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NEWS & LETTERS, August-September 2001 I am the aunt of Timia Williams. I was there after the attack on her. I watched as she bled and they kept her without medical attention. You have the audacity to only give us two minutes to speak. Did anyone monitor the time they chased her, ran her down, beat, kicked, choked and bad-mouthed her? I was threatened to be taken to jail. Whenever cops do something so-called good they are praised and put on television and their names are given. But it has taken forever for us to get these three officers' names who did this vicious attack. When this cop was recently shot and killed, [Superintendent] Hillard, you came on television and made your sad comment and did all you could to get the shooter. I haven't seen you show any remorse for my niece or my family. Once again I say to you: Look in the mirror and realize you were born the same color I am. Because of the position you hold, for now you think you are out of harm's way. But there is still a chance it can happen to you or someone you know. So stop this behavior now and take a stand and punish Mark Lamberg, Chris Trusoukalas, Chris Nitintan and anyone capable of these violent acts. -Carrie Kimbrough *** Vera Love is the mother of Robert Russ, who was killed by a Chicago police officer in 1999. She attends every meeting of the Police Review Board. The Office of Professional Standards has found insufficient evidence to prosecute or dismiss the officer responsible for his death. Robert was known as a football player but Ms. Love makes it known that "My son was a brilliant scholar, as well."-Editor How can Amnesty International single out Detroit as the worst city in keeping track of police brutality? (See "Readers' Views," July 2001 N&L) In Chicago, the Office of Professional Standards dismisses every case that's brought before it. This needs to be addressed, we have a horrible system. You complain to OPS and all you get is, "We've investigated and found that there isn't enough evidence to substantiate." It's the same line every time, just like the police officers use the same words. "He fought me for my gun" and so forth. How many times do you have to hear this before you realize the board needs to be dissolved and some kind of citizen's control put in place? I was just speaking at a school to a group of Black and Latino students. They already knew all this. They asked me who was in charge of the police. Then they asked who was in charge of [Superintendent] Hillard. Then they wanted to know how to get rid of [Mayor] Daley, when is the next election. These kids are the place to start to change things. Go into the schools and talk to young minds. They think, and they are the next generation. I read about the high school kids in California who wanted to have Mumia Abu-Jamal speak to their graduation. The school refused, of course, but it led one young man to say that he would become a revolutionary. I was moved by that. I started late-I can't bring my child back, but I might stop them from killing someone else's children. I don't want to sign off on any amount of money. I was watching some home videos the other day, and it was alright now seeing my son laugh and smile in them. But then he was singing with his friends, "It's Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday." That was difficult. The next song they sang was "It's Time to Make A Change." That is true, and we are the people who can make that change. -Vera Love *** The Chicago Anti-Bashing Network, Sangat (a South Asian lgbt organization), and the Comite Exigimos Justicia led a spirited protest July 11 against Cook County States Attorney Dick Devine who was receiving an Abraham Lincoln Award from the Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence. They called the award "an insult to the memories of all people gunned down by police-Robert Russ, LaTanya Haggerty, Kelsey Hogan, just to name a few. Dick Devine has yet to criminally prosecute a single Chicago police officer for violence against a civilian since he was elected in 1996. This, despite three Amnesty International reports in the last five months documenting gay bashing by the Chicago police in the cases of Freddie Mason Jr., Jeffrey Lyons and Kentin Waits." The most amusing chant was probably "Who let the pigs off?...Dick Dick Dick Devine!" -Participant |
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