Community activists to protest today, April 4, at 5 pm on Public Square in downtown Cleveland over the 137 bullets shooting deaths by a group of White Cleveland police officers of Malissa Wiliams and Timothy Russell, other victims of violence are encouraged to attend

Malissa Williams and Timothy Ray Russell

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, Cleveland Urban News. Com and The Cleveland Urban News.Com Blog, Ohio's Most Read Online Black Newspaper(www.clevelandurbannews.com)

CLEVELAND,Ohio-Community activists will protest today, April 4, at 5 pm on Public Square in downtown Cleveland over fatal police shootings, including the shooting deaths late last year by Cleveland police of unarmed Blacks Malissa Wiliams, 30, and Timothy Russell, 43, both gunned down with a hail of some 137 bullets following a police chase from downtown Cleveland that ended near a middle school in the neighboring city of East Cleveland. 

The rally will also address other victims of violence in Greater Cleveland, organizers said. For more information contact Khalid Samad at 216-538-4043 or Griot Y-Von at 216-355-3374.

Some 65 police cars were involved in a 28 minute police chase with 13 all non-Black Cleveland police officers participating in the deadly shooting.

Criminal charges, if any, have not yet been filed against the officers, all of whom are on light duty with pay.

"We are going to keep this atrocity of Tim and Malissa in the public because we have a tendency to forget," said Abdul Qahhar (pictured), chairman of The Cleveland Chapter of the New Black Panther Party. 

Khalid Samad (pictured), leader of Peace in the Hood and the Task Force for Community Mobilization, said that he will lead the protest that includes other grassroots community organizations such as Black on Black Crime, The People's Forum, The Audacity of Hope Foundation, The Greater Cleveland Immigrant Support Network and The Imperial Women.

"This rally is to stop the madness and to stop the murders because what happen to Tim and Malissa is madness," said Samad, a longtime community activist.

At a meeting of Black on Black Crime held Wednesday night community activists, who attended the meeting in droves along with family members of Williams,  were upset and said that the killings must stop.

"We support the rally and I will be there," said Art McKoy (pictured), founder of Black on Black Crime. 

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