Police brutality has been an issue in The Town of Stratford for decades. Stratford do not forsake my daughter Titasheen! The law is the truth. Truth is just. Let us not dwell too long on the ones who hate peace. Remember what happened to Titasheen and Mr. Alvin O’Neal on March 21,2006 with complete clarity. As a mother my heart grieves. I am pleading for my child using peace and praying for justice. Marcia Mitchell-DavisStratford Rally Police Brutality Picture 7/15/2006
Photo by: E J Moss
203-915-0702
203-387-4758
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 3:05 PM
0 comments
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Photo by: E J Moss
203-915-0702
203-387-4758
Stratford Rally Police Brutality Pictures
Photo by: E J Moss
203-915-0702
203-387-4758
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 1:38 PM
0 comments
Stratford Rally Police Brautality
Photo by E J Moss
203-915-0702
203-387-4758
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 12:30 PM
0 comments
Stratford Rally 7/15/2006
Photo by: E J Moss 203-915-0702 or 203-387-4758
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 12:24 PM
0 comments
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Tensions simmer in Stratford
Tensions simmer in Stratford
RICHARD WEIZEL rweizel@ctpost.com
STRATFORD — Even a simple meeting to introduce the Police Department's new community policing patrol in the South End brought controversy Wednesday, with several residents blasting the moderator, Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, for trying "to censor" their comments.
The meeting was held in the Birdseye Municipal Complex. It was O'Neal's involvement in a March 21 melee in front of a group of Woodend Road storefronts that led to a recent anti-racism rally that drew nearly 400 people to the Town Hall green, and to revival of the community policing unit.
The brawl included the arrest of 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell and O'Neal, both black, who alleged police brutality by Officer David Gugliotti, who is white.
Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day internal affairs investigation by the Police Department found a lack of "substantial" evidence that the officer used excessive force during the arrests.
Police had responded to a fight between two other teenage girls.
On Wednesday, Stratford Police Sgt. Orlando Soto and Officer Ulysses Munoz made a presentation to about 30 community leaders and residents in the South End about the department's revived community-policing effort. "We believe we are making a difference since we started a few weeks ago and hope to gain the trust of the community," Soto said. "We're out there on bikes, walking the streets and in patrol cars. We want people to get to know us and come to rely on us to also take part in things like community cleanups."
Soto said the patrol has already helped to make Woodend Park safe again for children by arresting drug dealers and chasing away gang members.
"It's a park that was not being used by children, and we set out to make it a place for kids again," Soto said. Several residents said they were pleased with the unit, and praised Soto and other officers for helping clean up Woodend Park.
"I couldn't bring my children there; now I feel I can," said Cheryl Butler, a Gregory Circle resident who credited the unit for helping to cut down on "late-night gatherings" by men and teenage boys near her apartment complex.
But when several residents tried to speak out as to why Police Chief Michael Imbro said during last month's community meeting that officers in the 100-member department did not want to patrol the South End, O'Neal jumped to his feet to stop them.
"I just want to know why these officers want to be here when their own chief said no officers would come to the South End," said Marion Perreira, who has lived in the community for 57 years.
"This is not the time or place to be talking about negative things," O'Neal said. "This meeting is just to introduce the community policing officers, and keep things positive."
When Marcia Mitchell-Davis, Titasheen's mother, said the community "should not be discouraged by Chief Imbro's comments," O'Neal interrupted her.
"Again, we are not here to talk about that," O'Neal said sharply. Some residents blasted O'Neal for "being rude."
"Be mindful of how you speak to us," Camille Powell-Rivera told O'Neal. "I don't like how you just spoke to her [Mitchell-Davis], and I don't like your tone. We have a right to speak out."
Perreira said afterward, "I don't know why he was trying to stop people from talking about important issues."
RICHARD WEIZEL rweizel@ctpost.com
STRATFORD — Even a simple meeting to introduce the Police Department's new community policing patrol in the South End brought controversy Wednesday, with several residents blasting the moderator, Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, for trying "to censor" their comments.
The meeting was held in the Birdseye Municipal Complex. It was O'Neal's involvement in a March 21 melee in front of a group of Woodend Road storefronts that led to a recent anti-racism rally that drew nearly 400 people to the Town Hall green, and to revival of the community policing unit.
