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July 9, 2007

Students, Community Members and Elected Officials Rally TODAY Unlawful Arrest of Local Teens


CONTACT:
Lurie Daniel-Favors 917.326.0615 Oona Chatterjee 347.268.1892 Kevin McCall 646.584.7148, Assistant Deputy Chief of Staff to Councilmember Charles Barron

Dozens of students, community members and elected officials will rally TODAY in front of the 83rd precinct to ask that charges be dropped against unlawfully arrested teens

With the court dates of nearly 40 wrongfully arrested youth imminent, students, parents and concerned community members will rally outside the 83rd precinct today to demand that charges against them dropped.  City Council member Charles Barron, members of the newly-formed Student Coalition Against Racial Profiling (SCARP), and concerned community members will join many of the young men who were arrested in late May in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, on their way to a deceased friend's funeral.   

Despite widespread media attention, community support and numerous eyewitness testimonies which contradict the NYPD's account of events, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes has refused to drop the charges. Many of the students return to court this week for their first court appearances since arraignment. The Coalition further requests a public apology, and that Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly commit to dialoging with the Bushwick community to end police misconduct and racial profiling.  

"We are calling for District Attorney Charles Hynes to drop the charges," said Council member Barron.  "These young people were unable to mourn their friend's death because of ongoing police harassment in our communities. We must demand that all the charges be dropped." 

The community insists that this is only the latest example of the targeting of youth of color by the NYPD. Local teacher Tabari Bomani stated, "This is one of the worst cases of police racially profiling innocent people in recent years and the media has largely ignored the true story. We can't allow this to be pushed under the rug."

Oona Chatterjee, Co-Director of Make the Road by Walking, a community organization supporting the student founders of SCARP and those who were arrested, said, "it has amazed me how quickly the powers that be have rushed to condemn these young people.  From Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's public statements to the editorial pages of the Daily News, responsible adults have jumped to pronounce these young people guilty, with no concrete proof.  Our organization believes that these young people are owed much more respect than that. When the NYPD makes a mistake, it should admit that mistake."  

Press conference organizers highlight data gathered by the New York Civil Liberties Union -- in 2006, over 94% of stop and frisks by the 83rd precinct and 90% of stop and frisks citywide resulted in no summons issuance or arrest.  "This is how our community's young people experience the police.  They are stopped regularly, and often without reason," said Chatterjee.  

WHEN:     4:00 PM, TODAY, Monday, July 9, 2007
WHERE:   480 Knickerbocker Ave at Bleeker St. Bushwick, Brooklyn
 
Photo Opportunity


More on: Expanding Civil Rights 

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