'Justice for Max Antoine!'
By
Johnnie Stevens
Irvington, N.J.
It was a victory for Max Antoine, who has been confined to a
wheelchair since a brutal police beating on June 2, 1996.
A hundred people gathered outside the police station here on
Dec. 4 and chanted "Justice for Max Antoine" and "Whose
streets? Our streets." The last time they rallied, they were
forced into a nearby park. But this time they were able to hold
their ground.
Antoine is a Haitian immigrant who the police charged with
resisting arrest and obstruction after he came to his sister's
defense when police burst into her home during her birthday
party. Dragged down a flight of stairs and thrown against a
steel door, he is now blind in one eye and paralyzed from the
waist down.
Speaking up on his behalf at the rally outside the police
station was Father Jeanmaire Fitz Legonde of St. Patrick's
church, who said that what happened to this former accountant
showed that anyone could become a victim of police brutality.
Antoine, his wife and their two children now must live on a
meager disability check.
Jury selection began in the police case against him on Dec.
7 at the Essex County courthouse. One of the first people
called as a potential juror was Philip Rucker, one of the three
officers who Antoine says assaulted him. "The entire courtroom
was in shock when Rucker was presented as a juror," Antoine
told Workers World. "With the exception of myself. I was no
longer surprised after five of my lawyer's motions were
dismissed by Judge Fullover."
Rucker was rejected as a juror, but two other people with
possible bias against Antoine were empaneled. One juror is a
cousin of a captain in the Irvington Police Department. The
other admitted under questioning by Antoine's lawyer that she
has been speaking to Rucker about this case.
The Justice for Max Antoine Committee can be contacted at
201-487-3748 or Justice4Max@hotbot.com.
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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