The brawl included the arrest of 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell and O'Neal, both black, who alleged police brutality by Officer David Gugliotti, who is white.
Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day internal affairs investigation by the Police Department found a lack of "substantial" evidence that the officer used excessive force during the arrests.
Police had responded to a fight between two other teenage girls.
On Wednesday, Stratford Police Sgt. Orlando Soto and Officer Ulysses Munoz made a presentation to about 30 community leaders and residents in the South End about the department's revived community-policing effort. "We believe we are making a difference since we started a few weeks ago and hope to gain the trust of the community," Soto said. "We're out there on bikes, walking the streets and in patrol cars. We want people to get to know us and come to rely on us to also take part in things like community cleanups."
Soto said the patrol has already helped to make Woodend Park safe again for children by arresting drug dealers and chasing away gang members.
"It's a park that was not being used by children, and we set out to make it a place for kids again," Soto said. Several residents said they were pleased with the unit, and praised Soto and other officers for helping clean up Woodend Park.
"I couldn't bring my children there; now I feel I can," said Cheryl Butler, a Gregory Circle resident who credited the unit for helping to cut down on "late-night gatherings" by men and teenage boys near her apartment complex.
But when several residents tried to speak out as to why Police Chief Michael Imbro said during last month's community meeting that officers in the 100-member department did not want to patrol the South End, O'Neal jumped to his feet to stop them.
"I just want to know why these officers want to be here when their own chief said no officers would come to the South End," said Marion Perreira, who has lived in the community for 57 years.
"This is not the time or place to be talking about negative things," O'Neal said. "This meeting is just to introduce the community policing officers, and keep things positive."
When Marcia Mitchell-Davis, Titasheen's mother, said the community "should not be discouraged by Chief Imbro's comments," O'Neal interrupted her.
"Again, we are not here to talk about that," O'Neal said sharply. Some residents blasted O'Neal for "being rude."
"Be mindful of how you speak to us," Camille Powell-Rivera told O'Neal. "I don't like how you just spoke to her [Mitchell-Davis], and I don't like your tone. We have a right to speak out."
Perreira said afterward, "I don't know why he was trying to stop people from talking about important issues."
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 6:29 PM
1 comments
Racial controversy takes toll on new businesses
Racial controversy takes toll on new businesses
RICHARD WEIZEL Rweizel@ctpost.com
STRATFORD — Ever since she was a girl growing up near Kingston, Jamaica, Marcia Mitchell-Davis loved mixing vegetables, meat and spices to conjure up Caribbean culinary delights.
She dreamed of coming to America to open a restaurant.
That dream came true nearly a year ago when her mother mortgaged a longtime Bridgeport home to launch Caribbean Delights Restaurant, a Woodend Road eatery specializing in Jamaican cuisine and American favorites.
But Mitchell-Davis' dream has turned sour.
Four counter stools remained empty at the peak of lunch hour Monday, with only a few customers stopping in for take-out orders.
It's been that way, she said, since her daughter, 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell, was arrested during a now-infamous March 21 fight in front of a group of Woodend Road storefronts.
The melee, which was sparked when two other girls began fighting, engulfed Mitchell and Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, both black. They allege Officer David Gugliotti, who is white, used excessive force and cursed at them while placing them under arrest.
Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day internal affairs investigation by the Police Department found a lack of "substantial" evidence that the officer used excessive force in making the arrests.
But both local and state minority leaders responded by organizing an anti-racism rally July 15, which despite threats by white supremacists, was attended by nearly 400 people at Town Hall.
The rally speakers included Mitchell-Davis, who delivered an impassioned plea, begging the town not to "forsake my daughter, my family, our restaurant.
"We want peace, but we also want to keep this business running," Mitchell-Davis said Monday, looking over a new Web site she set up to "let the public know the truth of what happened" through her eyes and more than 70 newspaper articles.
The site is, www.justicefortitasheenmitchellpolicebrutality.com.
