BY PATTIE THOMPSON
CHICAGO - More than 500 people marched to the police
headquarters here June 17 protesting two recent killings of
Black people by Chicago cops.
Chanting "No justice, no peace," and carrying signs referring to these and other victims of police brutality, the protesters demanded a full investigation of the killings and an end to the cops' cover-ups. A caravan of 10-15 UPS drivers drove their delivery vans to the march, honking their horns and displaying signs that said, "Stop Police Brutality."
The cops gunned down LaTanya Haggerty June 5 after they approached the driver of the car she was in for double parking. Eyewitnesses stated that she was fatally shot getting out of the car with her hands up. The cop who fired claimed she thought a cell phone in the car was a gun.
The same day Haggerty was killed, the police shot Robert Russ at point blank range after breaking the rear driver's side window to get at him. The cops had started their pursuit of Russ supposedly because of "erratic driving."
Within hours of the Russ killing, the police department stated the shooting was accidental. Later that day, police spokespeople announced that their investigation concluded it was justified.
Dozens joined protests at the city hall immediately. The daily lunchtime protests continued all week leading up to the June 17 march.
Antonia Randolph, a student from Northwestern University, where Robert Russ was to have graduated June 11, joined the demonstration "because we've got to put pressure on the cops like in New York City," referring to the wave of protests against the cop killing of Amadou Diallo.
Pattie Thompson is a member of International Association of Machinists Local 1474.