From: [n--t] at [blythe.org] (NY Transfer News) Date: Sun, 3 Apr 1994 01:04:52 -0500 (EST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit TWO BLACK MEN DIE IN LOUISIANA SHERIFF'S CUSTODY By Elisa Waingort New Orleans People in Jefferson Parish, La., showed on March 26 that they refused to stand by after two young African American men died in the custody of the sheriff's office. In the face of intimidation and repression, the Citizens Action Committee of Marrero, Jefferson Parish, organized a march that date through the town of Gretna to the Parish courthouse. The march culminated at Sheriff Harry Lee's office. The march of about 70 Black, Latino and white people called for the indictment and conviction of Lee and the Jefferson Parish police. The events leading to this protest began the week of March 7, when, in separate incidents, two Black men died in custody in Jefferson Parish. Located across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, this is the parish that elected fascist David Duke to the state legislature. In the first and widely publicized incident, Jefferson Parish reserve police stopped Michael Simmons because his car had a loose license plate. Police claim a routine check revealed an unspecified outstanding drug charge. Robert Lestrick said he was standing on the sidewalk watching when a deputy began to handcuff Simmons. "At first, he was letting the man cuff him," Lestrick said. "Until the other man came around and hit him with a flashlight. He wasn't causing any problems or nothing." (New Orleans Times-Picayune, March 9) Simmons ran to a neighbor's house to avoid being beaten. His mother, Marion Simmons, arrived at the neighbor's home and saw her son. "He came over and laid his head on my shoulder and told me, 'Momma, they beat me. They done cut me, beat me with a searchlight.' " Michael had blood all running down his face. They took him from me. I was holding him and didn't want to turn him loose." She said a deputy pushed her hard and took her son away. (Times-Picayune, March 9) The following day, Simmon's lifeless body was identified by his brother, who said Simmon's face was swollen and bruised and that his head was fractured. Under pressure from Sheriff Lee's office, the coroner delayed his report for a couple of days. It stated that the cause of death was not established but that it could have been caused by drugs. A few days later, a second young African-American man, Rene Alexander, also died while in Jefferson Parish police custody. Again, his death was attributed to drugs. Its circumstances were very mysterious. A HISTORY OF DEADLY BRUTALITY A 1991 federal study cited Jefferson Parish police as being seven times more likely to use deadly force than the national average. Similar studies showed the parish ranks third in the country in the total number of police brutality complaints, trailing only New Orleans and Los Angeles, though its population is less than 500,000. Sheriff Lee has his own history of blatant disregard for human life and blatantly racist mouthings. In December 1986, he made the following statement regarding a new policy to routinely stop Black people in white neighborhoods: "Two young Blacks driving a rinky-dink car in a predominantly white neighborhood ... they'll be stopped." In January 1994 when responding to criticism of a deputy who shot a Black teenage shoplifting suspect, Lee said, "I would have shot the little bastard myself." (Times-Picayune, March 16) Lee has no official budget limitation, spending money as he pleases. He promotes officers, by his own admission, based on what they are willing to do for him. He considers himself beyond reproach and above the law. But that doesn't put him beyond the reach of the people. Plans are being made for a boycott of Jefferson Parish businesses by the same forces that backed the March 26 demonstration. Dana Andrus, a spokesperson for the Citizens Action Committee stated, "We live in a capitalist society. Let's hit them where it hurts--in their pocketbooks." -30- (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww%[trans f r] at [blythe.org.])