Jasmine Groves Invites Community to Memorial For Victims of Police Violence

This letter from Jasime Groves comes via the New Orleans Independent Police Monitor:

From Tragedy to Triumph: Advocating for your family and community after a Police Shooting

Kim Marie Groves Homecoming Memorial


Greetings!

You are cordially invited to the 18th Annual Memorial for Kim Marie Groves and Families of People lost to law enforcement excessive force. In 1994, my mother was brutally and senselessly murdered for speaking out against police corruption, but I know she is one of many others who have not seen the justice as my family has. Len Davis is on death row, but how many other families never got their day in court or even an explanation of what happened to their deceased loved one?

We all deserve better and I believe we have the power to win better treatment for ourselves, our loved ones and our entire community. Every year, I hold a public memorial to honor my deceased mother, Kim Marie Groves, on the date of her death. My relationship with the Independent Police Monitor has inspired me to expand that memorial to remember the hosts of others lost. Also, I think we can do more than just remember our loved ones. We can change the rules of the game so that others won't have to suffer as we have.

Join us at Forstall Park (on the corner of Lizardi and Marais) on Saturday October 13th from 1:00- 5:00 PM. We will enjoy performances from local artist and the Red Hawk Hunters as well as hear from the family members of people like Henry Glover, Ronald Madison, and Adolph Grimes.  Come out and  Remember our lost loved ones, Celebrate their lives and Empower ourselves to build a safer, stronger community.  A flyer is attached. If you have any questions, please call me at 504-645-7690.

Thank you in advance for your leadership and support.

Sincerely,
Jasmine Groves

LJI Guest Columnist: Parnell Herbert on Police Accountability

As I sit in my apartment in Houston TX . I viewed a New Orleans news channel online and thought, "How pathetic. Will times never change?"

They are still using the same old strategies on us and we are still falling for them. "Civil Rights Leaders protest." The police assault on innocent civilians on the Danziger Bridge who were guilty of nothing more then trying to survive is the story I was drawn to.

"When Black people get angry, they call out the Safe Negroes to calm us down."

Several years ago I was in New Orleans after NOPD officers murdered mentally challenged Anthony Hayes on St Charles Ave. I was invited to join a group of "Civil Rights Leaders" to meet with Police Chief Warren Riley and high ranking officers of New Orleans police force.

After two hours of rhetorical discussion we left the meeting and met with the media who were anxiously waiting outside. Basically we said, "We told them not to do it again, and they said OK."

I was home New Years of 2009 when NOPD officers murdered a young man who was sitting in a car in front of his Grandmothers home. I watched the TV news as some of these same "Civil Rights Leaders" emerged from a meeting with Chief Riley and said, "We told them don't do it again, and they said OK."

On the Tuesday evening news, again many of the same "Civil Rights Leaders" held a press conference to denounce the actions of NOPD in the Danziger case.

What do you accomplish by denouncing a case where you have a confession? Where were they in 2005 when it occurred? That may be an unfair question because they were possibly dispersed throughout the country as many of us were. But a fair question is: "Where were they when New Orleans first Black District Attorney, Eddie Jordan, was being publicly lynched for bringing indictments against these same cops on this same case?"

I watched as they shouted into the microphones in front of the TV cameras expressing their outrage. Their "Call for justice and equality," their "Demand for change, change with police training and the way these investigations are handled," their plea for the incoming mayor to make choices that will prevent this from happening again.

I watched as incoming mayor Mitch Landrieu vowed to make sure we have a police force that is "Well resourced and well trained...to protect and to serve."

I was drawn to a term that we used often back in the 60's: "Talking loud and saying nothing!" That is the rhetoric I hear from the city.

The only way to demand and receive change is to reopen past cases of police abuse and murder beginning with the young brother on New Years morning; Anthony Hayes on St. Charles Ave; Raymond Robair on Villere St; Joe Williams of the Hot 8 Brass Band, Jenard Thomas murdered in front of his father.

Ask your readers to add to this list then go to City Councilman James Carter , State Representative Cedric Richmond of the Judiciary Commitee; Congressman John Conyers, Chairman of the Federal Judiciary Commitee; and Attorney General Eric Holder. And let us not forget Federal Investigator Jim Letten and Attorney General Buddy Caldwell.

We must also hold accountable Coroner Frank Minyard and his investigations and decisions in many of these cases. Accountability is the key. When police are shown that they can no longer get away with murder, they will discontinue the practice. The people of New Orleans are in a position to cause positive change throughout the United States.

These demands must be made publicly, they must be made loudly and they must be made clearly.

Just after I wrote about the police murder of Raymond Robair I found a new news story on the case: The FBI made a big deal about investigating that case and came up with the same cover up scenario. Business as usual.

Come on, Black people, stand up!!! We have to strike while the iron is hot. Google "Raymond Robair New Orleans " Don't sleep through this one.

Parnell Herbert is a New Orleanian, displaced to Houston by Hurricane Katrina. He is active on many social justice causes, including the right of return for New Orleanians, and freedom for the Angola Three. His new play, Angola Three, was recently performed in New Orleans.

Feds Explore Criminal Charges Against New Orleans Police Department

The Sunday Times-Picayune, in a front page story, reports that Federal agents have been investigating the New Orleans Police Department, issuing subpoenas, gathering grand jury testimony, and even “a surprise search warrant executed on the New Orleans Police Department homicide office.” The main targets of the investigation seems to be the killings in Algiers in the days after the storm, as well as those on the Danziger Bridge, but the probe goes further, also exploring “the police shooting of 22-year-old Adolph Grimes in the 6th Ward on New Year's Day” among other incidents. Hopefully, they will also explore the racial attacks led by NOPD officers at Midcity’s Beach Corner Bar in 2008.

According to the Picayune article, “Observers and authorities say the investigations, and the charges they are likely to result in, could shake the very foundation of the New Orleans Police Department in ways that haven't been seen since the Len Davis murder-for-hire case in the mid-1990s.”

Apparently, the NOPD have not been cooperative. In one incident mentioned in the article, “the 2nd District commander argued with and nearly barred agents earlier this summer from entering his station house.”

It’s good to see the Picayune give this story serious coverage. Perhaps they are attempting to atone for ignoring the Algiers story for over three years, until journalist AC Thompson wrote about it for ProPublica.com and the Nation Magazine.

Federal agents apparently first heard about the Algiers killings from the Nation article. It’s too bad that both the Feds and the Picayune didn’t pay attention to the many local journalists, activists, and others bringing the story up in the years before, including Malik Rahim on Democracy Now in 2005, the testimony at the 2007 Katrina Tribunal, sponsored by People’s Hurricane Relief Fund, reporting by blogger Darwin Bond-Graham on New Orleans Indymedia (also in 2007), and a documentary filmed by a European crew in 2005 called Welcome to New Orleans, which featured interviews with some of the white vigilantes involved in the killings.