BY LAWRENCE MIKESH  
MIAMI--Family members and friends of Alphaeus "Duke" Dailey organized a remembrance vigil here June 17 in protest of Dailey’s fatal shooting by police one year ago and for all victims of cop brutality.

Vowing to take the fight for justice forward, Dailey’s family filed a federal civil-rights and wrongful death lawsuit the day after the vigil after the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office cleared the cop who killed Dailey of any wrongdoing.

H.T. Smith, an attorney who filed the lawsuit, told the Miami Herald, "The family has waited for the system to work. Unfortunately, the system has failed them miserably."

On June 17, 2001, Dailey, who was paralyzed from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair, was shot four times in the back with a laser-sighted gun from 15 to 20 feet away.

Several witnesses stated that Dailey was unarmed and that his hands were in the air when he was shot. Family members and community activists argue that the gun found 20 feet from Dailey’s body may have been planted, pointing to the fact that no fingerprints were found on the weapon or the bullets. A team of three prosecutors with the Miami-Dade state attorney’s office considered these claims not credible and exonerated the officer.

The public vigil was held at the entrance of St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church where Dailey was gunned down. Participants in the action held up a large banner with the names of some 60 working people and youth murdered by Miami police from 1979 to 2002.

Leon Thomas, the uncle of Alphaeus Dailey, and a main organizer of the event, stated, "When this started we thought it was an isolated event. It’s not. It’s not only about Duke anymore."

In his closing remarks, Thomas made clear his determination to continue the fight for justice for Dailey. "We want to send a message to the youth. You’ve got to get involved. You’ve got to get involved when this killing happens. The fight is not over yet. This fight is everyone’s, and we must fight together--in every neighborhood here and around the world."  
 
 
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