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Last week after a grand jury decided not to indict a police officer who shot and killed Ferguson, Missouri teenager Michael Brown, local protesters held a peaceful demonstration at the Federal Building in Downtown Pittsburgh. In the days since and in the wake of other recent events involving police brutality, the protests have grown in intensity.
Today a group of more than 50 blocked off several intersections in Downtown Pittsburgh during a march that stretched from Liberty Ave. and Smithfield St. to the City County building.
“I got tired of sitting at home, watching it on TV and doing nothing,” said Howard Smith from Churchill. “As a black man, I had to come out here and do something. I hope a lot of leaders in our city take notice.”
In addition to responding to the grand jury decision in Ferguson, today’s protest was spurred by the death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was shot and killed by a police officer in Cleveland on Nov. 22. The officer was responding to a report from a 911 caller who said he saw a boy in the park holding a gun that was “probably fake.”
One of two police officers responding to the call shot Rice within 2 seconds of arriving at the scene. The gun turned out to be a toy airsoft gun.
“I”m a black woman. I have a black father. I have a black boyfriend. And if they can be shot down like a dog that matters to me,” said Wilkinsburg Councilwoman Marita Garrett, who was at the Pittsburgh protest.”We can’t keep letting this happen.”
Today’s action also coincided with yesterday’s grand jury announcement that a New York police officer would not be indicted for the murder of Eric Garner, who died in July 2014 after a Staten Island police officer put him in a chokehold. Protests have been going on across the country in response to these and several other recent incidents involving the deaths of unarmed young black men by police.
“I’m a mother of an 18-year-old African American child and my son has been stopped by the police on numerous occasions,” said Tracey McCants Lewis, a professor in the Duquesne University School of Law. “I’m standing up for my son and all the other children.”
While Pittsburgh protesters are calling for justice in the national cases, today they also called on city government to address issues in the Pittsburgh Bureau of police that have led to cases of police brutality locally. Pittsburgh’s new chief of police was selected from outside of the city in an effort to improve police-community relations.
“Why hasn’t the local government come out and said they’re committed to changing the local police force,” said Vanessa German, a local artist who spoke at the rally today. “It’s about more than bringing in a new police chief. We have to shift the entire culture. Pittsburgh could be a vanguard for that.”
The group who organized today’s protest have more planned throughout the week in Oakland and other neighborhoods.
“We need more people tomorrow, more people the next day until this is a total American citizen issue,” German said. “It should be infectious.”
This article appears in Dec 3-9, 2014.
Thank you, CP, for covering this. Thank you, protesters, for taking the time to call our attention to this serious problem in our country. We all need to think long and hard about this issue. Time for a hard, honest look at all of ourselves. No single answer, but we aren’t going to solve it by ignoring it.
When and where are the scheduled protests?
There is all too often the use of excessive force by the police. The psychological testing is apparently insufficient; far too many policemen do not have the needed temperament.
I agree with everyone who believes that police brutality/killings should stop. Concerned Citizen has an interesting comment about psychological testing and those who do not have the needed temperament to show restraint. While these things are true I’m 99% sure that those most vehemently protesting have never been in a shoot or don’t shoot situation. Our civil servants volunteer their lives to defend citizens. It is not only their own life they are protecting, but those of people in communities and homes around them. If someone is acting suspicious with a gun in hand how are public protectors supposed to interpret this? Would you prefer they disregarded this? Ignored it? This person could be a threat to you or your children. One has to assume a gun is loaded and act accordingly. Every human life is impossible to replace and therefore priceless. Most people do not understand the difficulty of the decisions that a policemen has to make and would not make better ones if put in those positions themselves. I speak from the experience of a combat medic with a tour of duty in Iraq. There is much to consider. Hopefully these protests will serve the purpose of considering all angles and sides of argument and thought.