Today at 5pm we will stand UNITED at People’s Park (Directly across from USX Building on Grant Street) Bring Signs! Bring Friends!

Who meant it when they chanted: “No Justice, No Peace!”?

Spread The Word! We will rally there until 5:45pm and then march to Market Square!

RSVP ON FACEBOOK

Police said Mr. Miles appeared to be carrying a weapon, although none was found, and had fled from the plainclothes officers, who tackled him.

Mr. Zappala said he and his investigators had reviewed four separate expert reports in the case and read the transcripts of the civil case under way by lawyers for Mr. Miles.

“I agree with the federal government,” Mr. Zapalla said in a news conference. He was referring to the decision of the U.S. Attorney’s office not to bring charges of civil rights violations against any of the officers involved in the case.

Mr. Zappala announced his decision one day after Allegheny County Councilman Bill Robinson asked his colleagues on council to look into what he described as possible conflicts of interests involving the district attorney’s office in cases involving citizens’ claims of police misconduct.

Council can initiate such a probe as part of its oversight of all county spending, Mr. Robinson said.

An organization called The Alliance for Police Accountability has held a series of rallies around the city to demand that policemen involved in the case be criminally charged.

Related Links

DA Zappala’s record: “16 bodies: One year of jail time” (2003 City Paper cover story)

But before he does that, he will introduce legislation May 15 to form a committee that will investigate the operation of the district attorney’s office, and look into a number of anonymous charges made against the office.

“I don’t usually deal with anonymous accusations, but my colleagues on council and I all received this information back in October when we were looking at bias in the Public Defender’s Office, and I have shared some of it with Mr. Zappala,” he said. “These accusations, and there are multiple charges, are very detailed.”

Robinson said, with respect to racial bias, one complaint noted the office has no history of hiring Black assistant district attorneys. Another charged that the panel set up to look at racial bias in the plea bargaining process was all-White.

“Under my authority as budget and finance chair I can investigate to see how money is spent and where, to see if the county is indeed getting what it pays for,” he said.

The legislation to create a countywide civilian police review panel, he said, will take a bit longer because he wants to “cross all the Ts.”

“Right now, there are approximately 119 police departments that do not have any civilian oversight when it comes to issues of excessive force,” said Robinson. “Police do a difficult and stressful job day in and day out. But we can’t be waiting for someone to get beaten or killed to let people know we will not tolerate police doing things that others would be jailed for. “

“This isn’t about Steve Zappala, though I think he’s been mostly reluctant to prosecute White officers who’ve killed or hurt African-Americans, it’s about future district attorneys,” he said. “Jordan Miles was beaten almost to a pulp. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for a district attorney to prosecute in serious cases. All our citizens should be assured that they are protected.”

In response, Zappala’s office noted that it prosecuted both Pittsburgh Housing Authority Officer John Charmo and Pittsburgh police Officer Jeffery Cooperstein, who both shot unarmed African-Americans while on duty.

Robinson said he plans to craft the legislation to give it more teeth than the city’s review board has. He said he plans to discuss its structure with CPRB Executive Director Elizabeth Pittinger and will “be informed by the challenges it has faced.”

With respect to one issue, allowing police to offer evidence that could not be used against them later in a criminal proceeding, Robinson said while he generally opposes any such immunity, he would hope County Executive Rich Fitzgerald would be “more progressive and in-tune” than recent Pittsburgh Mayors.

“We want to make sure officers and citizens alike are protected,” he said. “But we give police the power to carry weapons and even take a life, so they must be held to a higher standard.”

The third prong of Robinson’s legislative initiative would mandate that the district attorney and president judge recuse themselves from cases involving police actions that result in a death. Such cases would be handled by an independent special prosecutor.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gary L. Lancaster wrote in an order late Friday that the officers’ request for that evaluation, made March 22, came more than five months after the deadline for fact discovery set in the 20-month-old case.

Also denied was the officers’ motion for access to federal grand jury testimony of two of Mr. Miles’ friends. The officers had sought to develop evidence that Mr. Miles lied when he said that he was not carrying a Mountain Dew bottle at the time of arrest, and when he described his exact location at the time of the confrontation with the city’s anti-gun squad.

Consistent with his other rulings in the case, Judge Lancaster found that the arguments for obtaining the testimony were not strong enough to overcome the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. He noted that the two friends are not listed as witnesses for the trial, set to start July 16.

Finally, Judge Lancaster ruled in favor of Mr. Miles in his attorneys’ request to depose three investigators hired by the police to aid in preparation of their defense. That report was only recently produced and filed under seal, the judge’s order said.

