In each case the police officers on the scene insisted the suspects were armed. In all but one case still under investigation, Miami police investigators and the state prosecutor found the shootings justified. Now the federal indictment charges that the cops lied.

Newscasters on the September 7 evening news joined Mayor Joe Carollo and Police Chief Raúl Martínez in expressing regret that these indictments would further erode public confidence in the police. According to the Miami Herald, Florida State attorney Katherine Fernández Rundle stated that until revelations surfaced of a "gun-planting conspiracy" by cops in the 1997 police shooting of a homeless man, "no one would have believed that a group of officers would get together to concoct stories and plant weapons."

In fact, the indictments come at a time when working people in Miami have grown increasingly angry over a recent series of police shootings.

On April 30 police shot 18-year-old Nicholas Singleton in the back of the head. The cops claimed he had a gun, but investigations have shown that he was unarmed and that the 19 bullet shells found on the scene were from police guns. Marc Dorvil, a Haitian immigrant who worked as a carpenter and part-time minister, died in the custody of North Bay Village police on May 14. One thousand people protested June 2 against the killing and the police cover-up and lies reported in the press that Dorvil was in a "cocaine fit" at the time of his death. Supporters and family of Alphaeus Dailey have kept alive the fight for justice in his June 17 shooting death. Confined to a wheelchair, Dailey was shot eight times in the back by a North Miami Beach police officer.

Two of the 13 indicted cops have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the prosecution. John Mervolion, a cop involved in one shooting, told prosecutors that officer Jesus Aguero kneeled over the body of dying robbery suspect Antonio Young and said, "How does it feel to rob white people, nigger? Well, now you are going to hell and die."

Antonio's mother Alice Young was outraged by the report and told the Herald, "Didn't I tell you they were racist? How many people do you think he killed? Now you know that man has to pay for what he did." Federal prosecutors have discussed seeking the death sentence for Aguero, who was involved in three of the shootings. Alice Young opposed such a penalty, saying, "I wouldn't want someone to be put to death. That's not for me to say about anybody. But put his butt in jail. Put him in jail for 30 to 40 years."

Michael Italie is the Socialist Workers candidate for mayor of Miami.  
 
 
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