The two cops, who had been chasing the car Hoyle was driving early on August 27, shot him in the face and Mason in the back. Charging that the car had been stolen, they justified their lethal assault by claiming Hoyle had backed the automobile into one of them, and that they had shot him in self-defense.

The two officers have been placed on paid administrative leave.

On August 31 Hoyle, who remains in critical condition after many hours of surgery on his face, was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the death of Mason. Prosecutors, who may ask for Hoyle to be charged as an adult, say Hoyle’s actions caused his friend’s death. Another youth who was in the car, Adam Michael, was arrested and placed in juvenile detention.

A number of eyewitnesses who attended the vigil refuted a statement issued by Bob Beck, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, who said the cops "were forced to shoot" the ninth-grade boys. "Where were they going to go?" asked one resident eyewitness. "The cops had the alley sealed off with cars. We want the facts, we want the truth. There is a cover-up in the making here."

Neighbors recounting the incident say that after shooting and beating the boys the police threatened and yelled racist epithets at witnesses.

"They think we’re scared to testify. Everyone here knows how the police--Black and white--come through this neighborhood. They know all of us by name, including the ones they shot," said Demetrius, 22. "Now they get a paid vacation for killing a kid." commented another community resident.

"We need justice. They didn’t need to shoot those babies," said Charlene Hatfield, a health-care worker who lives in the neighborhood and knew one of the boys. Jocelyn Walker, 20, described her own experiences of being "harassed and disrespected, including by female cops." Walker noted that after the shooting, police promptly took officer Robert Taylor, who allegedly suffered a bruised knee, to a nearby private hospital, while the boys, who were shot and bleeding, were later taken to public MetroHealth Medical Center, farther away. She also described how in order for Hoyle’s parents to visit their son, who remained in critical condition for some days handcuffed to his hospital bed, they must obtain a pass from the downtown police headquarters every 15 minutes. "They have to go back and forth from the hospital to the justice center just to see him."  
 
‘No justice, no peace’
As the vigil turned into a spontaneous, peaceful march around the block, police cruisers began to amass on the street. From behind the fence of a nearby playground, residents continued to chant, "No justice, no peace!" and pointed accusing fingers at the police. A television news program that evening labeled the scene a "near riot." As she walked away from the playground, Jocelyn Walker said, "They do not want people like us to know the law. We have the right to protest. We will not let this rest."

Hoyle’s mother, Glenda Russell, said in response to the charges against her son, "How could he be the cause of [Ricardo’s] death? They shot him."

In response to the killing and the protests, Cleveland safety director James Draper announced that he will oversee the investigation of the recent shootings, but he made clear that "this doesn’t necessarily mean the police did anything wrong." The president of the Cleveland NAACP has called for more training of the cops.

A September 3 funeral held for Mason was attended by more than 200 people, including Hoyle’s mother, who addressed the service. Many of the young people wore homemade T-shirts that read: "73rd & Lawn," where the shootings took place, and "Let’s not forget LeeLee. R.I.P. Ricardo." Neighbors reported that the cops have been harassing youth wearing these shirts.

On September 4 about 20 people protested outside City Hall to oppose police brutality and demand justice for the youths. Activists addressed the rally and those passing by from a bullhorn on the City Hall steps. James Sanders, whose son Jermaine, 25, was killed by Cleveland police last January, attended the protest and said there needed to be such demonstrations to "stop letting cops get off with just paid leave. They should be tried and sent to jail."

Eva Braiman is a member of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 911, and is the Socialist Workers candidate for governor of Ohio.  
 
 
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