VTMBH Article: Body
On March 15, about 100 people gathered in a school auditorium in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn for a forum denouncing the Jan. 16 police murder of Georgy Louisgene and police brutality in general.
In addition to cultural presentations by Kongo and Feet of Rhythm and a powerful video on police brutality, the evening featured speakers who outlined the depth of police brutality in working-class and minority communities throughout New York City.
We are not fighting a few rogue policemen, we are fighting a system, said Richie Perez, a Puerto Rican community activist. The entire criminal justice system is rotten. With example after example of the police cover-ups of their murder of youths in New York, Perez illustrated how the blue wall of silence is not just silence, but a whole web of agreed-upon lies.
The evenings most emotional moment came when the parents of the many police victims assembled in front of the room, holding solitary flowers in memory of their lost children.
These are our heroes, said Abby Louis Jeune, Goergy Louisgenes sister. Our group is growing. But we are also getting stronger. And we are not going to take it anymore! We will find justice! We will stop police brutality!
The Georgy Louisgene Justice Committee, made up largely of friends and family of Louisgene, organized the event and planned to continue fighting for justice in his case. To date, the district attorney has not charged the two Brooklyn 67th Precinct cops who shot Louisgene, 23, when he asked them for protection from men who had beaten him.
The afternoon following the forum, a mass in memory of Patrick Dorismond was held at Brooklyns St. Francis Church on Nostrand Avenue. Patricks family traveled from Florida to commemorate their son with hundreds of people of all races and nationalities who turned out for the mass, which marked his birthday and the second anniversary of his death.
A civil trial of the officers who killed Dorismond is expected this year.
The police tried to block our access to grand jury testimony and the results of the internal affairs investigation, arguing that it was privileged information, Derek Sells, the Dorismonds lawyer, told Haïti Progrès at a reception after the mass. Having overcome that obstacle to discovery, we expect to depose the officers involved in April and hopefully get a trial by the fall or early winter.
In addition to cultural presentations by Kongo and Feet of Rhythm and a powerful video on police brutality, the evening featured speakers who outlined the depth of police brutality in working-class and minority communities throughout New York City.
We are not fighting a few rogue policemen, we are fighting a system, said Richie Perez, a Puerto Rican community activist. The entire criminal justice system is rotten. With example after example of the police cover-ups of their murder of youths in New York, Perez illustrated how the blue wall of silence is not just silence, but a whole web of agreed-upon lies.
The evenings most emotional moment came when the parents of the many police victims assembled in front of the room, holding solitary flowers in memory of their lost children.
These are our heroes, said Abby Louis Jeune, Goergy Louisgenes sister. Our group is growing. But we are also getting stronger. And we are not going to take it anymore! We will find justice! We will stop police brutality!
The Georgy Louisgene Justice Committee, made up largely of friends and family of Louisgene, organized the event and planned to continue fighting for justice in his case. To date, the district attorney has not charged the two Brooklyn 67th Precinct cops who shot Louisgene, 23, when he asked them for protection from men who had beaten him.
The afternoon following the forum, a mass in memory of Patrick Dorismond was held at Brooklyns St. Francis Church on Nostrand Avenue. Patricks family traveled from Florida to commemorate their son with hundreds of people of all races and nationalities who turned out for the mass, which marked his birthday and the second anniversary of his death.
A civil trial of the officers who killed Dorismond is expected this year.
The police tried to block our access to grand jury testimony and the results of the internal affairs investigation, arguing that it was privileged information, Derek Sells, the Dorismonds lawyer, told Haïti Progrès at a reception after the mass. Having overcome that obstacle to discovery, we expect to depose the officers involved in April and hopefully get a trial by the fall or early winter.