East Orange, NJ – On July 6, 2009 Jacqui Graham, 21, was found dead in a cell in the police headquarters here. His body was naked and badly bruised. He had been arrested for public intoxication a few days before. It is evident he was beaten to death while in police custody. The victim was African-American.

A protest in front of the headquarters was held this July 6, the first anniversary of his death. The family of the victim called the protest, which was supported by friends of the victim, the People’s Organization for Progress and the New Black Panther Party. Demonstrators braved heat of more than 100 degrees to demand justice.

Najay, who said she was personally involved with Jacqui, said, “You can’t even go to jail and come home. You never know if you will make it out alive. We still have no answer for what happened. We want justice and we will get it.”

The mother of the victim, Tawanna Graham, said he had been falsely arrested. She repeatedly accused authorities of lying. “The autopsy report said there were no bruises,” she said. “The first thing I saw on his body was a humongous big knot on his head. I say to the East Orange police, what goes around come around. I’m going to make sure you pay for what you did to my son. He was beaten to death.”

Graham added, “They lied to me [that] he was in custody when they already knew he was dead,” she said. “It took three weeks to get the police report. You tell me the system is not corrupt. I saw a police report that said he scuffled with police on Sept. 5 when he died on July 6. Nobody should have to go through what I have in the last year. The mayor has not even apologized. Justice will be served if it takes the last ounce of my blood.”

Zaid Muhammad of the New Black Panther Party said, “This is only happening to our people. Injustices have an obvious racial content, as obvious as our beautiful thick lips and hair. What happened to that long litany of people who have lost their lives doesn’t happen in Livingston, in Millburn, or in Morristown. It happens because of this system we are living under.”

“They put nice words on it, ‘quality of life policing,’ and go heavy in black and brown communities. It means a young man ends up dead in a cell with his head bashed in,” he said. “We are going to demand zero tolerance. When police brutality is determined the persons responsible should be dismissed and prosecuted. If [Mayor] Bowser’s job was on the line they’d find him [the perpetrator] tomorrow. In a democracy the majority is supposed to rule.”

Lawrence Hamm of the People’s Organization for Progress said, “All over the country people are marching against police brutality. This is an international problem. You know it. I know it. Even the police know it.”

Hamm continured, “In Detroit police threw an incendiary device into an apartment where Ayanna Jones, a little 7-year-old girl lived, set her on fire. Then they fired into the apartment indiscriminately and shot her to death. This didn’t happen 50 years ago in Alabama or Mississippi, it happened a few weeks ago in Detroit, Michigan. Right here Jacqui Graham never made it to the courtroom alive. He was never charged, never arraigned.

“In New Orleans right now police are on trial for the murder of Henry Glover,” he said. “After Hurricane Katrina he asked some police for help. Instead they beat him up. A Good Samaritan came along, put him in his car, took him to the police station. What did the police do? They put him in a police car to bleed to death. The Good Samaritan protested. They beat him up. They took the body to a hidden place and set the car on fire. The Good Samaritan told the story, now the cops are on trial.”

He said the only way people can get justice is to demand it. In Oakland in 2009 Oscar Grant was killed by transit cop Johannes Mehserle, who shot him in the back while he was handcuffed and lying on the ground. A transit train was nearby and people took cell phone videos of the killing. Mesehrle is on trial only because people demanded it.

He said that in Chicago a former police captain has been found guilty of conspiracy. People were tortured and beaten into false confessions and went to prison for long terms. Finally the victims got together and brought a class action suit.

“We are determined to get justice for all victims,” he said. “As the police tell it, Jacqui Graham killed himself. Earl Faison killed himself. It was Amadou Diallo’s own fault he was shot 41 times. The media slant the stories. They tell you someone was a ‘former felon’ to make you think the police were justified. There is a long line of cases right here in East Orange,” he said, citing many.

“The authorities don’t count on grass-roots organizations. We will not let this case be swept under the rug,” he said. “We will not tolerate it and our ancestors did not. We are human beings, we are citizens and we demand to be treated that way. It won’t stop until citizens stand up and demand it stop. The system of racism could not exist without the police to keep it in place. They used to let mobs into the jails to commit lynching because the cops were in the Klan. It was the same mentality that led to the death of Earl Faison. Five police went to jail for that but they should have gone to jail for murder.”

