The May 10 rally drew Blacks, Mexicans, whites, Native Americans and Asian Americans fed up with police brutality.

"What we’re demonstrating here today is our dislike and our decry of the District Attorney’s decision to not indict the white police officers whom I believe have racial tendencies and killed our daughter, Tyisha Miller," said Pastor Ron Gibson of Life Church and a member of the Tyisha Miller Steering Committee.

"This was a horrible crime and a horrible cover-up. The cover will come off and we will see the truth," said Rev. Butler, referring to the January shooting of Ms. Miller by police officers. The officers had been called by relatives who feared Ms. Miller, unconscious in her car at a gas station, needed medical help. They also told police she had a gun in her lap. Police officers said they broke the car window and Ms. Miller reached for the gun. Officers fired 19 times, and 14 bullets struck the teenager.

Rev. Butler refuted District Attorney Trask’s claims that the shooting was not racially motivated. "They (police) came before, during and after making racist comments. It wasn’t just in the locker room and in the station house, but before they even got to the scene," he said.

"We have to remind ourselves, and our government, and our justice system of the value of human life," declared actress Kim Fields, of tv sitcoms "Living Single" and "Diff’rent Strokes."

Visibly disturbed by Ms. Miller’s death and the district attorney’s decision, Ms. Fields said, "We’re not trying to pull the race card. We’re not trying to pull the gender card. We’re not trying to pull the age card, but those cards do exist. We cannot act like they don’t!"

Riverside County city employees viewed the rally from office balconies and windows as the coalition marched from city hall to the Riverside Police Department headquarters, calling for a probe into the D.A.’s decision and further investigation of the police officers.

According to Tracy Rice of the Rainbow Coalition, Rev. Jesse Jackson intends to call for a federal probe of Mr. Trask’s investigation and the police.

"We are here today because in this building, injustice has reigned when the prosecutor decides on his own, with no grand jury, with no deliberations of the judicial process by citizens of a jury or grand jury, to excuse and justify actions of these four police," said Rev. Al Sharpton, who traveled with a delegation from New York to stand with the Miller family and noted that the demonstrators were more diverse than the police department. He called on President Clinton, to reciprocate the support and defense Blacks gave during the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Min. Tony Muhammad brought protesters a message of peace, solidarity and a firm commitment of help from the Hon. Louis Farrakhan. He also urged city officials to give justice.

"Our religious leaders are the leaders of our community and when our churches come together with the spirit of love, no one can stop us. We are not against police. We are against police brutality and misconduct," said Martin Luther King, III, son of the slain civil rights leader.

Some 35 people were arrested outside police headquarters, including Ms. Fields, Rev. Sharpton, Mr. Gregory and Mr. Bakewell.

The Congressional Black Caucus also "turned up the heat" on police brutality, holding a five-hour Capitol Hill hearing that featured civil rights groups, federal officials and victims of misconduct who testified May 10.

In New York the trial of officers accused of sodomizing a Haitian immigrant continued.

"Let me say that today’s hearing is the first of a series of regional hearings which the CBC will hold around the country over the next several months to gain a better understanding of the problem of police brutality," said CBC Chairman James Clyburn.

"We plan to hold similar hearings in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago and Atlanta. At the conclusion of these hearings, we will issue recommendations for dealing with this problem which has placed an ugly stain in the fabric of our nation, a stain that is too often the blood of minorities who seem disproportionately affected," said the South Carolina Democrat.

The CBC hearing, carried nationally via C-Span television, convened three panels of witnesses. Many testifying stopped occasionally and cried.

Acting U.S. Attorney for Civil Rights Bill Lann Lee testified that the Justice Department is investigating police departments in Washington, D.C., New York and New Orleans following repeated reports of abuses. He urged the country to "move forward" instead of assigning blame.

Saiko Diallo spoke of his dead son Amadou, an unarmed African immigrant shot 19 times by four white New York City police officers in February.