Mr. Miles’ arrest for loitering, prowling, assault, resisting arrest and escape, and what he said was a beating that left him injured and badly swollen, became a touchstone for concern about police treatment of African-Americans in Pittsburgh.

Charges against Mr. Miles were dropped, and the officers were not charged.

The city settled with Mr. Miles for $75,000, but is still on the hook if a jury hands down a verdict against the officers.

Miles claims in a federal lawsuit that Pittsburgh police Officers Richard Ewing, Michael Saldutte and David Sisak beat him during the arrest. The city settled Miles’ claims against it for $75,000 but has agreed to pay any settlement from the claims against the police officers.

Bryan Campbell, the attorney representing the officers, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Kenkel’s analysis is part of the evidence Miles’ attorneys will use in arguing for damages. A jury trial is scheduled to start July 16.

“They were unfairly profiled and assumed to be up to no good,” Terez Miles said at a rally that drew about 50 people to Mellon Park in Shadyside.

The Alliance for Police Accountability has held a series of rallies around the city to demand that three city officers be prosecuted for beating Mr. Miles on a Homewood street in January 2010. This time, protesters also decried the deaths of 17-year-old Trayvon, who was shot dead by a block watch captain Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., and 31-year-old Jonny Gammage, a black motorist who died of positional asphyxiation during a 1995 altercation with police in the South Hills.

“My heart goes out to them,” Terez Miles said of Trayvon’s family.

George Zimmernan, who is white and Hispanic, has been charged with second-degree murder in Trayvon’s death. He said he began following the unarmed Trayvon because he looked suspicious and that the youth attacked him.

At the time of his altercation with police, Mr. Miles was an honors student at the city’s creative arts high school, Downtown.

He said white undercover officers Richard Ewing, Michael Saldutte and David Sisak beat him without provocation as he walked between his mother’s and grandmother’s houses. Police said Mr. Miles appeared to be carrying a weapon — none ever was found — and refused to stop when ordered.

The U.S. attorney’s office declined to prosecute the officers for civil-rights violations, and Mr. Miles’ supporters are demanding that Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. file criminal charges against them. Mr. Zappala hasn’t made a decision, and Mr. Miles’ supporters Saturday said he should step down if he can’t make the decision to file charges.

Brandi Fisher, chairman of the alliance, said rallies will be held monthly for the next three months.

“The reason I fight is that our children have a right to be who they are,” Ms. Fisher said.

Facebook Event Page

https://www.facebook.com/events/276310195782311/

Download the flyer as a PDF file

20120421-Jordan-Miles-Rally-flyer.pdf

Public Event organized by Brittany Claud and Ricky Burgess

Remembering Our Lost

Please join the Black Graduate Student Organization at Carnegie Mellon University as we rally for justice and remembrance of Trayvon Martin. THIS EVENT IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND ALL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN PITTSBURGH.
MARCH 26, 2012 12:30-1:30PM ON THE LAWN (by the fence) of CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY.

We seek justice, not only for his family and friends, but in honor of all racially profiled, stereotyped, and unjustly convicted citizens of this country, whose voices have long been suppressed and whose lives are often subject to overt discrimination and criminalization in a biased justice system.

We are Trayvon.

If you are unaware of the events of February 26, 2012:

On February 26th, Trayvon Martin, a 17 year old high school student visiting his father and soon-to-be stepmother in Sanford, Florida was gunned down in a gated townhouse community. Trayvon had left the house he and his father were visiting to walk to the local 7-Eleven. On his way back, he caught the attention of George Zimmerman, a 28 year old neighborhood watch captain. Zimmerman called the police on Trayvon, stating that he “looked real suspicious” and “looks like he’s up to no good and on drugs or something.”

The 911 dispatcher urged Zimmerman to stay in his vehicle while the police were dispatched to the scene. Zimmerman left his vehicle to pursue Trayvon and, soon after, 911 received calls from neighbors that the two were engaged in a scuffle. Shortly after, two gunshots rang out. When the police arrived, Trayvon was face down in the grass with a fatal bullet wound to the chest. Zimmerman was standing with blood on his face and grass stains on his back. Trayvon was unarmed, carrying a pack of Skittles and an iced tea. Zimmerman was armed, carrying a 9 millimeter handgun. Trayvon was black. Zimmerman is white.

The Sanford Police Department took Zimmerman into custody and released him after he admitted he shot Trayvon, but stated he “acted in self-defense.” Zimmerman has not been charged or arrested since.

WE INVITE:

All students, community leaders and activists, and residents to come and discuss the role of ethnic/racial profiling, stereotypes, and judicial bias in perpetuating violence and against minority groups in the United States. ALL ARE WELCOME.

CHIME IN ON TWITTER: #TrayvonatCMU