Long-Time Civil Rights leader questions the FBI EDITORIAL Chief Olson and the FBI By: Matthew Little Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder Originally posted 10/29/2003
Not unlike what most of the community seems to be saying relative to the alleged sodomy assault case, I too am willing to reserve final judgment until all of the evidence is in; but there are a few things that bother me regarding reaching that point. First of all, there seems to be a general conclusion that there is something definitive and sacrosanct about an FBI investigation. I submit that the history of this bureaucratic agency does not merit such confidence � especially regarding Black people. As a matter of fact, I question Police Chief Olson�s motive in his haste to have the case pushed over to the FBI with an indefinite timeline for closure. Could it be that he feels this absolves him and his police officers of vulnerability, at least for the time being? I say this from personal experience. When my grandson, an �A� student, was brutalized without provocation by this same Northside officer, Chief Olson also referred his case to the FBI, with a letter of promise to take appropriate action if their investigation substantiated the allegations. Almost a month later, we received a letter from the FBI stating that their investigation could not find enough evidence to warrant referring it to the U.S. Justice Department as a civil rights violation. Apparently, this absolves the Minneapolis Police Department in the case. (Needless to say that the boy�s mother has no intentions of allowing it to rest there.) Secondly, the police officer, Jeffrey Jindra, who is accused in this sodomy case, is being cited in the newspapers as having a spotless record. (Yes, if you call kicking and roughing up an innocent 14-year- old kid �spotless.�) The chief was lauded by the Star Tribune for taking instant action in suspending the officers � with pay. This amounts to giving them a paid vacation. Will the �suspension� last for the duration of the FBI investigation, which they estimate could last two to three months? And, if the investigation yields insufficient evidence to justify the justice department referral, does this end the officers� vacations, exonerate them, and put them back on the same beat to brutalize the next Black they suspect to be dealing in drugs? http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=34031&sID=16 Shawn Lewis, Field Neighborhood -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter about your job search http://corp.mail.com/careers REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
