Vol. 75/No. 20      May 23, 2011

Travis McNeil, a 28-year-old construction worker, was shot and killed instantly after being pulled over by police while driving his cousin, Kareem Williams, home from a club. Williams was shot three times, but survived. He says the cop opened fire without saying a word. Both men were unarmed.

The police handcuffed McNeil, who was already dead, and left Williams on the ground for at least 20 minutes before taking him to the hospital, Sheila McNeil said in an interview. “There is no way the police should be judge, jury, and executioner.”

McNeil was the seventh Black man killed in as many months by Miami police. DeCarlos Moore was shot last July 5, also after a traffic stop. Police have refused to release information on his death to the Civilian Investigative Panel, which is supposed to have powers to investigate police abuses.

Joell Lee Johnson and Tyrell Gaye were shot and killed within nine days of each other, both by the same member of the police gang unit.

Lynn Weatherspoon was killed early New Year’s Day. Relatives and neighbors who were there say police opened fire from an unmarked SUV without ever identifying themselves. Gibson Belizaire and Brandon Foster were also killed by cops in August and December respectively.

Dozens of people packed the Miami City Commission March 24 to speak out against these killings. Many returned on April 28.

City Commissioner Richard Dunn—in whose district the shootings have taken place—and some of those organizing against police brutality are demanding the resignation of Police Chief Miguel Exposito. He endorsed a pilot for a “reality television” program that showed Miami police brutalizing African Americans on the streets, and features the cop who killed McNeil.

At the April 28 City Commission meeting Rev. Anthony Tate, who has been organizing some of the protests, said that what’s needed is “a change of leadership in the police department,” including more hiring and promotion of Black cops.

John DeLeon, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, called for strengthening the Civilian Investigative Panel. He denounced the statement earlier that day by State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle that several of the police shootings were justified. “A police officer can shoot a fleeing felon in the back,” she declared. “That is the law.”

“I’m here 70 days after my son’s death and I know no more than last time I was here,” declared Sheila McNeil. “What do you guys plan on doing about the situation in the community? I don’t see it getting better,” she said, referring to both the economy and the police.

Deborah Liatos, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of Miami-Dade County, issued a statement expressing solidarity with those fighting police brutality. “Instead of backing yet another ‘community review board’ or government investigation that only covers up for the cops,” she said, “we demand to prosecute and jail the cops responsible.”
 
 
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