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CHICAGO

Racist killer cops on the loose

Published Apr 23, 2012 7:39 PM

It took the state 45 days to arrest racist killer George Zimmerman for his Feb. 26 killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. This refusal and delay of responsibility on the part of the state has been taken as a green light by racists to carry out an open season on African Americans. Violence is up dramatically against Black people across the U.S.

Rekia Boyd, 22, was shot in the head March 21 by an off-duty police detective in Chicago’s west side Lawndale community. The cop was aiming at Antonio Cross, 39. The cop reportedly identified himself to the group Cross was walking with and then shot at them 10 times, hitting Cross in the hand as he raised his arm to protect himself. Boyd, who was across the street, was fatally hit in the head.

Police accuse Cross of threatening the cop with a gun, but eyewitnesses say all Cross was carrying was a phone. In an ABC Channel 7 interview, Cross said, “I want people to know that I didn’t have no gun. She [Boyd] didn’t have no gun. I want people to know that girl was killed for nothing.”

The cop that shot Boyd actually lived in the same neighborhood. He had reportedly threatened a group of neighborhood residents the day before, screaming at them, “What do I have to do to get some peace, quiet, and respect? Shoot someone?” Prosecutors only charged the cop with assault, a misdemeanor, because the gun used in the killing allegedly could not be found.

Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the killer cop’s apartment on March 27 demanding justice for Rekia Boyd. The group included Boyd’s mother and Antonio Cross. The killer cop refused to come out of his apartment and has not spoken to the media. His name has yet to be released.

Howard Morgan, Darrin Hanna

Then there is Howard Morgan, a 61-year-old Black former cop, who was most recently employed as a detective for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. After leaving work back on Feb. 21, 2005, Morgan was pulled over by four white Chicago cops and shot 21 times in the back. The cops then picked up Morgan’s gun, turned him over, and shot him another seven times. Amazingly, he survived.

For the crime of surviving this murderous police assault, Morgan was charged with four counts of attempted first-degree murder, three counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm. Cops and prosecutors always seem to charge their victims with the crimes that they themselves are guilty of perpetrating.

Before his trial in 2007, the state crushed Morgan’s van before any forensic tests could be run on it. During the trial, the state could only produce three of the 28 bullets he was hit with. The jury acquitted him of the two counts of aggravated murder and one count of aggravated discharge of a firearm, and was hung on the five remaining counts. A mistrial was declared.

In violation of his constitutional rights, Morgan was tried on the same charges and found guilty this April 12. He was sentenced to 40 years in prison. Go to FreeHowardMorgan.com to sign the petition.

There have been demonstrations in solidarity with Morgan in front of the Cook County court on the South Side of Chicago, including one organized by Chairman Fred Hampton Jr. of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee, himself a survivor of a Chicago cop death squad attempt on his life.

Darrin Hanna, a 45-year-old African-American resident of North Chicago, was beaten to death in his own home last November by North Chicago cops. He was tasered 11 times and beaten so severely that he had six open wounds on his face. An audio recording of the beating reveals that Hanna begged the cops to stop. He died of his injuries a week later.

Gloria Carr, Hanna’s mother, has repeatedly demanded an investigation into her son’s murder and that the cops who viciously beat her son to death be fired. She has been harassed and her home has been vandalized.

Hanna’s family and their allies plan a march on the North Chicago police station and City Hall on April 21.