Vol. 79/No. 14      April 20, 2015

Militant

Nicholas Thomas’ previous arrest record “doesn’t give the cops the right to kill him,” said Huey Thomas, his father. Above, March 31 rally outside Smyrna, Georgia, City Hall.

The rally, called by the NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was marked by participation of workers — many towing along their children, others still in work clothes.

“This is sad that we have to keep coming out to protest this issue,” nurse Brenda Montgomery told the Militant at the rally. “Ferguson, New York, now Georgia, it’s like it’s happening everywhere. But we can’t stop protesting. It’s got to stop.”

Thomas arrived for work at the Goodyear Tire Center March 24, a factsheet distributed by rally organizers said. The cops had informed his supervisor that they were coming to arrest Thomas. The cops confronted him as he was driving a vehicle into the shop for service.

Thomas was wanted because he had stopped going to monthly meetings with a probation officer, stemming from a domestic incident in which he pled guilty to obstructing an officer, Fox News reported.

The cops claim Thomas drove the car around the shop several times in a “reckless” manner and, in fear of his life, Smyrna police Sgt. Kenneth Owens shot through the window, killing him.

“The cops’ story doesn’t hold water,” truck driver Roderick Hamilton told the Militant. “They had the cops, a SWAT unit, dogs — all that force and they had to kill an unarmed man? It stinks.”

“They messed with the wrong family this time,” Felicia Thomas, Nicholas’ mother, told the rally. “He didn’t die in vain. His death will stand for change.”

The family demanded the Georgia Bureau of Investigation take the case out of the hands of the cops. It’s time for the police to stop investigating themselves, Thomas’ mother said.

“You know the media and the police department have put out a whole lot of irrelevant stuff about my son,” Huey Thomas, Nicholas’ father, said, referring to extensive coverage on his son’s previous arrest record. “None of that gave them the right to kill him.”

“I am here to show solidarity with this family because I know the pain they are going through,” said Delisa Davis, the sister of Kevin Davis, who was killed by DeKalb County cops last December. “We have all got to show our support every time this happens. The police have got to be held accountable.”

“We will be with this family for as long as it takes and for whatever they need,” said Deane Bonner, president of the local NAACP branch.

Two days after the rally, Cobb County District Attorney Victor Reynolds bowed to the demand of the family, saying his office and the county cops had requested the Georgia Bureau of Investigation take over the investigation.

Thomas was the second unarmed man to die at the hands of police in the Atlanta area last month. Anthony Hill, an Afghan war veteran who suffered from bipolar disorder, was shot and killed by a DeKalb County cop March 9. The bureau has also taken over the investigation of this shooting.

Ultraleft call for guns weakens fight
While most speakers at the rally focused on demands that the cops responsible for killing Thomas be fired, one advocated responding with guns, an ultraleft course that would undermine the fight.

“We ain’t talking about no ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot,’” said a representative of the National Coalition to Combat Police Terrorism. “We have the right to bear arms, so we say ‘Arms up.’”

The SCLC suspended Sam Mosteller, its Georgia state president, after he told a press conference earlier that day that African-Americans need to “advocate their Second Amendment rights,” the right to bear arms. He told the press later he was tired of marching.
 
 
Related articles:
London march protests cop killing of Henry Hicks
250 in Michigan protest cop assault against auto worker
 
 
 
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