They were protesting the Christmas eve killing of 12-year-old Black youth Michael Ellerbe, shot in the back by state troopers.

An all-white coroner’s jury declared on January 27 that the shooting was "justifiable homicide." The county district attorney, Nancy Vernon, has refused to file charges against the police.

People Against Police Violence (PAPV), a new group, called the February 15 march. It attracted many people from Uniontown and surrounding areas who were outraged that the cops could get away with this killing. A large number of young people participated in the protest.

Michael Ellerbe was gunned down as he ran from a sport utility van. The state troopers claim the vehicle was stolen. Trooper Samuel Nassan, who says he fired the shots, insists he thought Ellerbe had a gun because he could not see his hand. The youth was unarmed and other witnesses say the boy’s hands were not in his pockets as he ran.

Nassan said he fired after he heard a shot and thought his partner, Juan Curry, had been shot. Nassan later claimed the shot he heard must have been Curry’s gun firing "accidentally."

Nassan also claimed he didn’t know Ellerbe was a child, although the chase took place at 2:20 in the afternoon and at one point Nassan said he was so close to the boy that he could have grabbed him.  
 
‘No justice in Fayette County’
Many in the majority-Black, working-class protest were Ellerbe’s classmates and their parents, or neighbors. High school student Tequila Thomas knew Michael Ellerbe. "They had no reason to shoot him," she declared. Some traveled from other towns in this mining region. An older woman from Brownsville said, "In Fayette County I don’t believe there is justice for Black men. The cops stand there waiting for them."

Gerald McClendon, 19, carried a sign that read: "Serve and Protect, never that--It’s Seek and Destroy." He came in a caravan from the Lighthouse Church organized by the Pittsburgh chapter of PAPV. That group organized a similar march two weeks earlier against the police killing of Charles Dixon, who is also Black.

Angela Lee, a worker who had witnessed the beginning of the chase from her window, joined the protest. "My daughter went to school with Michael," she explained. "The cops had their guns out when he first got out of that truck."

The demonstration ended with a rally outside the courthouse in downtown Uniontown. Michael Ellerbe’s father, Michael Higgenbottom, said, "The state police shot and killed my son. Now they’re trying to cover it up. We’re not going to let them do that. We will win this one!"

Deana Patterson, speaking for the Uniontown chapter of PAPV, said many in the crowd were familiar with police violence. "The police are always following you around, pulling you over for no reason."

Darlene Dennis, also a PAPV leader, read a statement from the group to Debbie Villarreal, in San Antonio, Texas, whose 14-year-old daughter Ashley was gunned down by Drug Enforcement Agency cops on February 9. The statement pledged that activists from Pennsylvania will go to San Antonio to express their solidarity with the Villarreal family. It also suggested they may want to set up a chapter of PAPV there.  
 
Coal miner family joins march
Ray Galbraith, a coal miner, and his wife Barbara came to the march to express solidarity with Ellerbe’s family. Their son, 18, also died after a police chase. Barbara Galbraith told the rally, "The abuse and noncaring for our people must stop."

Robert Spence, a pastor and former county NAACP leader, spoke and announced he was resigning as a chaplain for the state police. He demanded other officials involved in the case resign.

"We who are here today are the leaders," noted Omari Musa, speaking as a member of the Pittsburgh PAPV. "We have our differences but we are united against police violence. Today, as the U.S. government is waging a war against Iraq, we should think about those children in Palestine who stand up to the Israeli tanks. That’s the fighting spirit we have to have."

Pete Shell of the Thomas Merton Center in Pittsburgh, described the international protests occurring the same day around the world against war with Iraq.

Speakers denouncing the war drew a favorable response. Reneé Wilson, co-founder of PAPV in Pittsburgh, said, "Here we are, people of all colors, united whether it’s against an unjust war or unjust killings, America’s undeclared war at home.

"Those entrusted with a badge are not above the law. We will cry out from the courthouses and stand at the police stations until we win justice."

The rally sent a message to the family of Charles Dixon, declaring, "We march to demand the truth. We march to demand these killer cops be jailed."

There have been no arrests in the Dixon case, either, and his coroner’s inquest is ongoing.  
 
 
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