------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Feb. 14, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
AT FUNERAL FOR LOUISGENE: HAITIANS DENOUNCE NYPD TERROR By G. Dunkel Brooklyn, N.Y. The drums came early. All through the funeral mass, as they have done so often in the history of Haiti, they called for resistance, solidarity and unity. This time it was because of another police killing of a young Haitian man. St. Jerome's Catholic Church was filled with over 800 mourners and the sound of the drums. Georgy Louisgene's family had asked for them and for the political organizing around his death. His sister Abelard Louisgene said, "The whole community must face this terror. Georgy will not have died in vain if we can end this reality and preserve our community." Louisgene was gunned down Jan. 16 by two officers from Brooklyn's 67th Precinct, Sgt. James Muirhead and Officer Joe Thompson. He had been badly beaten by a gang of men and was asking the police to arrest them. Ray Laforest, a Haitian trade unionist and activist, who co- chaired the rally outside the church, told Workers World: "Attending this funeral made me feel the traditions of Haitian resistance, stretching back to Africa, which is now fighting a monster destroying peoples' lives." At the end of the mass, after the casket had been placed in the hearse and people going to the cemetery had got in their cars, others walked with the drums to the Foster housing project where Georgy had been killed. Members of the community joined the march. After the candles and incense had been lit, people chanted, "Stop police brutality!" "New York City police are racist!" "The NYPD is a terrorist organization!" Young Haitian women were particularly active in telling the police to their faces what they were. Johnnie Stevens, a People's Video Network coordinator and member of ANSWER, said, "This was obviously a terror killing by an experienced and well-trained sergeant. Bloomberg's police commissioner, Ray Kelly, was head of the International Police Monitors in 1994 that trained the Tonton Macoutes and the ex-army officers for the Haitian National Police. He appears to have brought their spirit back to inspire the police force in New York." - END - (Copyright 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) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
