>
> WW News Service Digest #66
>
> 1) NY Cops Kill Haitian, then Attack Mourners
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 2) NY Cops Kill Haitian, then Attack Mourners
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 3) Struggle over Elian in Critical Phase
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 4) Police Try to Censor Mumia at Antioch
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 5) Cuban Americans Hit U.S. for Dividing Familes
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 6) Solidarity and Resistance in Belgrade
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 7) India, Bangladesh Protests over Clinton Visit
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 6, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>CRISIS IN NEW YORK: AFTER KILLING HAITIAN, COPS ATTACK
>MOURNERS
>
>By Pat Chin
>Brooklyn, N.Y.
>
>Grief and rage were the moods here March 25 as a massive
>turnout of Haitians and their supporters at the funeral of
>Patrick Dorismond escalated into a violent clash with
>police.
>
>Four demonstrators and 23 cops were injured in a rebellion
>that erupted in front of the Holy Cross Church. Twenty-
>seven people were arrested--including an 80-year-old man
>and a pregnant woman who police brutally dragged by her
>hair.
>
>Close to 20,000 angry Haitians and their allies joined
>Dorismond's funeral procession. People sang, danced,
>drummed and shouted slogans against the police, Mayor
>Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir.
>
>Some carried placards recalling the many victims of the
>police. Others denounced the mayor as a "loup garou," a
>demon in Haitian folklore that sucks the blood of babies.
>The Haitian flag was seen everywhere.
>
>Many marchers were openly grief-stricken. But Dorismond's
>funeral turned into a militant protest that shook the
>streets of Brooklyn.
>
>"Haitian people will never give up," they chanted. "No
>justice no peace. Killer cops must go."
>
>A loud cheer went up when a contingent from the newly
>formed Haitian Coalition for Justice marched down Flatbush
>Avenue to join the demonstration. Its members carried mock
>coffins decorated with pictures of Dorismond and the slogan
>"NYPD Murders Again."
>
>They also held aloft a huge placard with Dorismond's
>photograph under a caption that read, "Sonje mwea! Remember
>me! It's time to exercise real power."
>
>At one point in the march protesters demanded the removal
>of Community Affairs cops who were escorting the hearse
>carrying Dorismond's coffin, and they won.
>
>African Americans, people from other Caribbean countries
>and others joined the Haitians. One woman told Workers
>World: "I'm proud to be Haitian but this is not just about
>us. This is about racism and Black people."
>
>Another woman echoed the same theme, saying: "I came out
>for justice. I'm a Jamaican but we're all Black. And we're
>sticking together on this one."
>
>Ray LaForest of the Haitian Coalition for Justice
>criticized the small number of "careerist" Haitians who
>have aligned themselves with Giuliani.
>
>"In trying to demobilize the community, they tell us we
>should `act dignified.' This is what they did with the
>movement that grew around the police torture of Abner
>Louima," said LaForest.
>
>"They try to tell us that demonstrations don't solve
>anything, that we shouldn't take to the streets. But
>dignity for us is fighting with our heads held high. It's
>fighting to create a new situation in which we're no longer
>subjected to this type of treatment.
>
>"Dignity for us means organizing those who are angry
>enough to understand that they have to take the `beton,'
>which is Creole for occupying the streets."
>
>The Revs. Herbert Daughtry and Al Sharpton helped carry a
>lead banner that read "Justice for Patrick Dorismond." Also
>on the front line was a huge contingent from Local 1199
>Health and Hospital Workers Union/Service Employees.
>
>Some anti-racist whites also joined the march. They
>included members of the International Action Center,
>Workers World Party and Jews for Racial and Economic
>Justice.
>
>Brooklyn has a huge immigrant population. It is home to
>the most Haitian people living outside their island nation.
>Huge crowds lined the three-mile route to the church. They
>were everywhere.
>
>Leaning from windows, looking down from rooftops and fire
>escapes, standing on top of garbage bins and on the
>sidewalk. They showed support by chanting, throwing their
>fists in the air and waving the Haitian flag.
>
>Thousands joined the protest as it moved toward the
>church.
>
>"Giuliani must go," they chanted.
>
>At Dorismond's wake the night before, over 1,000 people
>had shown up. They included the Rev. Al Sharpton and Abner
>Louima. The crowd included protesters carrying signs and
>chanting in Creole and English against the police and
>Giuliani.
>
>The Haitian community hasn't forgotten the vicious police
>torture of Abner Louima in 1997 and the February acquittal
>of four racist killer cops in the Amadou Diallo case.
