Councilman Nate Martin, Social Justice Institute to host public forum today, July 31, at 6 pm on 137 shots Cleveland police fatal shooting of unarmed Blacks Malissa Williams and Tim Russell, forum is at the Empowerment Church in East Cleveland, 15837 Euclid Avenue, activists will have petition to sign to seek the firing of the 13 non-Black Cleveland cops that did the shooting, call Councilman Martin at (216) 310-9512 for more information
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Cleveland police cars chase two unarmed Blacks from downtown Cleveland to neighboring East Cleveland the night of Nov. 29, 2012. The 23 minute car chase ended in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School in East Cleveland and culminated in 13 non- Black Cleveland police officers firing a total of 137 bullets at Malissa Williams 30, and Timothy Ray Russell, 43, the driver of the 1979 Chevy Malibu. Both Russell and Williams were Black, and both died at the scene. Black elected officials and community activists will host a forum on the deadly shooting at 6 pm today, July 31, at the Empowerment Church in East Cleveland, 15837 Euclid Avenue. For more information call Councilman Martin at (216) 310- 9512.
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Shooting Victim Malissa Williams
EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio- The Social Justice Institute in cooperation with East Cleveland City Councilman Nate Martin will host an open mike public forum today, Thursday, July 31, 2014, relative to the 137 shots Cleveland police shooting of unarmed Blacks Malissa Williams, 30, and Timothy Russell 43. The community gathering is at 6 pm at the Empowerment Church in East Cleveland, 15837 Euclid Avenue. For more information call Councilman Martin at (216) 310- 9512.
"This is to address the 137 shots atrocity and it is a public forum," said Martin, likely the most outspoken of the five-member East Cleveland City Council. The unprecedented fatal shooting followed a high speed car chase that began in downtown Cleveland and ended in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School in neighboring East Cleveland the night of Nov. 29, 2012. Both Cleveland and East Cleveland are predominantly Black cities among Cuyahoga County's 59 municipalities, villages and townships. A settlement of the lawsuits filed by the estates of the two shooting victims was reached earlier this month in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio before federal district court Judge Dan Polster, but community activists and many community members want the 13-non Black police Cleveland police officers that did the shooting fired. Also at Thursday's forum, said Martin, will be a petition to sign seeking just that, the firing of the 13 police officers at issue, all of them White but one, and he is Hispanic.
A Cuyahoga County Grand Jury last month handed down an indictment on two counts of voluntary manslaughter against one of 13 non- Black Cleveland police officers that gunned down Williams and Russell , a celebrated tragedy that has heightened racial unrest in the two cities.
Prosecutors had sought a two-count murder indictment for Patrolman Michael Brelo, among other charges, but the grand jury opted for the lesser charge of manslaughter. The case is before Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell and Brelo has pleaded not guilty.
Manslaughter is a first degree felony in Ohio that carries a possible prison sentence of three to 10 years. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty told reporters during a press conference on the grand jury indictments that his office did not recommend any charges against the 12 officers that escaped indictments. That posture has upset community activists who have protested and are demanding that another grand jury convene independent of what they say was prejudice by McGinty and his office. They also want federal charges as well as the firing of the 13 cops that did the shooting. Some community members and community activists called the grand jury decision and McGinty's refusal to seek charges against the 12 police officers at issue unjust, racist and outright shameful.
Brelo was the lone Cleveland police patrolman charged. He
jumped aboard the hood of the 1979 Chevy Malibu driven by Russell and fired 49 shots through the windshield.
No gun was found at the deadly scene.
Also charged by the county grand jury were five police supervisors, but on second degree misdemeanor charges of dereliction of duty. They have all pleaded not guilty and are sergeants Patricia Coleman, Randolph Daley, Jason Edens, Michael Donegan and Lt.Paul Wilson
The police supervisors, other than Donegan, who was fired last year, have been placed on restricted duty while Brelo has been suspended without pay. Those supervisors were among nine involved in the tragic episode that were suspended last year, with two demoted, though an arbitrator subsequently ruled in their favor and reversed the disciplinary measures.
All 12 police officers that got off still face possible disciplinary charges, said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams at a press conference after the grand jury indictments came down.
Attorney General Mike DeWine released findings last year by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation (BCI) in a comprehensive 290 page report where he laid blame on the administration of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and what he said are infrastructure problems in the Cleveland Police Department, a claim the mayor has publicly denied.
Reach Cleveland Urban News.Com by email at editor@clevelandurbannews.com and by phone at 216-659-0473.
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