"Things are very bleak, people are afraid to come here, as the police have tried to harass us and our customers," said Mitchell-Davis, 31, who came to America in 1983 and moved to Stratford in 1997. "We hope we can hold out, but I just don't know if we can."
Police officials have denied they have harassed Mitchell-Davis or her customers.
Mitchell-Davis said she could "make more money right now in a minimum-wage job" than running her own restaurant.
Another entrepreneur who opened up his own "dream" restaurant a few storefronts away from Caribbean Delights a few weeks after the March 21 incident, also said business has been slow.
"I first worked in this very pizzeria 10 years ago, it was my first job where I learned the business," said John Eren, the new owner of Corner Pizza, 1 Woodend Road. "I guess my timing wasn't the best, opening right in the middle of all this controversy. But I'm still hoping it will pass and people will forget."
Back at Caribbean Delights, one customer said he won't stop eating there.
"I love the food, it's unique and made perfectly," said 25-year-old Derin Wilson. "I know a lot of people have stayed away; it used to be crowded in here.
"I plan to come as much as possible because I don't know how much longer they are going to stay open."
Meanwhile, possible probes could be under way by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI has confirmed it has interviewed Mitchell, although she has not been interviewed by Stratford police. O'Neal indicated he has also been interviewed by the federal agency.
RICHARD WEIZEL Rweizel@ctpost.com
STRATFORD — Ever since she was a girl growing up near Kingston, Jamaica, Marcia Mitchell-Davis loved mixing vegetables, meat and spices to conjure up Caribbean culinary delights.
She dreamed of coming to America to open a restaurant.
That dream came true nearly a year ago when her mother mortgaged a longtime Bridgeport home to launch Caribbean Delights Restaurant, a Woodend Road eatery specializing in Jamaican cuisine and American favorites.
But Mitchell-Davis' dream has turned sour.
Four counter stools remained empty at the peak of lunch hour Monday, with only a few customers stopping in for take-out orders.
It's been that way, she said, since her daughter, 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell, was arrested during a now-infamous March 21 fight in front of a group of Woodend Road storefronts.
The melee, which was sparked when two other girls began fighting, engulfed Mitchell and Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, both black. They allege Officer David Gugliotti, who is white, used excessive force and cursed at them while placing them under arrest.
Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day internal affairs investigation by the Police Department found a lack of "substantial" evidence that the officer used excessive force in making the arrests.
But both local and state minority leaders responded by organizing an anti-racism rally July 15, which despite threats by white supremacists, was attended by nearly 400 people at Town Hall.
The rally speakers included Mitchell-Davis, who delivered an impassioned plea, begging the town not to "forsake my daughter, my family, our restaurant.
"We want peace, but we also want to keep this business running," Mitchell-Davis said Monday, looking over a new Web site she set up to "let the public know the truth of what happened" through her eyes and more than 70 newspaper articles.
The site is, www.justicefortitasheenmitchellpolicebrutality.com.
"Things are very bleak, people are afraid to come here, as the police have tried to harass us and our customers," said Mitchell-Davis, 31, who came to America in 1983 and moved to Stratford in 1997. "We hope we can hold out, but I just don't know if we can."
Police officials have denied they have harassed Mitchell-Davis or her customers.
Mitchell-Davis said she could "make more money right now in a minimum-wage job" than running her own restaurant.
Another entrepreneur who opened up his own "dream" restaurant a few storefronts away from Caribbean Delights a few weeks after the March 21 incident, also said business has been slow.
"I first worked in this very pizzeria 10 years ago, it was my first job where I learned the business," said John Eren, the new owner of Corner Pizza, 1 Woodend Road. "I guess my timing wasn't the best, opening right in the middle of all this controversy. But I'm still hoping it will pass and people will forget."
Back at Caribbean Delights, one customer said he won't stop eating there.
"I love the food, it's unique and made perfectly," said 25-year-old Derin Wilson. "I know a lot of people have stayed away; it used to be crowded in here.
"I plan to come as much as possible because I don't know how much longer they are going to stay open."
