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Police attack Black activist at university debate

Published Feb 17, 2005 9:33 PM

Police in the Denver metropolitan area have once again shown their bigotry and brutality. This time the cops were campus police, and they attacked a Black activist at a Colorado University Board of Regents meeting Feb. 3.


Police seize Shareef Aleem
and drag him from discussion.

The activist, Shareef Aleem, was asking the Board of Regents if it would allow students to speak on behalf of CU professor Ward Churchill. Soon after Sept. 11, 2001, Churchill made statements whose sentiment was that U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East had led to the attacks on 9/11.

Churchill made this as a blanket statement that attacked the victims in the Twin Towers as "little Eichmanns," which he himself now concedes was not a progressive or effective way of explaining his criticism of U.S. aggression in the region.

Right-wing forces have seized on Churchill's statement to launch a witch-hunt and threaten his job.

At the Feb. 3 meeting, when Aleem asked if the students were going to be allowed to speak, he reminded the regents that the meeting was advertised as being open. Earlier, police had removed a student for asking the same question.

The incident with Aleem was videotaped. On the tape the police are seen approaching Aleem and an older Black woman. They later suggested that her walking stick could be a weapon. Aleem came to the defense of the woman and told the police to remove their hands. A scuffled ensued, and police piled on top of Aleem, breaking his glasses, binding his hands and finally shooting him in his neck with a taser.

Though the whole incident was caught on tape, and many students were outraged by the behavior of the police, Aleem was charged with second degree assault on an officer.

Shareef Aleem is well known as a Cop Watch activist. He spearheaded "Opera tion Get Tourney." Tourney is a Denver cop who shot Paul Childs and Greg Smith, two disabled Black males, to death.

Now Aleem has been attacked, denied the right to speak at a public meeting and imprisoned for refusing to let the cops silence and brutalize him.

Later, police in riot gear were called to the regents meeting, all to quell the voices of college students who wanted their input to be heard.

A deeper look at the rampant brutality by cops in the Denver metropolitan area exposes a clear picture of bigotry. Almost four months ago, in Aurora, a city adjacent to Denver, a white male shot a Black couple. Aaron Davis died and his companion, Benita Coleman-Davis, was hospitalized in critical condition.

The shooter, Glen Eichstedt, was never even taken to the police station, although he was still holding his gun when police arrived. He was asked a few questions at the scene, allowed to leave and presented his statement through a friend.

As of Feb. 14, no charges have been brought. Eichstedt, a business owner, walks free. Some would say that there are some good cops that try to be good, but one need only look at a picket line or demonstration, or at this public meeting and see how the cops behave. Cops are instruments of control. Their role is to protect the ruling class and their interests.

The police have always been used to silence poor and oppressed workers fighting for a better life and trying to voice dissent. Racism is part of being a cop and upholding the status quo--hence the brutality displayed when the police deal with Black, Latino, Native or any oppressed people.

Aleem is fighting the charges, and the community of left political activists has rallied to support him, even putting up his bail money. It should be a clear-cut case, but there is rarely a clear-cut case when prosecuting cops for their brutality. There is justice only when the public demand is so overwhelming that the city is given no choice, and that is what must happen in this case.