He charged that the country is headed for a police state. “They can charge you with being a terrorist and disappear you, keep you indefinitely, put you in front of a military court,” he said. He concluded with a call for heightened people’s action to stop police brutality.

#EastOrangeNJ #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PeoplesOrganizationForProgress #LawrenceHamm #EarlFaison #JacquiGraham

East Orange, NJ – On August 15, seventy-five people protested the brutal treatment of 12 year-old Az-Jhane Hayes by police in East Orange, NJ. The People's Organization for Progress called the protest at the request of Corey Bracey, the girl's father.

Two months earlier in June a teacher was verbally accosted on the street as she was leaving school. The teacher called the police and officer James Giles responded. Az-Jhane was nearby and the teacher said she was involved. Az-Jhane denied it. Officer Giles decided to arrest Az-Jhane and broke the 12 year-old girl’s arm.

East Orange is a predominantly African-American town. Police harassment of the youth is strongly resented. Only a few days before the rally, three police officers were suspended in an incident that began with a rock thrown at a police car. The officers in the car rousted two seventeen year-olds from their beds in a nearby house and threatened them at gunpoint. One of the youths complained that an officer forced his service pistol into his mouth.

In this atmosphere many parents brought their children to the protest for Az-Jhane. In solidarity with Az-Jhane, many of the children wore arm slings made of black cloth. The protest started at East Orange City Hall under overcast skies with people chanting, “Giles must go!” about the abusive police officer. Despite pouring rain, the people marched to the police department for a picket line and rally.

Az-Jhane’s mother Cherise Hayes, her father, aunt, and grandmother all spoke of the way East Orange youth are being abused by the police and demanded that it stop. The rally demanded Officer Giles be fired for breaking Az-Jhane’s arm. In spite of downpour few people left the rally. Indeed, more people came from the neighborhood to show their support!

Chairman Lawrence Hamm of POP led a chant, “No justice, No peace! No racist police!” The African-American crowd at the rally joined in enthusiastically. While the East Orange elected officials and police department, including the abusive officer Giles are African-American, the protesters see the abuse of African-American children as part of systematic racism. African-American parents, like parents and families of any nationality, will not tolerate the abuse of their children by the police or government officials. Justice for Az-Jhane!

#EastOrangeNJ #News #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesOrganizationForProgress #LawrenceHamm

This is Ruane’s second killing in less than two years, each time with the involvement of his partner Popolizio. On July 30, 2003 officer Ruane killed Michael Newkirk, age 20, at 10:00 p.m. during a neighborhood cookout. Both officers are white. Both victims were African-American. Both killings are typical of the police violence on African-American and other oppressed nationality people. Under capitalism the real aim of ‘law and order’ is to maintain the power and wealth of a few. Those who kill in the service of the rich are routinely let go to do it again.

In the Jan. 24 Moore killing, the police said that a car driven by the victim rammed their cruiser. They gave chase, and a few blocks later Moore’s vehicle ran into a snow bank. Popolizio claims Moore got out of the car, tried to take his gun and was shot in the leg. The officers claim that Moore tried to free his car from the snow bank. They say the car struck and dragged Popolizio. Ruane then shot and killed Moore.

The killers were given administrative duty. Moore was taken into custody and charged with disarming an officer, hindering apprehension and resisting arrest.

In the death of Mike Newkirk in July, the killers tried to justify their action by saying he had a gun. No gun was ever produced. In spite of this, there was never any action taken against the officers.

At a Jan. 29 press conference organized by the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), a human and civil rights organization, Moore’s family told a different story. Elizabeth Moore, the victim’s mother, said the police forced her son’s car into the snow bank. She said her son and his friend were unarmed while the police approached their car with weapons drawn. Moore’s father, Allen Snow, Jr., said his son “didn’t like violence. He ran from it.”

Lawrence Hamm, chairman of POP, told the press conference, “We don't want to see another whitewash. We want someone outside the Essex County prosecutor’s office to investigate.” Both the victim’s family and Hamm called for the immediate dismissal of Ruane and Popolizio from the police force, since this was their second involvement in a fatal shooting. Hamm also called for the creation of an independent civilian review board to hear complaints against the police.

#NewarkNJ #News #POP #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #PeoplesOrganizationForProgress #RasheedFuquanMoore #officerNicholasPopolizio #RichardGuy #MichaelNewkirk #policeViolenceOnAfricanAmerican #ElizabethMoore #LawrenceHamm