Following is a statement from Oct.22's NYC committee:
In less than a month the NYPD has killed at least 7 people!
* On August 5, Jatrek Hewitt, 17, was shot and killed by a NJ police officer for allegedly trying to rob him. The police officer was never charged with anything even though it is illegal for NJ police officers to carry their weapons in New York.
* On Monday, August 9, Robert Striker, 54, was killed for allegedly trying to rob a bank. Police officers shot more than 30 bullets, in one of the busiest areas in downtown Manhattan while trying to apprehend Mr.Striker, even though he had already thrown away his gun, and the NYPD's own tests showed that he had never fired a gun!
* On August 15, Angel Reyes, 47, was shot and killed by NYPD during an undercover drug operation when they allege that he came at them with a machete. Eye witnesses said that the man had his back to the officers when he was shot.
* On August 18, Larry Cobb, 30, a homeless man, was killed by NYPD when they allege that he was trying to break into a car on the Upper East side. The police man claimed that his gun went off as he struggled with Mr. Cobb.
* On Monday, August 30, Gidone Busch, 31, a person with a mental disability, was shot 12 times by 4 police officers for wielding a household hammer. People in his community called the NYPD and warned them that he was disturbed, and this is how the NYPD deals with people who need help -- they shoot them down.
* On Wednesday, September 1, Richard Watson, was shot and killed by a cop for running away. The authorities say that this was an accidental shooting -- yet why was the cop holding a gun with his finger on the trigger while he was trying to pull an unarmed man out of the car. Youth in the neighborhood have said this killer cop routinely brutalizes and harasses them in that area!!
* In addition, on August 2, an unidentified man was shot and killed by a retired NYPD officer in Massapequa, Long Island. The police claim that he tried to rob a bank with a toy gun, and the retired police officer chased him, and shot him as he tried to escape in a cab.
Every single one of these killings has been justified by Mayor Guliani and by Police Chief Safir!!!!
This has been a bloody month for New Yorkers and we need to stand up and say NO MORE STOLEN LIVES!!! We need to stand with the families of Stolen Lives, demanding justice, and we are calling on all those who want justice to come out on October 22, for the 4th Annual National Day of Protest, to stand with our brothers and sisters across the country and demand TO STOP POLICE BRUTALITY, REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION! We want all to come represent the Stolen Lives, who can not be there themselves.
Friday October 22nd - March on City Hall
March: 4:00 p.m. Union Square (14th and Broadway)
Rally: 6:00 p.m. City Hall Park (Broadway and Vesey)
Clinton tells us that we need to develop more trust in the police!! That's what killed Gidone Busch and countless others. The Stolen Lives Project has documented over 2,000 cases of people killed around the country by law enforcement since 1990. Almost all of these cases have been deemed justified and the people have never received justice. When you look at these cases you can no longer think that there are isolated cases of police murder, committed by a few bad police officers. THIS IS AN EPIDEMIC DIRECTED MAINLY AT YOUTH AND COMMUNITIES OF COLOR, BUT THAT IS ALSO REACHING INTO ALL COMMUNITIES. And every time the authorities justify and uphold police murder and brutality they are saying that this is part of their program. Guliani himself, has said that if a police man pulls out his gun, he will shoot to kill!
On Guliani's radio show a couple of weeks ago, Margarita Rosario called up to ask him about her son and nephew's case, they were killed by police in 1994. Guliani told her, on the air, that she was to blame because of the way her son and nephew were brought up! THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS, and cannot go unanswered! They want to blame the families of Stolen Lives, but these families are our heroes. And Guliani is being put out as a national model for how to police cities. This year's October 22 protest has to be part of our answer to them. This last year saw Amadou Diallo, Tyisha Miller, Brennan King. We saw people killed by border police and the brutality against immigrants in jail just waiting for immigration hearings. We saw two killed in the space of hours in Chicago for DWB. We saw people shot, brutalized and killed on the New Jersey Turnpike as part of racial profiling.
NO MORE STOLEN LIVES!
STOP POLICE BRUTALITY, REPRESSION AND THE CRIMINALIZATION OF A GENERATION
October 22 Coalition, P.O. Box 2627, NY, NY 10009
Tel: (646) 654-0160 [NY] or (888) NO BRUTALITY [Nat'l]
email: oct22ny@hotmail.com
[posted 9/6/99]
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