>Dorismond was fatally shot less than one month later on
>March 16.
>
>The unarmed security guard was killed after plainclothed
>cops tried to entrap him in a numbers-driven "buy and bust"
>drug sting aimed at promoting Giuliani's tough-on-crime
>image as he prepares for a Senate run. The 26-year-old
>Haitian was shot dead in a scuffle after he angrily
>rebuffed two undercover cops who asked to buy marijuana.
>
>Dorismond is the fourth unarmed person of African descent
>killed by New York police in the last 13 months. Amadou
>Diallo, Malcolm Ferguson and now Patrick Dorismond are well
>known. Less publicized is the fact that in September 1999,
>police shot Richard Watson in the back and killed him. (New
>York Times, March 25)
>
>Right-wing Mayor Rudolph Giuliani further inflamed an
>already volatile flash point of resentment when he released
>and then greatly exaggerated Dorismond's police rap sheet,
>including a sealed juvenile record. He also continues to
>refuse to meet with Dorismond's family or to even offer
>them his condolences.
>
>The mayor's callous and provocative behavior in the
>aftermath of Dorismond's death only heightened the Haitian
>people's outrage. His conduct has in fact been so offensive
>that a recent poll registered a drop in his approval rating
>to 45 percent. It was 54 percent only last September.
>
>Moreover, a stunning 72 percent of New Yorkers now believe
>that the Police Department is out of control and should be
>supervised by the federal government.
>
>Even the right-wing New York Post and Republican officials
>have distanced themselves from the mayor and openly
>criticized him. It's not that they disagree with his
>policies aimed at protecting the interests of big business.
>Instead, these forces, along with Democratic Party
>officials, fear that Giuliani's crass behavior could
>trigger a social explosion too hot to quell that would
>threaten the capitalist class.
>
>At the funeral, the police got a small yet forceful taste
>of this when they tried to herd an already enraged
>community behind steel barricades like animals, on a narrow
>sidewalk across the street from the church where services
>were held for Dorismond.
>
>The defiant crowd swept the barricades aside and flooded
>into the streets, cheering when police were forced to
>retreat. Then they ripped the United States flag from
>Dorismond's coffin and torched it, singing and chanting as
>it burned.
>
>The arrest of a woman with a bullhorn added to the
>tension, as did the arrival of police in riot gear. No
>public-address system was at the site. This further
>isolated the people from Dorismond's funeral service inside
>the church, which was attended by family members, Amadou
>Diallo's parents, city officials and others.
>
>When the crowd learned that the coffin had been whisked
>out the back entrance after the service, they became even
>angrier. They recognized the attempt by the Haitian elite,
>working hand in hand with the police, to separate them from
>this new martyr and symbol of resistance.
>
>Tempers flew as the cops tried to push the crowd back. So
>did fists, bottles and bricks. The Haitian people were
>clearly in no mood to be disrespected and messed with. Even
>after arrests were made some people stayed in the streets
>in defiance of the police.
>
>The next day, at the Bethany Baptist Church here in the
>oppressed community of Bedford-Stuyvesant, some 300
>activists showed up to plan the next stage in the fight
>against racism and police brutality, including the ouster
>of Giuliani and Safir.
>
>The Haitian Coalition for Justice organized the
>multinational activity. Speaker after speaker called for
>unity in the face of the city's attempt to divide the
>community using the heated events of the past day.
>
>A meeting is planned for March 30, and a march across the
>Brooklyn Bridge for April. A people's tribunal that will
>put Giuliani and Safir on trial is also in the works.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
>copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but
>changing it is not allowed. For more information contact
>Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail:
>[EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message
>to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org)
>
>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 23:05:01 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
>Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT
>Subject: [WW] NY Cops Kill Haitian, then Attack Mourners
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Apr. 6, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>CRISIS IN NEW YORK: AFTER KILLING HAITIAN, COPS ATTACK
>MOURNERS
>
>By Pat Chin
>Brooklyn, N.Y.
>
>Grief and rage were the moods here March 25 as a massive
>turnout of Haitians and their supporters at the funeral of
>Patrick Dorismond escalated into a violent clash with
>police.
>
>Four demonstrators and 23 cops were injured in a rebellion
>that erupted in front of the Holy Cross Church. Twenty-
>seven people were arrested--including an 80-year-old man
>and a pregnant woman who police brutally dragged by her
>hair.
>
>Close to 20,000 angry Haitians and their allies joined
>Dorismond's funeral procession. People sang, danced,
>drummed and shouted slogans against the police, Mayor
>Rudolph Giuliani and Police Commissioner Howard Safir.
