Vol. 64/No.18 May 8, 2000

Youth in Georgia press fight against cop killing

BY DAVID KLIER and ARLENE RUBINSTEIN

VALDOSTA, Georgia—Willie Williams was stopped by Lowndes County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Farmer on Sept. 1, 1998. One day later, he was found dead in his jail cell. The People's Tribunal is building a movement here to protest police brutality and win justice for Williams.

The medical examiner who received Williams's body the next day found that he had a broken neck, a massive brain hemorrhage, three broken ribs, two front teeth knocked out, and scrapes and bruises all over his body.

A coroner's inquest ruled the death "accidental" on Dec. 2, 1998, with the three jury members who were white outvoting two Blacks. On December 18 a grand jury voted not to indict any police officers involved.

The local sheriff states that Williams simply fell down. However, a videotape from a backup squad car shows the arresting officer, Farmer, swinging a flashlight at Williams and knocking him to the ground. The medical examiner also found two deep oval contusions on the back of his head.

Since the hospital staff that treated Williams on the night of his arrest claims his injuries were not as severe as reported by the medical examiner, one question Tribunal members are asking is what happened to Williams after he went to jail. Conveniently, the booking tape that recorded Williams's arrival at the jail has disappeared.

Addressing an April 8 rally of 300, Tribunal leader Rev. Floyd Rose explained why the group continues to fight and is recruiting new members to its ranks. "Some people say we are fighting a losing battle. They say it's taking a long time, and there still isn't even a grand jury indictment. Or they find it possible to believe that Williams resisted arrest, or find it easier to just believe that this was an accident like the police say. I am not moved by any of this," said Rose. "I say when it comes to justice, all that matters is what is right. We will never let those responsible for the murder of Willie James Williams forget, because we will never stop fighting."

Young people join in

According to Truoise Nash, who helped organize the rally, the participation of youth has contributed to the staying power of the group. "Young people have made all the difference in us sticking with this fight," said Nash in an interview at the April 8 rally. "Youth today are more active, and if it takes protesting to gain recognition, they are willing to do it, whatever means are necessary to be heard." Nash was a veteran of the civil rights movement here, including the protests in 1961 to desegregate lunch counters in the city.

"This is a great cause," said rally participant Angie Furney, 22, who is a student at Valdosta State University (VSU). "Unless you're rich and white you are not represented in this town." Another VSU student, Jenny O'Hara, added, "The problem is everywhere, it's international."

Speaking at the rally, Atlanta Young Socialists member Paul Cornish pointed to the rise in police brutality as a worldwide problem. "What we are doing is very important. We are part of an international consciousness that is combating police brutality," he said. "But we should ask each other, what will it take to eliminate the problem of police brutality? In my opinion, the answer is the union of all workers, and taking our fight further to eliminate capitalism, which systematically breeds police brutality in every corner of the world."

The YS leader, who is also a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, called for solidarity with workers fighting for better wages and conditions on the job.

The rally broke into applause at the remarks of Manuel Cachan, a Cuban-American and professor at VSU. "The only cure for contempt, is counter contempt. Immigrants are told to behave, to speak English, to obey, to integrate. That this country is a melting pot. But we immigrants haven't melted yet. We have the right to be respected. We are not invisible," he said.

Willie Head, a farmer who recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Cuba and is vice president of the Tribunal, urged participants to learn more about the Cuban revolution. "The fact that you are here today shows that you are willing to be a fighter. The workers and farmers of Cuba have a lot to teach fighters like you and me."

There have been several developments here since the April 8 rally. The attorney for the Williams family, Joe Wiley, Jr., has discovered that there are two videotapes in circulation that were recorded from a patrol car at the scene of the arrest of Williams. According to the lawyer, one of these tapes shows Williams being struck with a flashlight, the other has these scenes edited out. Wiley believes that this edited tape was shown to the jurors as evidence and also may have been sent to the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, which has been asked to investigate the case.

The discovery that there are two different tapes goes along with the initial feeling by many that there is a cover-up operation going on. It has also come to light that Kevin Farmer, the officer who arrested Williams, is suing a local newspaper for slander in an attempt to shut down the only source of printed information regarding this and other issues that other local media will not publicize.

David Klier is a member of the Young Socialists and a student at Valdosta State University. Arlene Rubinstein is a member of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association in Atlanta.

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