-------------------------
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Feb. 6, 1997
issue of Workers World newspaper
-------------------------

Anthony Baez: Police Plaza pickets jeer killer cop

By Carlos Rovira in New York

On Jan. 24, a Police Department hearing investigating Officer Francis Livoti in the December 1994 death of Anthony Baez stopped receiving testimony. The court's conclusions are due in February.

Protesters gathered that morning outside Police Department headquarters at 1 Police Plaza. Among the demonstrators were the Baez family, the National Congress for Puerto Rican Rights, and Workers World Party members.

Enduring sub-freezing temperatures, they shouted: "KKK- PBA, different names, same game!" "Killer cops, no pension!" and "Livoti did the crime-let him do the time!"

The demonstration was one of many demanding justice since Livoti was acquitted of criminal charges on Oct. 7, 1996. Acting State Supreme Court Justice Gerald Sheindlin exonerated Livoti then even after saying, "I do not find that the defendant is innocent."

Witnesses say Livoti killed Baez with a choke hold after a football Baez and his brothers were playing with struck Livoti's police car.

Many Bronx residents would support the demonstrators' slogans demanding an appropriate penalty for racist killer cops. But the high-ranking officials are not judging Livoti on these terms. As in the criminal case, the community affected by police brutality had no direct input in the hearings.

The proceedings will only decide if Livoti committed an infraction in an arrest procedure. This can determine only whether Livoti will be fired from the Police Department for cause and as a result lose his pension. He was on the force 15 years.

During testimony, Livoti said he never used a choke hold on Anthony Baez. But he was contradicted by a Medical Examiner's report and a Latina police officer who was an eyewitness.

Although no jail sentence is possible, many community activists feel officials are still considering the verdict's political consequences. The believe deliberations may last weeks, since this case has received widespread national publicity and right-wing Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is running for re-election this year.

Iris Baez, Anthony Baez's mother said, "No matter how small a victory this may be [if Livoti is fired], it is a step forward to justice and community control of the police."

The racist and anti-poor character of the police is becoming increasingly apparent as the capitalist economy worsens. The Mollen Commission Report of 1994 showed that police brutality in New York occurs mainly in communities where Black and Latino people live.

Although politicians and high-ranking police officials deny condoning such behavior, the Mollen Report also showed that aggressively brutal police officers like Livoti are the most decorated veteran officers.

And, according to Iris Baez, "Police brutality and racism are problems in poor communities we must all vow to struggle against."

- END -

(Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@wwpublish.com. For subscription info send message to: ww-info@wwpublish.com. Web: http://www.workers.org)

Copyright © 1997 workers.org