[Peace-discuss] Get Off the Bus: What Happened on April 5th?

[Brian Dolinar]

Get Off the Bus: What Happened on April 5th?

On April 5, 2007, two black youth were arrested by police in a second
altercation that has exposed the undercurrent of hostility between local
police and the black community. At approximately 4 p.m. on Thursday
afternoon, an incident at the Champaign bus terminal led to two 15 year-old
black young men being arrested by Champaign police and taken to the juvenile
detention center. One of the youth claims he was choked by police and a
witness says she was threatened with pepper spray.

This occurred just six days after another incident on March 30, when a 17
year-old black youth was arrested by Champaign police in Douglass Park.
Police say they stopped the youth for being in the Douglass Park after dusk,
when the park closes. The youth says that he and a 15 year-old were
escorting an 8 year-old home after playing basketball at the Douglass
Centergymnasium. What happened afterwards is unclear, but the police
ended up
pepper-spraying the youth and sending him to the hospital.

These two incidents have again shown how police frequently approach black
youth in "arrest mode." This was exposed by videographers Patrick Thompson
and Martel Miller in their 2004 documentary *Citizen's Watch*. The
relationship between police and the black community has clearly not improved
since then. Champaign Police Chief R.T. Finney says that excessive force was
not used in either of these two incidents and that the police were simply
following procedure. If this is police policy for handling black youth, then
it needs to be seriously reexamined.

How the Law Works

While still trying to figure out what happened on Friday, March 30, I was at
the Champaign Police station filing a Freedom of Information Act request for
police reports [which as of April 6, a week later, have still not been
released due to a pending investigation]. I was interrupted by a crowd of
black youth who had come into the station angry with police. They were told
to go outside and two black cops, Sgt. Shelton and officer Westfield, were
sent to handle the crowd. I followed the youth outside to get the story.

Officer Westfield addressed the youth with techniques of crowd control in
such an instance. He told the crowd of 12-15 youth, "Tell me where you all
go to school, I will contact the S.R.O. [School Resource Officer] there, and
they will come give a presentation to your class on how the law works." From
the reaction of the youth, they knew exactly how the law works.

When one of the youth was asked what his name was, he said, "I ain't talking
to no fucking police." Without any parents present, officer Westfield began
to get the youths' names as witnesses to the incident. Those unwilling to
give names were told to leave. Yet these same youth were willing to talk to
me about what happened.

A brother and sister were at the bus station after school, horse-playing and
joking around. Authorities thought they were fighting and called the police.
The two kids got onto a bus to go home. But before pulling off, a security
guard came on and told them to get off the bus. Police finally showed up and
had a conversation with the two youth in front of the bus station. Whatever
transpired after that was surely captured on video cameras that are posted
around the bus terminal.

Police claim there was a disorderly crowd of black youth. According to
witnesses at the bus station I spoke to after the incident, there were
police everywhere.

Police spokesperson Lieutenant Holly Nearing told the *News-Gazette*, "The
officers had to use a minimal amount of force to make the arrests."

One of the members in the crowd had questioned why the police were messing
with the young man being ushered out by police. Police turned on this youth
and arrested him. The police then returned to the young man they had
received the call about. According to the youth's mother, a police officer
rushed at her son, grabbed him by the neck, choking him, and told him he was
under arrest. The youth cried out that he could not breath. Police placed
him in handcuffs and took him to the Youth Detention Center. The two 15
year-olds will be in court Monday, April 9. They are charged with aggravated
battery and resisting arrest.

According to the mother, her daughter had calmed her son down just before he
was arrested. Police then stepped in telling her daughter they were going to
pepper spray her and proceeded to "subdue" her son.

Once again, as this incident reveals, the police only further escalated an
already tense situation. Their tactics of crowd control were unsuccessful
and lead to two arrests. It nearly erupted into further violence. Witnesses
were incited to enter the fray and only raised the tensions. The suspect's
sister was more successful in calming the situation down than the police
officers. Were the police at the bus station to ensure everyone got home
safely? Or were they there to teach the youth a lesson about authority?

What Happened On Friday Night, March 30th?

It has now been a week after a 17 year-old black youth was sent to the
hospital by Champaign police. As the pending investigation suggests, there
were contrary reports of what happened the night of March 30th. The second
incident on April 5 proves that police have learned little and have received
no instruction from Chief Finney about how to better handle black youth.

The question of why Champaign police stopped the three black youth on Friday
night, March 30th has still not been fully answered. Police say Douglass
Park is closed at dusk, but Douglass Park manager Terry Townsend told me
there are programs at the center that go on until 11 p.m. The three youth
had left the gymnasium at 8:30 p.m. and were walking home. Again, rather
than returning home safely, the youth were stopped by police. One of the
youth was brutalized and the others had to watch in horror.

Police say that no excessive force was used, but an ambulance was called,
and the youth had to be taken to the hospital. Designated leaders of the
black community have echoed the police claims that no excessive force was
used.

At the Champaign City Council Tuesday night, April 3, Martel Miller brought
the 17 year-old and his mother to the meeting and questioned what the city
council was doing to improve relations between police and the community. He
cited other African Americans in the community who have died at the hands of
the Champaign police in recent years. Miller also cited Illinois Department
of Transportation statistics that show the gross disparities in racial
profiling in Champaign.

City council member Gina Jackson responded to Miller's remarks unashamedly,
"Yes, there's racial profiling, that's nothing new." She continued, "That's
been the case for years, and it probably won't change real quick…. Things
work slowly."

For asking why things were working so slowly, Miller was kicked out of the
city council meeting. He was escorted out not only by Police Chief Finney,
but also by Mayor Schweighart, himself a former Champaign police officer and
still acting as if he operates in this function as Mayor.

The question of when things are going to change has still not been answered.
The second incident at the bus station, and the police response to both
events, has been nothing but blatant denial and indignation at the public's
concerns. Indeed, these things will not change until the public demands a
change in their leadership.

Come out to join us in Douglass Park the next two Saturdays before the April
17 election to educate public about these injustices and shuttle community
members to early voting at the polls. A change in police/community relations
is long overdue.
-- 
Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
303 W. Locust St.
Urbana, IL 61801
briandolinar at gmail.com
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