Community rallies support after
Police beat African student
By Sharon Black
Baltimore
On May 23 of this year, Judith Annan was preparing to go to
her graduation. Her whole family from Ghana, in West Africa,
was excited and proud. She was to receive her master's degree
that evening.
In preparation for the event, she stop ped by a friend's
apartment in Towson, Md., parking her car in the apartment
complex. Little did Annan know that in a short time she would
become the victim of police violence.
Annan says that police hit her, drenched her in pepper
spray, pulled her hair and smashed her teeth as she clung in
terror to the steering wheel of her car. She sustained a
sprained wrist, swollen hands and $4,600 worth of damage to her
teeth.
She was then thrown into jail, where she reports that she
was humiliated and degraded.
Why did all this happen? Police claim she parked in a lot
that didn't allow her to be there, although there were no signs
saying so. But is she in fact a victim of racism, because she
is from Ghana and speaks English with an accent?
The injustice of the situation was so apparent that
initially the precinct commander released Judith Annan without
any charges.
But later, when the police feared a brutality suit, they
changed their position. On June 6, Annan was charged with
assault and resisting arrest.
The All Peoples Congress--a grassroots coalition that
struggles for social and economic justice--has been working
with Judith Annan, her family and lawyers to mobilize support
for her case. The APC is asking friends and supporters of Annan
to meet on Oct. 29, the date of her trial, in front of Towson
District Court, 111 Alleghany Ave, Towson.
Support is critical at this time when attacks are growing on
immigrants everywhere in the United States.
For more information, call
(410) 235-7040.
Reprinted from the Nov. 1, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
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