BY BILL SCHEER
MINNEAPOLIS - Bending to protests and faced with the probability of losing its case in court, the Hennepin County Attorney's office dropped its frame-up charges against Lawrence Miles Jr. here January 20. Miles, a 16-year-old Black youth, was shot in the back by police last summer, and then charged with two counts of making terrorist threats against a police officer.

The city's capitulation came a day after 250 people marched and rallied in defense of Miles at a broadly sponsored Martin Luther King Day protest. It was the fifth rally and march organized recently to protest police brutality and demand the charges against Miles be dropped.

"By agreeing to this resolution, I am not admitting any wrong doing," said Miles in a statement, referring to the fact that as part of the settlement he will take a gun education class. "I firmly believe my civil and human rights were violated when Officer Storlie shot me," added the youth, who is pursuing a lawsuit against the police.

The police story that Miles pointed a pellet gun at them began to unravel when medical authorities confirmed that he was shot in the back. Most recently, Leonard Thompson, a firefighter who arrived at the scene, disputed the cops' version of events. Thompson said he saw the pellet gun near the back door where Miles said he dropped it, not in the alley where Miles was shot, as police claimed.

Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman, who brought the charges against Miles, said, "The gun program [that Miles will attend] shows there are consequences for running around with a gun at 1:30 in the morning. He paid a huge price. He almost died. He has permanent injuries." Freeman has announced his intention to seek the Democratic Party nomination for Minnesota governor.

Hundreds of people have rallied in defense of Miles at broadly sponsored protest actions since the youth was shot last August. "Freeman underestimated us," said Chris Nisan, a protest leader who chaired the January 19 rally. "He wanted to show how tough he was on crime, that he would make a tough Governor. He didn't think we would respond. He was wrong."

Other speakers included Native American activists Clyde Bellecourt, Vernon Bellecourt, and Roxanne Gould; Black community activist Spike Moss; and representatives from Anti- Racist Action, the Million Woman March, the Progressive Student Organization, and the Young Socialists. Leaders of the NAACP and Urban League were introduced.

Other victims of police abuse also spoke at the rally.

Bill Scheer is a member of the United Steelworkers of America Local 7263.  
 
 
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