Vol. 73/No. 41      October 26, 2009

The 23-year-old African American was gunned down August 24 by two Rockford police officers in the basement of Kingdom Authority Ministries church that also housed a day-care center. Barmore was unarmed. The rally was held in the church.

Witnesses say the young man had his hands up when he was shot several times in front of preschool children. The police report claims Barmore was shot after he reached for an officer’s gun. The coroner, on the other hand, confirmed that he was shot three times in the back and twice in the neck.

This was the third protest in Rockford against the killing. Some 200 people had marched through the downtown area August 28 chanting, “Blood on their badges” and “His hands were up.” On September 12 some 1,300 marched, holding signs demanding justice for Barmore and demanding jobs and health care. Jesse Jackson and NAACP president Ben Jealous addressed that rally.

In addition to people from Rockford, NAACP chapters brought participants from throughout the Midwest to this latest protest. Many of them spoke from the church stage to tell of cop brutality in their cities.

Berta Russell, a bus driver in Rockford, said, “When I heard what happened I was traumatized, how they went about it… . You got to take a stand. When are these things going to stop?”

Ella Charles, another Rockford resident, said, “The fact they did it in front of children makes it even worse. Everybody had the same story. He came out to surrender and was shot several times.”

The fact that Barmore had a criminal record doesn’t justify the cops’ action, added Charles, echoing what many at the rally told the Militant. The day Barmore was shot he was wanted by police for questioning in a domestic dispute.

Speakers at the rally included Jealous; Melvin Brown, pastor of Kingdom Authority Ministries church; a representative of Amnesty International; and Nate Parker, who acted in the movie The Great Debaters.

Steve Bland, Detroit NAACP president, said, “This is not just a Rockford thing… . We need to look beyond the surface and see there is a deeper thing happening.”

The NAACP is calling for the Justice Department to launch a full investigation into the killing and the “pattern and practice” of the Rockford cops.

The two white cops involved in Barmore’s death, Oda Poole and Stan North, have been involved in other cases where Black men were shot. In 2003, North wounded an African American man. In 2007, Poole fatally shot another Black who had a hammer and was carrying a suicide note. The police department and grand juries found no wrongdoing in either case.

City officials and the police have actively campaigned to justify the cops’ latest killing. One thousand people marched in downtown Rockford in support of the police September 19. Prominent among the marchers were members of the Winnebago County Board, city council, church figures, and retired police officers, according to the Rockford Register Star.  
 
 
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