>
>Some carried placards recalling the many victims of the
>police. Others denounced the mayor as a "loup garou," a
>demon in Haitian folklore that sucks the blood of babies.
>The Haitian flag was seen everywhere.
>
>Many marchers were openly grief-stricken. But Dorismond's
>funeral turned into a militant protest that shook the
>streets of Brooklyn.
>
>"Haitian people will never give up," they chanted. "No
>justice no peace. Killer cops must go."
>
>A loud cheer went up when a contingent from the newly
>formed Haitian Coalition for Justice marched down Flatbush
>Avenue to join the demonstration. Its members carried mock
>coffins decorated with pictures of Dorismond and the slogan
>"NYPD Murders Again."
>
>They also held aloft a huge placard with Dorismond's
>photograph under a caption that read, "Sonje mwea! Remember
>me! It's time to exercise real power."
>
>At one point in the march protesters demanded the removal
>of Community Affairs cops who were escorting the hearse
>carrying Dorismond's coffin, and they won.
>
>African Americans, people from other Caribbean countries
>and others joined the Haitians. One woman told Workers
>World: "I'm proud to be Haitian but this is not just about
>us. This is about racism and Black people."
>
>Another woman echoed the same theme, saying: "I came out
>for justice. I'm a Jamaican but we're all Black. And we're
>sticking together on this one."
>
>Ray LaForest of the Haitian Coalition for Justice
>criticized the small number of "careerist" Haitians who
>have aligned themselves with Giuliani.
>
>"In trying to demobilize the community, they tell us we
>should `act dignified.' This is what they did with the
>movement that grew around the police torture of Abner
>Louima," said LaForest.
>
>"They try to tell us that demonstrations don't solve
>anything, that we shouldn't take to the streets. But
>dignity for us is fighting with our heads held high. It's
>fighting to create a new situation in which we're no longer
>subjected to this type of treatment.
>
>"Dignity for us means organizing those who are angry
>enough to understand that they have to take the `beton,'
>which is Creole for occupying the streets."
>
>The Revs. Herbert Daughtry and Al Sharpton helped carry a
>lead banner that read "Justice for Patrick Dorismond." Also
>on the front line was a huge contingent from Local 1199
>Health and Hospital Workers Union/Service Employees.
>
>Some anti-racist whites also joined the march. They
>included members of the International Action Center,
>Workers World Party and Jews for Racial and Economic
>Justice.
>
>Brooklyn has a huge immigrant population. It is home to
>the most Haitian people living outside their island nation.
>Huge crowds lined the three-mile route to the church. They
>were everywhere.
>
>Leaning from windows, looking down from rooftops and fire
>escapes, standing on top of garbage bins and on the
>sidewalk. They showed support by chanting, throwing their
>fists in the air and waving the Haitian flag.
>
>Thousands joined the protest as it moved toward the
>church.
>
>"Giuliani must go," they chanted.
>
>At Dorismond's wake the night before, over 1,000 people
>had shown up. They included the Rev. Al Sharpton and Abner
>Louima. The crowd included protesters carrying signs and
>chanting in Creole and English against the police and
>Giuliani.
>
>The Haitian community hasn't forgotten the vicious police
>torture of Abner Louima in 1997 and the February acquittal
>of four racist killer cops in the Amadou Diallo case.
>Dorismond was fatally shot less than one month later on
>March 16.
>
>The unarmed security guard was killed after plainclothed
>cops tried to entrap him in a numbers-driven "buy and bust"
>drug sting aimed at promoting Giuliani's tough-on-crime
>image as he prepares for a Senate run. The 26-year-old
>Haitian was shot dead in a scuffle after he angrily
>rebuffed two undercover cops who asked to buy marijuana.
>
>Dorismond is the fourth unarmed person of African descent
>killed by New York police in the last 13 months. Amadou
>Diallo, Malcolm Ferguson and now Patrick Dorismond are well
>known. Less publicized is the fact that in September 1999,
>police shot Richard Watson in the back and killed him. (New
>York Times, March 25)
>
>Right-wing Mayor Rudolph Giuliani further inflamed an
>already volatile flash point of resentment when he released
>and then greatly exaggerated Dorismond's police rap sheet,
>including a sealed juvenile record. He also continues to
>refuse to meet with Dorismond's family or to even offer
>them his condolences.
>
>The mayor's callous and provocative behavior in the
>aftermath of Dorismond's death only heightened the Haitian
>people's outrage. His conduct has in fact been so offensive
>
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