Providence, R.I., lets racist cop walk
Special to Workers World
Providence, R.I.
On Jan. 27, U.S. Chief Judge Ronald Lagueux
overturned the April 1998 indictment of a Providence cop on
civil rights charges. The police officer, Randell P. Masterson,
was accused of assaults on Rhode Island residents in 1995 and
1996.
The judge nullified an April 1998 indictment on
grounds of "prosecutorial misconduct." And by dismissing it
"with prejudice," he barred the U.S. Attorney's Office from
trying to indict Masterson again. Masterson has been off-duty
without pay since April.
Details offered by eyewitnesses to Masterson's
Oct. 22, 1996, attack on Reginald Chaney, 20, reveal what an
outright miscarriage of justice the judge's action was.
Masterson reportedly confronted Chaney as the
young Black man had just gotten into his car, parked in front
of his own home. Witnesses say Masterson blocked Chaney's car
with a police cruiser and jumped out screaming with his gun
drawn.
When ordered out of his car, Chaney complied,
onlookers said. Yet Masterson struck him in the forehead with
his gun. Chaney fell to the ground unconscious.
Chaney's mother, Mary Kay Harris, says she
found her son lying in a pool of blood in the middle of the
street. When she demanded to know why Masterson had hit her
son, the cop answered, "You're lucky he's not dead."
Chaney regained consciousness as he was being
handcuffed and thrown into a police cruiser. When he asked why
Masterson had hit him, Chaney says the police officer replied,
"Because you're a stupid n----r."
Harris says that after fighting for justice for
her son for two and a half years, "We are shocked and angered
by this decision" to overturn the indictment. "My son is
scarred for life without any explanation given at all. And
Masterson is being given the go-ahead to do it again."
Chaney stresses, "I'm angry at the system for
allowing this crime to go unpunished. I live in fear of more
attacks from these cops."
Harris and Chaney are calling for help from
organizations and individuals to fight on behalf of this case.
The National People's Campaign has offered its help. Providence
NPC member Bill Bateman said, "This kind of racist brutality
cannot go unanswered. This is a nationwide epidemic.
"We will organize for justice for Reginald
Chaney at the same time as we are organizing the `Millions for
Mumia' mobilization. It's got to be one big united
struggle."
For more information on how to help, call (401)
467-2288.
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