Vol. 72/No. 29      July 21, 2008

White was arrested June 27 and accused of murder in the death of county cop Richard Findley. White allegedly ran over Findley in a truck with stolen tags. Another cop with Findley at the time is the only one to identify White as the driver.

At the jail White was examined and found in good health. He was placed in a maximum security cell and checked on every half-hour. During a check the morning of June 28 White was seen by guards sitting at the side of his bunk alert, according to the Washington Post. But just 20 minutes later he was found on the floor against the bunk and “unresponsive.” He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead. Two days later, a state medical examiner ruled that White’s death was a homicide caused by asphyxiation and strangulation.

More than two dozen protesters gathered outside Prince George's County July 4 to protest White’s killing. Speakers included Dorothy Elliot, whose son was killed while in police custody in 1993.

“Of course the cops did it,” said Lynette Kinlaw, a floor worker at Linens of the Week, an industrial laundry plant organized by UNITE-HERE. “They are the only ones who had access to him.”

“Murder is murder. Cops have no right to be judge, jury and executioner,” added another floor worker, Joyce McKnight

“What they did was taking revenge—that was a hit,” said Trent Smith, a trimmer at AM Briggs meat provisioning plant.

“They did this to send a message,” said trimmer Mike Harris. “If you kill one of us we will kill you.”

“They killed him and now they’re trying to cover it up,” said Marion Gary, a packer in the same plant.

Gary, who grew up in Prince Georges County, described how cops chased and beat him when he was 13 years old for playing in an abandoned house.

“Those responsible should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” said Seth Dellinger, a band saw operator in the plant. Dellinger is the Socialist Workers candidate for D.C. Delegate to the House of Representatives.

At a July 2 press conference the Prince Georges County NAACP demanded that the county cops who had access to White in the jail be suspended until a thorough investigation has been completed.

Prince Georges County cops removed most of the forensic evidence from White’s cell before state police took over the investigation. Several prison guards have refused to cooperate with the investigation.

Seth Dellinger and Glova Scott contributed to this article.  
 
 
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