Cleveland, East Cleveland activist dies...Imperial Women Coalition, Women's March Cleveland comment...By Clevelandurbannews.com, Ohio's Black digital news leader
Above picture: Activist Terrie Tolefree (holding red, black, and green flag) at an activist protest in East Cleveland after Cleveland police gunned down two unarmed Blacks following a high-speed car chase from downtown Cleveland to a middle school in neighboring East Cleveland. Speaking is Cleveland activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, who leads The Imperial Women Coalition and Women's March Cleveland, Also pictured to the far right are the mother and aunt of "137 shots" murder victim Malissa Williams, who was gunned down by Cleveland police as a passenger in the car of murder victim Timothy Russell, who was also gunned down by police.
CLEVELAND, Ohio-Longtime Cleveland and East Cleveland activist Terrie Tolefree has died. Funeral arrangements are pending.
Tolefree was in the trenches as an activist for decades, residing in East Cleveland but protesting throughout greater Cleveland, including when Cleveland police, in 2012, gunned down two unarmed Blacks following a police chase from Cleveland to a middle school in East Cleveland, firing 137 bullets, and when the late serial killer Anthony Sowell strangled and murdered 11 Black women on Imperial Avenue in Cleveland. (Editor's note: Sowell died in 2021 while on death row).
Imperial Women Coalition activist Kathy Wray Coleman, who also leads Women's March Cleveland, said Tolefree will be missed.
"Terrie was a fighter, and she could be counted on to show up and stand up when an egregious injustice occurred, like the '137 shots' of two unarmed Blacks by Cleveland police, and the Imperial Avenue Murders of 11 Black women by Anthony Sowell, where police ignored missing persons reports, " Coleman said.
Alfred Porter Jr. of Black on Black Crime Inc. agreed, and said, "Terrie was there when we needed her, and she was not afraid to speak out when necessary."
Stay tuned for more information on this story, including funeral arrangements for activist Terrie Tolefree,
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com

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