Anti-police brutality rally: Activists to rally outside of Cleveland City Hall on July 2, 2017 at noon to demand that the city appeal an arbitration decision to hand 5 of the 6 fired non-Black Cleveland cops that gunned down unarmed Blacks Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell with 137 bullets to the court of common pleas...13 non-Black Cleveland cops shot 137 bullets, only six of them fired, and only Michael Brelo, who shot 49 of the 137 bullets, should remain fired, arbitrator William Heekin ruled on June 13, 2017 in handing the 5 other killer cops their jobs back....Call (216) 659-0473 for more info on the rally....Activist groups to rally include Black on Black Crime Inc., the Imperial Women Coalition, the Committee for Social Justice, the Carl Stokes Brigade, Refuse Facism.org., the National Black Panther Party, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor, the Cleveland People's Forum, and the Black Man's Army.....By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of www.clevelandurbannews.com and www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's Black digital news leaders
 |
CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM-CLEVELAND, Ohio- Community members and community activists will rally Sunday, July 2, 2017 outside of Cleveland City Hall in downtown Cleveland regarding unarmed Blacks Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell, who were gunned down in 2012 by 13 non-Black Cleveland cops slinging 137 bullets following a high speed car chase from downtown Cleveland to Heritage Middle School in neighboring East Cleveland. (For more information contact activists Kathy Wray Coleman of the Imperial Women Coalition at (216) 659-0473, Art McKoy of Black on Black Crime Inc at (216) 253-4070, and Alfred Porter Jr. of Black on Black Crime Inc at (216) 804-7462).
Participating activist groups who will rally on Monday include Black on Black Crime Inc., the Imperial Women Coalition, the Committee for Social Justice, the Carl Stokes Brigade , Refuse Facism.org., the National Black Panther Party, Stop Targeting Ohio's Poor, the Cleveland People's Forum, and the Black Man's Army.
Activists are angry because an arbitrator, on Tuesday, ruled that while officer Michael Brelo should remain fired, the other five officer fired out of the 13 that did the shooting, none of them Black, should get their jobs back without back pay.
They say all six should remain fired and that arbitrator William Heekin was bias in favor of the cops, and that he exceeded his authority under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement at issue.
On Monday activists will call on the city to appeal the arbitration decision to the common pleas court within the 30 day time line since it was issued by the arbitrator on June 13.
If the city refuses the requested appeal the community is without redress, the Ohio Supreme Court ruling via unrelated case that only the union and management can seek to overturn an arbitrary arbitration decision issued via a collective bargaining agreement between a public employer and union.
On Monday activists will call on the city to appeal the arbitration decision to the common pleas court within the 30 day time line since it was issued by the arbitrator on June 13.
If the city refuses the requested appeal the community is without redress, the Ohio Supreme Court ruling via unrelated case that only the union and management can seek to overturn an arbitrary arbitration decision issued via a collective bargaining agreement between a public employer and union.
Brelo was exceptionally callus and shot 49 of the 137 bullets into the car Russell had been driving, after it became cornered and stationary at Heritage school, and was surrounded by an army of cops allegedly hell bent on getting vengeance by any means necessary.
Heekin, who was chosen by the city and the police union from a list of arbitrators from the American Arbitration Association, also upheld the 21-day suspensions for officers Scott Sistek, Cynthia Moore, Randy Patrick, Paul Box and Det. William Salupo, as well as a 22-day suspension for Det. Michael Rinkus.
Activists say the arbitration process is a sham to the detriment of the Black community and others, particularly those subjected to excessive force and other police misconduct.
Mayor Jackson issued a press release on the issue.
"The city terminated six of those officers and gave lengthy suspensions to the other six," said Jackson, who is Black. "We are pleased that the arbitrator confirmed the severity of the violations committed by the officers and that he upheld the termination of Officer Brelo and that he upheld the lengthy suspensions for the six officers whom the city had not terminated."
Longtime community activist Art McKoy of Black of Black Crime Inc. called the arbitrator's decision to hand jobs back to the five killer cops "terrible."
Don Freeman, who leads the Committee for Social Justice, and who led the charge for the mayor to fire the cops, said he and his group members will attend the rally, which will also include a press conference, activists said.
The city and the police union [the Cleveland Police Patromen's Association] can appeal the arbitrator's binding decision to the court of common pleas on grounds that the arbitrator abused his authority, though overturning an arbitration award in Ohio rarely occurs, regardless of the merits of the case.
In addition to Brelo, the other police officers fired of the 13 that gunned down Williams and Russell were Det. Erin O'Donnell officers Brian Sabolik, Wilfredo Diaz and Michael Farley, and Det. Chris Ereg.
The car chase that resulted in the unprecedented deaths of two innocent Black people culminated in some 64 police cars and some 105 officers, those that did the killing ignoring supervisor orders to back down.
Williams, 30, and Russell, 43, both homeless but not wanted by the law, died at the scene, police later claiming that they were in hot pursuit of the pair due to a mistake by the cop that initiated the chase of the alleged backfiring of Russell's 1979 Malibu Classic as a gun shot
Former county prosecutor Timothy McGinty shielded all of the police officers but Brelo from criminal indictments by a grand jury after they appeared before the grand jury in tears, fake tears, in fact, say community activists.
Brelo faced manslaughter charges in 2015 in a bench trial before Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge John 'Donnell who, on May 23, 2015, freed him on all charges, namely two counts of voluntary manslaughter.
The verdict caused racial unrest with police in riot gear arresting some 71 protesters, mainly in downtown Cleveland, and on charges primarily of obstruction of official business and resisting arrest, many for scrimmages with police.
O'Donnell, who is White, lost a a bid for the Ohio Supreme Court last year by roughly 24,000 votes following fallout from Black voters regarding his controversial verdict, and outright criticism from activists and several Black members of Cleveland City, led by Ward 9 Councilman Kevin Conwell.
The city of Cleveland is currently under a court-monitored consent decree for police reforms with the U.S. Department of Justice.
ClevelandUrbanNews.Com and the KathyWrayColemanOnlineNewsBlog.Com, Ohio's most read digital Black newspapers with some 4.5 million readers on Google Plus alone. And the ClevelandUrbanNews.Com website stats reveal some 26 million hits since 2012. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com.
|