"The police officers have been indicted for murder, but they are still working full time with a full salary. This is unfair. This is not right," he said.

"You can call it a tragedy but I call it murder," said Dorothy Elliot, whose 24-year-old son Archie, was killed in 1995. Prince Georges County, Md., police officers shot him to death after a traffic stop. "My son didn’t resist arrest. My son’s life had value," she said, crying. Police said the son pointed a gun at them while seated in a police car. His hands were cuffed behind his back.

Min. Benjamin F. Muhammad, Nation of Islam East Coast Regional Minister, accompanied Mr. Diallo to the hearing. "We are officially here on behalf of the Hon. Louis Farrakhan to forthrightly tell the world that police brutality is one of the issues that we need to organize around the Million Family March and the march’s national agenda," Min. Benjamin told The Final Call. The march is scheduled for October 2000 in the nation’s capitol.

"This hearing today is very significant. At a time when the Justice Department and the federal government are backing away. It’s good that Black members of Congress are pushing ahead on this," he said.

Laura Murphy, of the ACLU’s Washington office, testified that "the federal government has been quite willing to fund programs designed to get officers on the street. It has been considerably less willing to ensure that the officers’ conduct is appropriate once they are on the street."

Speaking of a planned "Summit on Police Abuse" to be hosted by Attorney General Janet Reno, Ms. Murphy said more emphasis on police accountability, not just training, is needed.

Several witnesses contrasted the CBC hearing with White House’s "Conference on Youth Violence," which was occurring simultaneously, and was sparked by recent school shootings in Littleton, Colo.

"I’m like Fannie Lou Hamer. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired," said Ron Hampton, executive director of the National Black Police Association. "The president is having a conference on violence ... because of who it is that it’s happening to (white youth)," while police abuses are ignored, Mr. Hampton complained.

The Justice Department is moving slow on compiling data of incidents of police misconduct "because the data will tell the truth," he added.

Hugh Price of the Urban League and Ron Daniels of the Center for Constitutional Rights were also among hearing witnesses. Their testimony dealt with racial profiling and other rights violations by officers.

"This is not just a hearing, this is a process. It’s simply one of the components," explained Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill.), flanked by Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), his co-chair of the CBC’s Task Force on Police Brutality at a post-hearing press conference.

"One thing we recognize is that there is no simple solution. We know that we are looking at a culture of abuse and misuse which is as old as law enforcement itself in this country," he said.

Rep. Meeks hoisted a pocket-sized card the CBC is distributing. The card lists things people should do if stopped by police. While the upcoming CBC hearings will be devoted to finding ways to combat brutality, Rep. Meeks supports calls to withhold federal funds from police departments with consistent problems of police brutality.

In New York, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, sees staying focused as active as key to battling police misconduct and commented on the explosive incidents involving Mr. Louima, Mr. Diallo and Ms. Miller.

"While the situations are similar in terms of the atrocity and the abusive behavior of the police, the outcomes are different because of the pressure we were able to mount and sustain here in New York City," said Rev. Daughtry.

Rev. Daughtry credited Rev. Al Sharpton, Charles Barron, Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker and others with keeping the pressure on through protests and a civil disobedience campaign outside police headquarters.

In Manhattan, an official autopsy of Mr. Diallo revealed that of the 19 bullets that riddled his body one of them traveled up his right leg and another pierced the bottom of his feet. Lawyers representing the Diallo family, including Johnnie Cochran, said the autopsy supports their independent autopsy and their contention that Mr. Diallo was shot at least twice while prone.

In Brooklyn at the Federal District Court, the Abner Louima torture trial is underway. Federal prosecutors say officer Justin Volpe sodomized Mr. Louima with a wooden stick while officer Charles Schwarz held him down in a bathroom at a station house on August 9, 1997. Thomas Wiese and Thomas Bruder, the other officers on trial, are accused of beating Mr. Louima on the way to the precinct. Sgt. Michael Bellomo is charged with attempting to cover up the incident.