BY EDWIN FRUIT
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Close to 200 people marched and rallied here on September 12 to protest police brutality. Participants came from New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and other areas. Among those who spoke were the mothers of Anthony Baez and Antonio Rosario, both killed by New York City police. Samuel Nicolas, the cousin of Abner Louima, who was beaten and sodomized by cops in Brooklyn, also addressed the people present.

The action was organized by the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York and cosponsored by a number of anti-police brutality groups from around the country. Ron Daniels, executive director of the center, chaired a rally prior to a march to the Justice Department. While people rallied outside the Justice Department, a delegation went inside to speak to Richard Roberts, chief of the Criminal Section and an aid to Attorney General Janet Reno.

Among those present at the meeting were Narves and Jonny Gammage, Sr., the parents of Jonny Gammage, who was killed by suburban Pittsburgh cops in October 1995.

The marchers then proceeded to the Washington Convention Center where the Congressional Black Caucus was hosting a Legislative Conference. Among the workshops being sponsored was one led by Rep. John Conyers entitled African-Americans and Police Misconduct Brain Trust.

Speakers there included relatives of those killed by cops, people who had been brutalized by cops and several "expert" witnesses. Robert Wilkins, a District of Columbia public defender and a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Maryland State Police spoke about the suit. He explained that Maryland troopers were still conducting a disproportionate number of drug searches of cars driven by African-Americans almost two years after agreeing to stop doing so as a result of a 1992 lawsuit.

At the conclusion of the hearings an announcement was made that members of the House Judiciary Committee would be going to New York to hold a hearing on police brutality.  
 
 
Front page (for this issue) | Home | Text-version home