Sister of man killed by Boston cops speaks out
Community mobilizes to stand with her
By Frank
Neisser
Boston
On Feb. 27, a group of 70 concerned community
members--including the family and neighbors of Ricky Bodden
and supporters--packed a Boston City Council hearing to
demand justice. The hearing was called for by African
American City Councilor Chuck Turner to investigate the
police killing of Bodden.
Last Dec. 27, Bodden was shot in the back of the neck and
killed by Boston Municipal Police Officer Kyle Wilcox. The
cop claimed he mistook the cigarette Bodden was smoking for
marijuana. Bodden was shot in the back of the neck as he ran
away from the cop.
The cops claim he had a gun. But eyewitnesses who were
right behind Bodden testified that he never reached in his
pocket and had no weapon.
But Councilor Turner was not even allowed to present the
facts of the case before being cut off in a racist fashion by
City Councilor Dan Conley. Conley, who chaired the hearing,
attempted to adjourn the meeting rather than allow Turner to
speak.
At that point the family members, neighbors and supporters
all got up and chanted, "What do we want? Justice! When do we
want it? Now!"
Carole Bodden, sister of the man the police killed,
addressed the crowd and the hearing. "My baby brother Ricky
was shot in the back of the neck and killed as he was running
away from a Boston Municipal Police officer.
"We are calling on the City Council and the [police]
department to establish an independent investigation of my
brother's death. We also demand an apology from the
department and Officer Wilcox, prosecution of the murderous
officer, and the establishment of an independent,
community-controlled civilian review board."
The entire group of community members and supporters then
left the hearing room as a body. The event was well covered
by the Boston media.
The family has continued to demand the police report and
the autopsy report in the case, but has been stonewalled by
the Boston police and the district attorney's office. In
addition to Ricky Bodden's sister, his mother Evelyn and
father Esteban Bustillo are active in the campaign.
On March 27 at 3:45 p.m., the Campaign for Justice for
Ricky Bodden will hold a rally at Park Street Station in
Boston. Demonstrators will march to District Attorney Ralph
Martin's office to demand that he take action in the
case.
A strong coalition continues to meet weekly on the case,
coordinated by Streets Is Watching, a group that is
organizing against police misconduct and harassment of
African American youths.
Carol Bodden told Workers World that she urges all
justice-loving people in Boston to come to the rally on March
27 and let their voices be heard. She pointed to a pattern of
harassment of youths by the police and other incidents of
police violence in recent years.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
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