Funeral
for man shot by cops erupts into brawl
BROOKLYN�The aftermath of the March 25 funeral for Black
police shooting victim Patrick Dorismond apparently has left
another victim of police brutality at the door of the New York
City Police Dept.
Errol Maitland, 49, a Black radio producer and announcer for
New York�s WBAI-FM radio, was severely beaten and hospitalized
with numbness of the right arm, bruises and lacerations to the
back, a cut above one eyebrow, chest pains and, according to
doctors, evidence of ischemia, an injury to the heart.
After the beating, he was not taken directly to the hospital.
He was left for hours in Brooklyn�s 72nd Precinct before his
doctor, via an attorney, could secure his release for immediate
medical attention, observers said. Mr. Maitland also suffers from
a serious asthmatic condition.
Mr. Maitland, who is under police watch in the Kings County
Coronary Intensive Care Unit, said that high-ranking police
officials pointed at him and told officers using expletives to
"get him" while he was conducting an on the scene radio
interview. He was interviewing two police officials during the
melee immediately following the funeral proceedings.
The funeral for Mr. Dorismond, 26, who was killed March 16 by
an undercover police officer during a failed buy-and-bust drug
sting, had a relatively peaceful beginning but erupted into
violence outside Holy Cross Church where the services were held.
Early in the four-mile march from the funeral home to the
church, the thousands who filled the streets expressed their
disgust with Mayor Rudy Giuliani, chanting, "Giuliani Must
Go!"
After Mr. Dorismond was killed, the mayor quickly backed the
officer, Detective Anthony Vasquez, and repeatedly stressed the
slain man�s criminal record, in which there were no convictions.
According to Kevin Kaiser, 22, who was with Mr. Dorismond when
the incident occurred, the officers approached them and asked if
they knew where they could find some weed or marijuana.
"I was standing next to Patrick," Mr. Kaiser said at
a press conference in late March, "when three men approached
us, looking like derelicts; they never identified themselves as
police officers."
None of this seemed to matter to the mayor, who even went so
far as to unseal Mr. Dorismond�s juvenile record, which is
violation of the law, according to Sheldon Silver, the Speaker for
the State Assembly.
"What the mayor did was illegal, immoral and
reprehensible," Mr. Silver added. "It was the mayor�s
insensitivity, his failure to even offer condolences to the
grieving family that triggered the outrage of the marchers."
"Why were the police there, to protect a man they had
already killed?" asked Nation of Islam Eastern Regional
Minister Benjamin Muhammad. "The Haitian community is not
violent, but in a climate such as what was created at Patrick
Dorismond�s funeral it was a forgone conclusion what the outcome
would be."
When the funeral procession reached a blockade of metal
barriers leading to the church, the marchers pushed them over,
knocking several policemen to the ground. "Whose streets? Our
Streets!" the marchers chanted, tossing the metal barriers
and wooden saw horses aside.
The solemnity that reigned inside the church during the funeral
was in stark contrast to the spirited emotions that prevailed in
the streets. Some protesters ripped an American flag from the
flower car and set it afire. Others voiced their displeasure at
the phalanx of cops who were trying to clear the streets and
contain the crowd.
Emotions reached a breaking point when several cops were too
aggressive in their tactics, and tempers flared when Mr. Dorismond�s
body was removed from the church and placed in the hearse and
taken to Cypress Hill Cemetery for burial.
Suddenly the air was filled with bottles that were hurled from
the crowd at the police who sought cover and called on
reinforcements. One officer was hit in the head and another took a
glancing blow to the face. When the backup officers arrived, they
began to beat the protesters, throwing them to the ground and
shackling them with plastic handcuffs.
Some 20 protesters and more than thirty officers were hurt in
the melee, which simmered on for several hours after the funeral
was over.
"I am not a friend of violence," said Mrs. Marie
Dorismond, Patrick�s mother, at a later press conference with
civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton by her side. "I
never like to see that." She reiterated her call for justice
for her dead son.
(Eric Ture Muhammad contributed to this article.) |
