THE CITY SUN
Speaking the Truth to Power
November 15 - November 21, 1995 Vol.11 No 45 75cents
OPEN LETTER TO COMMISSIONER BRATTON
I write in the name of Black African mothers of sons in the city: how dare you, our public servant, send a message to our sons that their lives are less valuable than a damn dog's? This is the obvious inference anyone with half a brain could draw when you fire two (Latino, non-white, I might note) cops for beating a dog to death, and squat in your seat at 1 Police Plaza inactively refusing to fire rampaging racist/colorist cops who routinely beat and murder our Black African males!
How dare you continue to suppress 90 percent of the substantiated cases of police brutality against our people, when the "Civilian" Complaint Review Board tries to deal with the corruption we call racist/colorist police brutality? It is obvious that Board Director Hector Soto is leaving because he, at least, has a conscience; he can't continue to be a part of a "buffer" board which protects killer racist/colorist cops from criminal prosecution.
How dare you, our public servant, desecrate the office of the commissioner, making a mockery of just law in this city, by overreacting to the death of a damn dog. I truly believe that you should resign and get the psychiatric care which such inappropriate behavior demands. (And where is your boss, Mayor Giuliani, in all of this tragi-comedy? Ominously silent.)
I did not hear that you had fired the out-of-control cops who fired fifty shots at Abe Richardson (a now-dead Black male) a few weeks ago; I did not hear that you had fired the out-of-control cops who killed Keith Richardson (a now-dead Black male); I did not see you fire the out-of-control cops who killed Anthony Baez (now a dead Black Spanish-speaking male); I did not see you fire the cops who killed Ernest Sayon, Shu'Aib Abdul Latif, Michael Clarke, Morris Duncan, Randy Brewer, Don Taylor, Eric Pitt, Shawn Bennett, Joseph Rickets, Raymond Murray, Kathurima Mwaria, Anibal Carrasquillo, Enee Moldovan, Bernard Gardner, Hilton Vega, Anthony Rosario, Julio Nunez, Joseph Orlando or Yong Xin, among too many others.
Do we see that most, if not all, of those males murdered by your put-of-control cops are non-white? And you, this city's "top cop," are more worried about a damn dog than you are about the lives of humans you're paid to protect! For sanity's sake, commissioner, go the hell back to racist
Carol Taylor
On Sat, 13 Jan 2007 18:09:59 -0800 (PST) Fige Bornu <figebornu@yahoo.com> writes:
>
> I will bet a lot that most people in L.A. do not know
> that current LAPD Chief William Bratton was in a
> compatible role in New York when on February 4, 1999
> the New York Police Department killed, murdered and
> ripped to pieces the body of African "immigrant"
> Amadou Diallo. Diallo supposedly pulled out a beeper
> and the NYPD claimed they thought he had a gun.
> Bull-shit propaganda as usual. (We live in a police
> state not a democracy.)
>
> Fast forward to today. This same police czar, William
> Bratton, is now LAPD's Chief of Police. And under
> Bratton, we have seen numerous cases of police
> brutality against our innocent and vulnerable
> inhabitants. The ones that take up space in my mind
> and that sometimes makes me cry at random are the
> senseless deaths of 13 year old Devon Brown and 19
> month old Susie Pena. Brown and Pena were senselessly
> and brutally murdered by Bratton's LAPD. Bratton's
> murderous style is bi-coastal. And guess what?
> Bratton, as is customary for the death-spirited
> police, "stood by his men." But these death squads
> called police departments are clearly our worst
> enemies. Oh yes I can hear some of you saying things
> like: "There are only a couple of bad apples in our
> police departments" or "Who is the first person you
> call when you are in danger?" And you know what? I
> agree that probably most police do not directly and
> consciously promote and brutalize people. And yes, I
> probably will call the police if I am in some kinds of
> danger. But these points are why police departments
> must be completely reorganized and their mode of
> operations completely revamped. The fact that
> probably only a small number of police officers
> contribute to brutality shows another problem. That
> is that the majority of police officers sit back, say
> nothing and even support the actions of their reckless
> partners. Thus, the entire police department is to
> blame, not just the said few bad apples. (And police
> complain that so-called criminals should abandon the
> snitch protocol. Ha!). And, yes, from what we have
> been told, police departments are to protect and
> serve. But let's be real. Police departments clearly
> protect and serve the rich and powerful, not the poor
> and African or native (to this area) people. Although
> white people still currently make up the majority
> population, they are the least demographic to be
> brutalized by police departments.
>
> In a bit of a leap, let me bring in members of the
> U.S. Congress and in fact all elected officials by
> saying that the late and great mayor of
> Coleman A. Young once said - one of his biggest fears
> was that he would be murdered by a white racist
> off-duty
> view, the last dedicated African politician. From
>
> native politicians are merely KKK-assistants.) But my
> point is that it seems even the elected politicians
> are in fear of this police state and of the military.
> That is probably why they will not do the people's
> work they were elected to do. Look at it. What did
>
> over the years? You know the answer - nothing. From
> former LAPD Chief Bernard Parks , who by the way
> supported the police slaughter and murder of 40
> something year old and African and homeless Margaret
> Mitchell, to current LAPD Chief William Bratton, the
> LAPD has been allowed to operate as a separate and
> brutal organization that promotes fear of retaliation
> to those who try to stop them. And the elected
> officials who we have put in office to stop them do
> nothing. Why? It is clear that they too are afraid
> of the LAPD. And this is true of members of the
> Congress. These "weaklings" are obviously afraid of
> the military because they continue to allow the
> executive branch (Bush/Cheney) to destroy the country
> and the world.
>
> So, while we still currently have a voice (even though
> that voice is quickly being silenced), I strongly urge
> everyone to demand that
> police commission and the mayor fire LAPD Chief
> William Bratton. And because people who read this
> essay live in other cities, I strongly urge you to
> demand the same in your cities. That's right - fire
> your police chiefs and replace them with a citizens
> commission. This citizens commission will be elected
> by the people. This citizens commission will hire,
> not appoint, police commanders that will in turn
> conduct and operate a police department that serves
> the inhabitants in a way that is just. (Think of Andy
>
> police officers need to always give the people the
> benefit of the doubt. They must always be
> professional, polite and they must help to create an
> environment that will lead to one that eventually will
> not even need a police department.
>
> But for now, LAPD Chief William Bratton must be fired
> and this in the name of Devon Brown and Susie Pena.
>
> Peace,
>
> Fige
> Positive African Image Institute
No comments:
Post a Comment