Somerville 5 activists ask public support

Backers of the Somerville 5 are asking for public expressions of support before the trial of two of the youths, which is scheduled to begin on May 15.

It has been one year since five Black students from Somerville High School, all teenagers and none with prior police records, were racially profiled, Maced and beaten by 10 white Medford, Mass., police while trying to attend a carnival there. They were arrested and charged with numerous crimes.

The case of the Somerville 5—Calvin Belfon, Jr., Isiah Anderson, Marquis Ander son, Earl Guerra and Cassius Belfon—has become a symbol across the city of rampant police brutality against youth of color. It has also become a symbol of standing up and fighting back.

Casandra Clark-Mazariegos, a Latina youth cultural worker and leader of Urban Essence, a political youth dance troupe, stated, “Youth are racially profiled on a regular basis. It affects our lives in the long run and we want to minimize the impact. People have to suffer very stressful situations, whether it is a night in jail or months. We want to let the community know that we will do what we can to stop racial profiling.”

Clark-Mazariegos and Urban Essence youth organized a very successful benefit concert for the Somerville 5 in March, when youth performers took a stand against police brutality through spoken word, dance and music.

Community leaders, activists, family and friends will be demonstrating outside the Cambridge District courthouse at 40 Thorndike St. on Monday, May 15, at 1:30 p.m., when the trial of two of the five, who have since turned 18 and can be tried as adults, begins. A press conference will be held at 2:30 p.m.

“We will be out in full force to demand “Hands off our youth” and “Stop the racist frame-up,” said Gerry Scoppettuolo of the Committee to Defend the Somerville 5. “We are asking supporters to please call D.A. Martha Coakley’s office at (617) 494-4300 or (617) 679-6500 or fax (617) 225-0871 and demand that all charges be dropped now.”

Earl Guerra, one of the Somerville 5, stated, “The police are doing this and getting away with it. Kids are being beaten up for what they are wearing and questioned about being in a gang. It’s time for us to stop discrimination and racial profiling.” He added, “We are fighting each other when there is a bigger fight. We need to be fighting the politicians and the officials for our rights and equal job opportunities.”

Community activists are also coming to the defense of four young Chinese-Amer ican women who were brutally attacked by Quincy, Mass., police on April 30, 2006. The women say they had pulled their car over to a curb when a state trooper approached them. As they spoke to the trooper, a Quincy police car pulled up. A cop jumped out and pepper-sprayed all four women. Karen Chen, an organizer with the Chinese Progressive Association, was tackled by three cops and received a black eye and bruises to the face. One woman was knocked unconscious and all were arrested. A community meeting is being organized to set up a defense committee.