Meanwhile, possible probes could be under way by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI has confirmed it has interviewed Mitchell, although she has not been interviewed by Stratford police. O'Neal indicated he has also been interviewed by the federal agency.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 6:27 PM
3 comments
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Dozens attend meeting in Stratford to discuss police brutality
Dozens attend meeting in Stratford to discuss police brutality
(04/26/06) STRATFORD - Dozens of Stratford residents gathered at the Birdseye Community Center Wednesday to discuss recent allegations of police brutality.
The meeting stems from an incident on March 21 that began when police were called to break up a fight at the intersection of Wood End Road and Birdseye Street in the town's south end. According to Councilman Alvin O'Neal, who was arrested for interfering with police, officer David Gugliotti picked up 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell and slammed her on a car. O’Neal says Gugliotta then punched her in the face twice.
Residents say they are concerned about how the incident was handled, and that changes need to be made. They say they are hopeful police and community members can come together to overcome the gap growing between the two sides.
(04/26/06) STRATFORD - Dozens of Stratford residents gathered at the Birdseye Community Center Wednesday to discuss recent allegations of police brutality. The meeting stems from an incident on March 21 that began when police were called to break up a fight at the intersection of Wood End Road and Birdseye Street in the town's south end. According to Councilman Alvin O'Neal, who was arrested for interfering with police, officer David Gugliotti picked up 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell and slammed her on a car. O’Neal says Gugliotta then punched her in the face twice.
Residents say they are concerned about how the incident was handled, and that changes need to be made. They say they are hopeful police and community members can come together to overcome the gap growing between the two sides.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 5:06 PM
2 comments
Police arrest Stratford Councilman O'Neal during altercation
03/21/06) STRATFORD – Stratford Councilman Alvin O’Neal was arrested Tuesday night after he says he attempted to defend a young girl from police officers. The incident began when police were called to break up a fight between high school girls. While police attempted to separate the girls, O’Neal claims one of the officers threw a 14-year-old against the hood of a car and hit her in the face. O’Neal says he was arrested after coming to the girl’s defense.
The girl was charged with assault of a police officer and released. O’Neal is being charged with breach of peace and interfering with a police officer. His court date is scheduled for next week.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 5:01 PM
2 comments
Stratford officer placed on leave after scuffle in town's south end
03/22/06) STRATFORD - A Stratford police officer accused of using excessive force has been placed on paid administrative leave and a town councilman has been arrested. The incident began when police were called to break up a fight at the intersection of Wood End Road and Birdseye Street in the town's south end. According to Councilman Alvin O'Neal, Police Officer David Gugliotti picked up 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell, slammed her on a car and punched her in the face twice. Mitchell's mother says she had to take her daughter to the emergency room.
In his police report, Gugliotti noted that he was just defending himself after Mitchell punched him in the mouth. The report also says O'Neal was arrested for interfering with the officers and disobeying their commands. The department, however, has not commented on the case.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 4:57 PM
1 comments
Stratford Police Union pushes for ouster of Town Councilman
Stratford Police Union pushes for ouster of Town Councilman
07/10/06) STRATFORD - Embattled Stratford Town Councilman Alvin O’Neal locked horns again Monday with the Stratford Police Union, which is accusing O’Neal of interfering with an arrest and victimizing an elderly man in a road rage incident.
Police are asking that O’Neal be removed from the Town Council because he broke the law. In March, the councilman allegedly interceded in the arrest of a 15-year-old girl and was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police.
A second allegation against O’Neal involves a May road rage incident in which police claim O’Neal exited his car to scream at an 84-year-old man. The motorist has refused to confirm that the incident occurred.
The councilman has defended himself against the police charges, claiming they were “all made up.” Jury selection has been delayed.
07/10/06) STRATFORD - Embattled Stratford Town Councilman Alvin O’Neal locked horns again Monday with the Stratford Police Union, which is accusing O’Neal of interfering with an arrest and victimizing an elderly man in a road rage incident.Police are asking that O’Neal be removed from the Town Council because he broke the law. In March, the councilman allegedly interceded in the arrest of a 15-year-old girl and was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police.
A second allegation against O’Neal involves a May road rage incident in which police claim O’Neal exited his car to scream at an 84-year-old man. The motorist has refused to confirm that the incident occurred.
