In a message dated 8/14/02 7:49:32 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> Police are claiming in the media that he had a gun but all of > > the witnesses told us he did not.� Further, a number of witnesses have > > signed an affidavit stating that police officers told them, "you got > > one of ours so now we got one of yours," alluding to the death of > > police office Melissa Schmidt. > > > > While we were in the area, police were quite out of control, harassing > > people, making racist comments and threatening that they "will be next" > > if they tried to walk down the street, pick up their children from > > daycare in the area, etc. > > Now if I assume, for the sake of argument, Keith says; I was directing my painting crew in the front yard of a Hillside Ave. address at most two blocks from the shooting site. We all heard the shots; Ten or twelve in rapid succession, two or three seconds of silence, then ten or twelve more. That was it. Police sirens erupted from all directions, later a State Patrol Helicopter hovered for hours around the neighborhood. Second hand, I was told it landed at the old Lowell School site. I first drove around the corner to 21st and James, the edge of the crime scene perimeter. This also is the "Northend" of Cottage Park, where a lad was killed by gangsters about a year ago. I spoke to Officer friendly, who was on guard there, for a while. There are some very bad 'ombres who live in some property right there. They were behaving for this interlude. James Ave, was lined with Sheriff Deputy cars double parked all the way up the incline of the street. But the action was down below, behind 21st and James, in the alley, and the vacant lots that front West Broadway there. The Deputies were doing crime scene analysis and gathering evidence. I bought two pieces of chicken (thigh and breast) at a gas station and then returned. I parked on West Broadway, at the crime scene, and ate lunch. A biscuit was also eaten. Many angry lowlifes had gathered on the sidewalk adjacent to my van. Familiar faces, I decided to roll that window partially up. There were what looked like fifty or more deputies and a huge County RV on the scene. I would estimate another fifty city cops; many familiar faces there, too. As I was partaking, Inspector Dolan wandered down to the angry group to chitchat. They accused him of killing the boy, "We saw the sheet you covered the body with-and the body bag you put him in!" Also, they screamed that ...the police had mislead people as to which hospital the lad had been taken to; to cause more pain and confusion to the suspects parents. Dolan said the suspect was still alive. I gotta tell ya' - I even doubted the veracity of that (but it was true). Then the folks started repeating the canard about the cops saying some crap. Most improbable and disingenuous, in my opinion, cause these cops have a longer, less pleasant day when the street people riot on West Broadway. All in all, the police contained an incendiary situation calmly and professionally. The Inspector showed wisdom and courtesy in quelling rampant rumors on the street. If I have any reservation, it might be regarding the marksmanship of the officers. I will not second guess them though, because while pursuing there fleeing perp and protecting themselves, they were probably thinking about the safety of all the other civilians they were so busy protecting in the area. I will simply salute them, and welcome them back to our West Broadway when they come off their administrative leave. Keith Reitman NearNorth _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
