BY EDWIN FRUIT
PITTSBURGH - More than 500 loud and determined protesters marched and rallied in downtown Pittsburgh at rush hour on May 16 to oppose the latest developments in the Jonny Gammage case. Gammage was a Black motorist who was killed at the hands of five suburban cops in October 1995 during a routine traffic stop. Despite the recommendation by a coroner's jury of criminal homicide charges against the five cops, only three were put on trial and they were charged with involuntary manslaughter rather than murder.

An all-white jury was brought to Pittsburgh from Chester County, Pennsylvania, several hours away, for the trial of two of the cops. The judge granted a mistrial in that case last October. The third cop, John Vojtas, was acquitted in November by another all-white jury, sparking protests of up to 2,000.

The May 16 action was precipitated by two recent events. On April 22, the presiding judge barred the Allegheny County district attorney's office from retrying the two cops who had been part of the mistrial. And on May 6, Vojtas was promoted to sergeant by the city council in Brentwood, the suburb where the Gammage incident began.

The march was sponsored by over 15 organizations including local and regional groupings of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Pittsburgh Urban League, the YWCA, the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice, and the Socialist Workers Party. At a news conference to announce the march and rally, NAACP Youth Chapter president Nicolle Leary urged teenagers to attend the rally after school. "At what time period do I live, where KKK members run our streets and police get promoted for killing Blacks?" she asked.

Tim Stevens, president of the Pittsburgh NAACP, spoke at the City-County Building before the march took off to the Federal Building and led a chant of "Prosecute, Prosecute, Prosecute," referring to the demand to bring the U.S. Justice Department into the case.

Three students from Schenley High School in Pittsburgh explained why they came. They had all been part of the high school walkout which occurred after the Vojtas verdict last November, where over 1,000 students marched and rallied downtown. "How could Vojtas get promoted for committing a murder," Ogechi Chieke said. Marisela Silva remarked, "They killed someone wrongly and if we don't stand up to it, they'll keep doing it."

Cornell Womack of the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice said the next step in the struggle was to demand federal prosecution of all five cops. Janet Reno, the Attorney General, is expected to be in Pittsburgh on May 24 to address the graduating class of the University of Pittsburgh Law School. Several speakers urged everyone to be present outside the graduation to press the demand for civil rights violation charges to be filed.

Others called for a march in the predominantly white neighborhood of Brentwood to protest the Vojtas promotion. Some speakers urged people to vote for the Police Civilian Review Board, which is on the May 20 primary ballot.

Edwin Fruit is a member of the International Association of Machinists Local Lodge 1976.  
 
 
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