The councilman has defended himself against the police charges, claiming they were “all made up.” Jury selection has been delayed.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 4:54 PM
2 comments
Stratford storeowner says business is down after altercation involving councilman
Stratford storeowner says business is down after altercation involving councilman
07/25/06) STRATFORD - Some storeowners in Stratford say business is down ever since the melee between a councilman, a police officer and a Stratford teen.
Four months ago, Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell and Stratford Police Officer David Gugliotti were involved in an altercation. O’Neal says Gugliotti used excessive force while arresting Mitchell, however, an internal police investigation cleared Gugliotti of those charges. Mitchell's mother, who owns a restaurant in the area, says since the incident it's been a fight to keep her business afloat.
While some storeowners on Woodend Road agree that there has been a drop in business, others say it's business as usual. Most agree they have had enough of the media attention stemming from the March 21st incident.
07/25/06) STRATFORD - Some storeowners in Stratford say business is down ever since the melee between a councilman, a police officer and a Stratford teen.
Four months ago, Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell and Stratford Police Officer David Gugliotti were involved in an altercation. O’Neal says Gugliotti used excessive force while arresting Mitchell, however, an internal police investigation cleared Gugliotti of those charges. Mitchell's mother, who owns a restaurant in the area, says since the incident it's been a fight to keep her business afloat. While some storeowners on Woodend Road agree that there has been a drop in business, others say it's business as usual. Most agree they have had enough of the media attention stemming from the March 21st incident.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 4:49 PM
2 comments
A rally against racism and police brutality filled the Town Hall
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 3:35 PM
3 comments
You have to wonder
FRED MUSANTE, From the Catbird's Seat July 13, 2006
You have to wonder (I did) if the police union's executive board members ever stopped to think about what they were doing before demanding that the Town Council throw Alvin O'Neal out of his seat.
Here's the problem: on Saturday there will be a rally at Town Hall, which the police officers will be assigned to manage. By manage I mean they will provide protection, traffic control and crowd control.
The officers won't be there to decide who comes or what they say. They'll be there to keep people and property safe.
Mayor James R. Miron will be there because, as he said this week, "I am the Director of Public Safety, and [the police] better learn that." In other words, their boss will be right there, and their union executive board has put him in a bad mood.
It is a good bet that the union leadership put a fair number of the other people who might show up at the rally in a bad mood too. That means the officers assigned to the rally are going to be surrounded by unhappy, unfriendly faces. And their boss, who will stand there and watch them the whole time, is not happy.
When the police say they often have to make people unhappy by doing their jobs, I know what they mean. Sometimes I have to make people unhappy by doing my job.
So if I think that's going to happen, I try not to make my boss mad at me at the same time.
I will give the officers some credit on one account: I have had to write things about them that probably didn't make them happy, but not one officer has blamed me or treated me discourteously.
Blaming the messenger for the bad news is natural. Sophocles wrote a play almost 2,500 years ago in which the messengers ran for their lives after delivering bad news.
You also have to wonder if Louis DeCilio thought things through before he declared he will not attend the cultural diversity training Miron ordered for all town employees.
DeCilio, the Republican Registrar of Voters, an elected official, so even though he's on the town payroll, it doesn't mean the mayor is his boss. Miron can't order him to take the cultural diversity training.
For the record, Democratic Registrar Richard Miron, the mayor's father, said he will attend the cultural diversity training, and the mayor said he will go too. Not that I thought the son would order the father.
But all that's beside the point. If I were in DeCilio's shoes, I would insist on taking it with the mayor, as if it were my role to make sure he did what he said he would.
When DeCilio gets on the topic, he lets it run away with him. Not even a minute passed before he was in high dudgeon. The cultural diversity training "is political correctness at its worst," he declared; O'Neal "plays the race card every chance he gets," the racism issue is like "Communist re-education," and so forth.
DeCilio is not a bad guy. He doesn't get along with O'Neal, but there's no state law that says he has to.
"This rally that they're supposedly holding is to protest police brutality, which I don't believe exists in Stratford." And there's no state law that says he has to.
"In the 1950s, to discredit someone's reputation you called him a Communist. Today, you call him a racist."
