According to many witnesses, police officer Michael Meyer shot 23-year-old Jimmy Nelson after a car chase. When Nelson and his cousin, Chaz Flonnory, got out of the car, the police grabbed Flonnory. Nelson took off running but didn't get very far before Meyer shot him. Meyer's bullet hit Nelson in the shoulder and then hit six-year-old Trevon Williams, who was sitting on the porch of a nearby house. The bullet went through the abdomen of Williams and then came out his back. Williams suffered serious injuries, but appears likely to survive. Both the victims of the shooting are Black, as are most of the residents of the neighborhood.

The police and city officials claimed that Meyer shot Nelson in the course of a struggle. Cleveland mayor Michael White said Nelson "became entangled with a police officer."

The police say they were pursuing Nelson and Flonnory in response to a complaint about drug dealing. They admit that the two were unarmed and do not assert either had drugs on them. City regulations state the police can fire their weapons only if their lives or the lives of others are in danger.

Neighborhood residents who witnessed the shooting disputed the story told by city officials and the cops. Eileen Latham, whose house is located in the middle of the incident, said, "They were not wrestling. I saw him [the cop] fire the shot. He pulled out his weapon and positioned and fired." Her husband, Mark Latham, added, "I don't feel that there was a need for a shot to be fired. They had him cornered. He wasn't going anywhere."

In interviews with the Militant, working people in the area were generally skeptical of the police version of events and said the problem of police violence is not going to go away. James Clardy, a 40-year-old truck driver, said, "What happened here is going to happen again. Drugs are always a convenient excuse for the police. It's the first thing they say. And it's not the small people who are bringing in the dope anyway."

Twenty-six-year-old Joncia Jackson said that on the street where the shooting occurred, "everyone sitting on their porches that day saw what happened: the cop deliberately knelt and aimed and fired at the guy who was running away. Everybody saw it. We all think this is a cover-up; why else would they put the cop on paid leave?"

Natalie Roberts, a 19-year-old student, also believed that police brutality is "not going to stop." But, she added, referring to the Militant, "I think we need to get more literature out about this so the people become more aware. Because of course the media is going with the police on this."

Tony Prince is a member of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and is the Socialist Workers candidate for Cleveland City Council, Ward 18.
 
 
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