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To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Federal Mediation and Police Brutality "We don�t know who discovered water, but it wasn�t the fish," said a famous person. So maybe that explains why most of the Minneapolis community remains unaware of the police brutality and murders going on in their midst. Perhaps, for most of you these illegalities are happening on the other side of the tracks, er, the other side of 35W. The Star Tribune, reproduced on this digest, reported the mainstream, conventional side of the story. The following is based on Press Releases by the Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB) who are survivors of police brutality, family members of people killed by police, and others who are interested in and active on this issue: First, the city tried to block mediation by claiming some concern for minorities, but leadership of those communities stepped forward to say they wanted federal mediation. Representatives of the NAACP and Urban League reportedly told the CUAPB that they support mediation going forward and that they resent the city using their organizations to try to stop mediation from happening. On November 16, 2002, community representatives were democratically elected at an open community meeting, which had been widely advertised. Despite this, Chief Robert Olson has cynically attempted to pit community groups against each other in order to scuttle mediation. The City has picked the members of its negotiating team and has no right to try to choose the community representatives. Federal mediation is an opportunity for the community to make a binding agreement with city officials and the police. Christopher Burns was viciously murdered in front of his significant other and four children by Minneapolis police officers. Mr. Burns was arguing with his significant other, as couples sometimes do, but there was no physical violence involved. Police rushed into the couple's bedroom, handcuffed Chris, threw him down on the bed, kneeled on his back, put a flashlight under his chin and yanked back violently. He died immediately from a broken neck. Then his body was lifted and thrown face-down on the floor. When the paramedics arrived and turned his body over, his teeth fell out. The two police called someone who told them to get out of there. They left immediately. When other police officers arrived, they were not able to answer questions from the Sheriff�s officer because they didn�t know what had happened. The way cops get away with killing our brothers and sisters is by having the county prosecutor bring the case before a grand jury. The prosecutor does a rotten job of presenting the case, leaving out most of the facts, and the grand jury then does not indict the cops. Because there is no indictment, it looks to some people as though there has been no crime. The officers get off free. Because of this, there has not been a single indictment of a police officer in the death of a community member in decades. Here are the CUAPB demands: We demand a REAL investigation--a Federal investigation! We demand an independent prosecutor be appointed! We demand ALL the cops involved (including the five who left the scene before the Sheriff and paramedic arrived) be prosecuted! We DEMAND the city stop stonewalling Federal mediation and start working for solutions now, before someone else gets hurt or killed." Let me quote from a CUAPB Press Release in another recent case: This case defies any sense of justice. Two plainclothes cops, who do not identify themselves as police officers, come crashing through the front door of a family home. They attack the mother as she tries to push the door closed, ripping her shirt open. Her teenaged son and then her husband come to her rescue. In the course of the struggle, one man finally identifies himself to the father as a cop. The father steps back, hands up, and is shot in the chest by the cop. The son drops to the floor and tries to crawl away. He is shot four times in the back and ends up with severe internal injuries (he has a colostomy as a result). Uniformed cops who arrive on the scene during the scuffle testify that they came within seconds of shooting the plainclothes cops themselves. So what does the jury do? They CONVICT the family members. A 19-year-old young man is going to jail for 10 years hard time (no chance of early release if you assault a cop) and a father is taken away from his family for a year for what the cops did to them! Outrageous! To add to the injustice, Dennis needs surgery for his injuries. The jail has repeatedly canceled his scheduled surgery for unexplained reasons. I watched the jury selection in this case as one young black man was disallowed because he had had disappointing conflicts with the police even though he said he could be impartial and would not let his personal experience color his judgment. The white people from the suburbs were accepted even though they similarly said they could be impartial even though their experiences did not let them know that people in the inner city were ever illegally brutalized by the police. The almost all white, suburbanite jury convicted the father and son of defending their home and family from intruding thugs. Even though neither man had prior convictions, they were not permitted to be out on bail during their appeals. The family has grave financial difficulties because of this case. If you would like to assist this family with a food donation or holiday gift, please call the CUAPB hotline at 612-874-STOP. Louise Bouta Grateful to live in Kingfield |