Another reporter stoked up a "so's yer ol' man" exchange between DeCilio and O'Neal that ended with O'Neal calling DeCilio a racist. DeCilio doesn't like it, but if a reporter dangles bait, there's no state law that says you have to bite.
The controversy even caught the attention of the New York Times, which ran wrote an editorial taking both officials to task.
The rising gorge we've seen, especially during this past week, strikes me as entirely unnecessary and very ill-conceived.
You have to wonder what's going on with the Greater Bridgeport NAACP. Since we're on the topic of folks aiming bullets at their own feet, it's hard to let that group slide.
I wrote an article two weeks ago in which I identified a board member of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, Wayne Winston, as its representative in the rally planning. Then I received an e-mail from its first vice president, Rev. E.L. Smallwood, chiding me for inaccuracy. Winston does not represent the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, he said.
At Smallwood's suggestion, I called the organization's president, Carolyn Nah, and wound up more confused than ever. She said O'Neal isn't a member, nor is anyone in Stratford a member. "Why should I put my neck on the line if [O'Neal] won't support the cause of civil rights?" she said.
The Greater Bridgeport NAACP has been battling for years with the Bridgeport police over alleged civil rights abuses. ("Alleged" is newspaper lingo that means somebody said something happened but the reporter didn't see it take place so he has to indicate an element of question.)
Nah seemed to feel the same way about O'Neal's complaint against Cpl. David Gugliotti, the police officer who arrested him last March.
"The cop said he didn't do it, and Alvin said he did," Nah commented. "That's a disagreement between two people. One happens to be a police officer and one is a councilman."
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I'm still surprised that Nah and DeCilio are on the same page.
I don't know if Nah is right that no one in Stratford is a member of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, but if she is, this suggests the reason why.
My ear is to the ground. The Greater Bridgeport NAACP had a Board of Directors meeting last Thursday, and there was no vote for rally representation from the local chapter, which covers Stratford as well as Bridgeport.
The Greater Bridgeport NAACP has a general membership meeting at 7 tonight at Messiah Baptist Church in Bridgeport. Perhaps the subject will come up.
This column reflects the opinion of Editor Fred Musante and does not necessarily represent the views of Hometown Publications.
©Stratford Star 2006
You have to wonder (I did) if the police union's executive board members ever stopped to think about what they were doing before demanding that the Town Council throw Alvin O'Neal out of his seat.Here's the problem: on Saturday there will be a rally at Town Hall, which the police officers will be assigned to manage. By manage I mean they will provide protection, traffic control and crowd control.
The officers won't be there to decide who comes or what they say. They'll be there to keep people and property safe.
Mayor James R. Miron will be there because, as he said this week, "I am the Director of Public Safety, and [the police] better learn that." In other words, their boss will be right there, and their union executive board has put him in a bad mood.
It is a good bet that the union leadership put a fair number of the other people who might show up at the rally in a bad mood too. That means the officers assigned to the rally are going to be surrounded by unhappy, unfriendly faces. And their boss, who will stand there and watch them the whole time, is not happy.
When the police say they often have to make people unhappy by doing their jobs, I know what they mean. Sometimes I have to make people unhappy by doing my job.
So if I think that's going to happen, I try not to make my boss mad at me at the same time.
I will give the officers some credit on one account: I have had to write things about them that probably didn't make them happy, but not one officer has blamed me or treated me discourteously.
Blaming the messenger for the bad news is natural. Sophocles wrote a play almost 2,500 years ago in which the messengers ran for their lives after delivering bad news.
You also have to wonder if Louis DeCilio thought things through before he declared he will not attend the cultural diversity training Miron ordered for all town employees.
DeCilio, the Republican Registrar of Voters, an elected official, so even though he's on the town payroll, it doesn't mean the mayor is his boss. Miron can't order him to take the cultural diversity training.
For the record, Democratic Registrar Richard Miron, the mayor's father, said he will attend the cultural diversity training, and the mayor said he will go too. Not that I thought the son would order the father.
But all that's beside the point. If I were in DeCilio's shoes, I would insist on taking it with the mayor, as if it were my role to make sure he did what he said he would.
