"We had to do something to keep this in the public view," Jones explained. "The five officers have been put on administrative leave, which is nothing but a paid vacation. They hope with time this will be forgotten." The cops are white; Stewart was Black.

"We had to stand up because this could have been one of any of our family members," added campus worker Geraldine Oliver. "We worked with the students on this and the unity we showed was very positive," said Jones.

According to press reports, Stewart had a verbal altercation May 19 with a manager of a Giant Food supermarket while shopping at another store. The store's security guard called the cops and told Stewart to leave.

According to a witness, Shawn Reeves, the cops located Stewart shopping at a third store. Reeves told the Bowie Star that the cops demanded Stewart return to the store and apologize for the altercation. They grabbed, shoved, and threatened Stewart. Once in the store where the argument had taken place, he was taken to a "security" room, where the cops alleged he spat on them and hit one cop in the face.

The cops say Stewart collapsed into unconsciousness after they "subdued" him. But a worker in the store said Stewart lay handcuffed on the floor for at least half an hour bleeding profusely from his head.

The cops here are under investigation by the FBI for eight other incidents where people have died in their custody, including Elmer Newman, whose September death has been ruled a homicide.

Flanked by local leaders of the NAACP, the Hispanic Resource Center, and the Nation of Islam, county police chief John Farrell attempted to defuse the incidents.

He reported on "alternative" methods developed to subdue individuals, such as pepper spray and canvas wraps. Farrell said 57 cops have been forced out largely through early retirement or resignations. Of those, nearly half were found to have lied under oath.

In April, two federal juries found cops violated Freddie McCollum's civil rights after three police officers beat him severely during a traffic stop in 1997. McCollum was awarded $4 million. Salvadoran immigrant Nelson Robles won $650,000 in damages after Prince George's County cops handcuffed him to a pole and left him there to await pickup by Montgomery County cops.

"We're waiting on the results of the autopsy. But we won't forget Clarence," concluded Vernon Jones.

Sam Manuel is the Socialist Workers candidates for delegate to the House of Representatives in Washington, D.C. He is a rail worker and a member of the United Transportation Union.  
 
 
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