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Protest hits killer guards

Community demands 'Justice for Raymond Smoot'

Published May 26, 2005 1:16 AM

The recent death in custody of Raymond Smoot at the hands of prison guards in Baltimore’s notorious Central Booking facility has aroused strong protests, especially from the African American community.

Smoot, a Black man in his early 50s, had been arrested May 3 for failing to appear in court on a prior charge. On May 14, still jailed because he didn’t have $150 to buy a bail bond, he was brutally beaten by guards at Central Booking. He later died in the hospital. Smoot’s death was ruled a homicide.

Smoot’s family, who said they intended to bail out the victim on May 16, has demanded a thorough investigation of his death. Delvonna Smoot, the victim’s niece, said her uncle’s face was bruised and bloody. “The doctors said they’ve never seen another human being beat somebody as bad as they beat my uncle, never,” she said.

State Senator Verna Jones called for a task force to investigate the jail. She said that 27 inmates have died at Central Booking since 2002, and that Smoot’s death “illustrates a system that is overwhelmed and broken.”

Central Booking, which is run by the state of Maryland, was built in 1995 with a capacity of processing 45,000 people a year. In 2004, some 100,000 people were processed there. Cells built to hold five to eight people often hold 18. In April, a judge ruled that people held longer than 24 hours should be set free.

Because of the scandal around Central Booking, the brutality of Smoot’s killing, and the response from community organizations, including the Baltimore NAACP, the story made national news. It also sparked a mass response to the daily police repression that has become part of everyday life in Baltimore.

Everyone is aware the police have arrest quotas. They stop vehicles at random in the Black community, insisting people show ID. Many compare the situation to South Africa during its apartheid days. And everyone can see the lines of people outside Central Booking waiting hours to be processed.

On May 20, some 150 people from the community came to a news conference outside the prison called by the Baltimore All-Peoples Congress. Most had heard of the event by word of mouth. The NAACP, the Nation of Islam and most local politicians elected to represent the Black community were there, as were the television and print media.

The Smoot family attended, along with many of their neighbors. They repeated their charges against the guards at Central Booking.

On May 24, the Rev. Willie Ray, the Smoot family’s minister, held a vigil. Sixty people attended, including Millie Reves, whose sister died in Central Booking six weeks earlier after being denied medical care. She came to show solidarity with the Smoot family and to join in their demands.

Andre Powell from the State, County and Municipal Employees union and the All-Peoples Congress, spoke at the May 24 vigil. He denounced the police as “nothing but hired guns for the banks” while pointing to Baltimore’s downtown skyline.

“The prisons are concentration camps for the poor,” Powell explained. He called for “medical treatment, not incarceration.”

Renee Washington, whose fiancé was murdered by police five years ago, was loudly applauded when she said: “We must end the police practice of ‘zero tolerance.’ Their quota system must go.”

Longtime Baltimore organizers say the surprisingly strong community response may indicate a general growth in resistance, not only to police abuses, but to budget cuts, utility cutoffs, unemployment and low wages that have pummeled Baltimore residents.

At the vigil, Eric Easton of the All-Peoples Congress called for a June 14 demon stration at Central Booking. Further actions will be discussed at a community meeting on May 26 at the All-Peoples Congress Hall, 426 E. 31st Street.