NYC cops keep shooting Black youths
By
Vanessa Lewis
New York
On May 26, unarmed Dante Johnson--a 16-year-old African
American--was shot by a white police officer in the early
morning hours here.
Johnson was on his way home from a basketball game at about
12:20 a.m. when he was shot by a uniformed police officer of
the New York Police Department's Street Crimes Unit. Members of
the same unit also recently shot African immigrant Amadou
Diallo.
The three white cops in an unmarked car saw Johnson and a
friend. The police said they assumed the two young men were
armed and attempted to call them over to their car.
The youths ran, most probably out of fear of the NYPD's
history of police terror. Two of the officers chased Johnson's
friend on foot.
Driving in an unmarked car, the third cop--Officer Mark
Conway--chased down Johnson. Conway grabbed hold of Johnson
from the car and shot him in the stomach, the June 2 Amsterdam
News reported.
Johnson and his companion were arrested at the scene. The
arrests were voided only after the police searched the area all
night, unsuccessfully looking for a weapon.
Johnson remains in critical condition, while the police
department and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani have defended the
shooting as accidental.
When asked why Officer Conway had not given a statement
about the shooting, a representative of the Patrolmen's
Benevolent Association told the May 27 New York Times, "The
police department spoke to the district attorney's office, who
told them not to interview [him]."
The Times article also said that District Attorney Robert T.
Johnson confirmed that statement by saying, "We requested that
the police department not compel him to make a statement."
The city's main job these days seems to be covering its
mess.
Giuliani defends NYPD racism
The same morning that young Johnson was shot, Giuliani and
Police Commissioner Howard Safir testified before the U.S.
Civil Rights Commission. The commission is currently holding
hearings examining the prevalence of brutality and corruption
in the NYPD.
Mayor Giuliani showed utter contempt for the idea that there
could be any systematic police abuse at any level, according to
the May 27 Times article.
Giuliani testified that the police did not engage in "racial
profiling." Yet countless complaints from people from oppressed
communities document how the NYPD conducts regular searches of
Black and Latin people--a policy of harassment that results in
only a fraction of arrests.
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