When DeCilio gets on the topic, he lets it run away with him. Not even a minute passed before he was in high dudgeon. The cultural diversity training "is political correctness at its worst," he declared; O'Neal "plays the race card every chance he gets," the racism issue is like "Communist re-education," and so forth.
DeCilio is not a bad guy. He doesn't get along with O'Neal, but there's no state law that says he has to.
"This rally that they're supposedly holding is to protest police brutality, which I don't believe exists in Stratford." And there's no state law that says he has to.
"In the 1950s, to discredit someone's reputation you called him a Communist. Today, you call him a racist."
Another reporter stoked up a "so's yer ol' man" exchange between DeCilio and O'Neal that ended with O'Neal calling DeCilio a racist. DeCilio doesn't like it, but if a reporter dangles bait, there's no state law that says you have to bite.
The controversy even caught the attention of the New York Times, which ran wrote an editorial taking both officials to task.
The rising gorge we've seen, especially during this past week, strikes me as entirely unnecessary and very ill-conceived.
You have to wonder what's going on with the Greater Bridgeport NAACP. Since we're on the topic of folks aiming bullets at their own feet, it's hard to let that group slide.
I wrote an article two weeks ago in which I identified a board member of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, Wayne Winston, as its representative in the rally planning. Then I received an e-mail from its first vice president, Rev. E.L. Smallwood, chiding me for inaccuracy. Winston does not represent the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, he said.
At Smallwood's suggestion, I called the organization's president, Carolyn Nah, and wound up more confused than ever. She said O'Neal isn't a member, nor is anyone in Stratford a member. "Why should I put my neck on the line if [O'Neal] won't support the cause of civil rights?" she said.
The Greater Bridgeport NAACP has been battling for years with the Bridgeport police over alleged civil rights abuses. ("Alleged" is newspaper lingo that means somebody said something happened but the reporter didn't see it take place so he has to indicate an element of question.)
Nah seemed to feel the same way about O'Neal's complaint against Cpl. David Gugliotti, the police officer who arrested him last March.
"The cop said he didn't do it, and Alvin said he did," Nah commented. "That's a disagreement between two people. One happens to be a police officer and one is a councilman."
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but I'm still surprised that Nah and DeCilio are on the same page.
I don't know if Nah is right that no one in Stratford is a member of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP, but if she is, this suggests the reason why.
My ear is to the ground. The Greater Bridgeport NAACP had a Board of Directors meeting last Thursday, and there was no vote for rally representation from the local chapter, which covers Stratford as well as Bridgeport.
The Greater Bridgeport NAACP has a general membership meeting at 7 tonight at Messiah Baptist Church in Bridgeport. Perhaps the subject will come up.
This column reflects the opinion of Editor Fred Musante and does not necessarily represent the views of Hometown Publications.
©Stratford Star 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 3:16 PM
2 comments
Rally peaceful, mayor outlines plan
Rally peaceful, mayor outlines plan
By: TRISTRAM DeROMA, Bard
A rally to stamp out racism in Stratford went off without a hitch Saturday as about 300 residents gathered in front of Town Hall to hear several community and church leaders speak.
A rally to stamp out racism in Stratford went off without a hitch Saturday as about 300 residents gathered in front of Town Hall to hear several community and church leaders speak.
Most of the speakers, which included the president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, referred to what sparked the rally in the first place, the controversial arrest of an African American teenager in Stratford in March as well as the arrest of Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2 who tried to intervene in the girl's arrest.
O'Neal, who's also African American, was notably absent from the rally. O'Neal is facing charges of breach of the peace and interfering with an officer in relation to the incident. The girl is facing charges of assaulting a police officer, third-degree assault and breach of the peace.
According police reports, the girl, Titasheen Mitchell was allegedly interfering with police during an arrest that was happening next to her mother's restaurant. As she was trying to get the crowd that had gathered to see the arrest away from the entrance to her mother's store, she got into an argument with Stratford Police Officer David Gugliotti, and things escalated from there.
When Alvin O'Neal who was at a tobacco shop nearby, walked up to Gugliotti to ask why she was being arrested, the girl, according to Gugliotti, tried to get away and hit Gugliotti in the mouth, prompting him to hit her in the face and "rough her up" to get her back under control, according to some witnesses.
