the police station, >where youth spat on squad cars and pounded on windows. > > Antione�s aunt said, "It was wrong for them to kill my Black baby... My >3-yearold grandson called him �my buddy.� He�s asking, �Where�s my buddy?� I >�m going to have to sit down and tell him what happened." Arvella Thomas >said, "Why can�t we have this officer�s name? We want him to come to >us...tell me to my face what happened...I have to come to grips with the >fact that he�s not coming back.... [The killer cop] can�t face me for the >fact that it was unjustified." > > >____________________________________________________________________________ >________________ > > > > > > >_______________________________________________________________________ > > >REVOLUTION, COMMUNIST & CONTINUOUS ! ! ! > > http://www.geocities.com/CapitolHill/Congress/8805/ > >LENIN & RUSSIAN REVOLUTION PAGES: http://members.xoom.com/joncorlett/ > >RCP SITE: http://www.geocities.com/jcorlett8/ > >CHINA COMREV SITE: http://www.geocities.com/jcorlett3/ > >E Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >To Subscribe or Unsubscribe; Click Reply in E Mail Program, > >enter 'Subscribe' or 'Unsubscribe' on Subject line and Send to: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >If wish to receive only certain types of Revolutionary Communist Information >Please Specify. > > >_______________________________________________________________________ > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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