In his March report, Gugliotti said he never hit her, as a later two-month long Internal Affairs investigation later backed up. Department officials came to the conclusion that since eyewitness statements varied widely as to Gugliotti's guilt or innocence, charges against him had to be dropped.
That didn't stop the rally however, planned by O'Neal and others to bring attention to what they said was a culture of brutality that has existed in the Stratford Police Department for far too long.
"We are gathered here today to address the injustice and unfair treatment," said Rev. John Gamble of Friendship Baptist Church. "We are here to say that we will not allow our black boys and black girls to become desensitized to this type of treatment, because it is not okay... Stratford is beautiful town, but we must stop the ignorance and hate and come together as brothers and sisters. Only then will this town become one town."
CTNAACP President Scot X. Esdaile said "We cannot tolerate little girls being hit in the face by a police officer, we cannot tolerate trumped up charges by police against an elected councilman, and we can no longer tolerate acts of racism and brutality by the Stratford Police."
Though Mayor James Miron said in the days before the rally that one was not necessary and that work was already beginning to address racial problems, he showed anyway to announce his plan.
"The rally can only be good if something good comes out of it," he said, adding that steps are already taken to address Stratford's racial divide.
In August, he said all town employees, including police, will be taking cultural required cultural diversity training, audio and video equipment will be placed in all Stratford police cars and that a Citizen's action committee is being formed "to be his eyes and ears."
Before the rally, there were reports in the press that racist group known as the White Wolves may attend, but people interviewed at the rally said that none showed. The only sign that they were there was a scattered pile of 8x10 pieces of paper with "Thank You Gugliotti," "Most of the South End sucks" and "Goodbye O'Neal" scrawled on the front.
By: TRISTRAM DeROMA, Bard
A rally to stamp out racism in Stratford went off without a hitch Saturday as about 300 residents gathered in front of Town Hall to hear several community and church leaders speak.
A rally to stamp out racism in Stratford went off without a hitch Saturday as about 300 residents gathered in front of Town Hall to hear several community and church leaders speak.
Most of the speakers, which included the president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, referred to what sparked the rally in the first place, the controversial arrest of an African American teenager in Stratford in March as well as the arrest of Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2 who tried to intervene in the girl's arrest.
O'Neal, who's also African American, was notably absent from the rally. O'Neal is facing charges of breach of the peace and interfering with an officer in relation to the incident. The girl is facing charges of assaulting a police officer, third-degree assault and breach of the peace.
According police reports, the girl, Titasheen Mitchell was allegedly interfering with police during an arrest that was happening next to her mother's restaurant. As she was trying to get the crowd that had gathered to see the arrest away from the entrance to her mother's store, she got into an argument with Stratford Police Officer David Gugliotti, and things escalated from there.
When Alvin O'Neal who was at a tobacco shop nearby, walked up to Gugliotti to ask why she was being arrested, the girl, according to Gugliotti, tried to get away and hit Gugliotti in the mouth, prompting him to hit her in the face and "rough her up" to get her back under control, according to some witnesses.
In his March report, Gugliotti said he never hit her, as a later two-month long Internal Affairs investigation later backed up. Department officials came to the conclusion that since eyewitness statements varied widely as to Gugliotti's guilt or innocence, charges against him had to be dropped.
That didn't stop the rally however, planned by O'Neal and others to bring attention to what they said was a culture of brutality that has existed in the Stratford Police Department for far too long.
"We are gathered here today to address the injustice and unfair treatment," said Rev. John Gamble of Friendship Baptist Church. "We are here to say that we will not allow our black boys and black girls to become desensitized to this type of treatment, because it is not okay... Stratford is beautiful town, but we must stop the ignorance and hate and come together as brothers and sisters. Only then will this town become one town."
CTNAACP President Scot X. Esdaile said "We cannot tolerate little girls being hit in the face by a police officer, we cannot tolerate trumped up charges by police against an elected councilman, and we can no longer tolerate acts of racism and brutality by the Stratford Police."
Though Mayor James Miron said in the days before the rally that one was not necessary and that work was already beginning to address racial problems, he showed anyway to announce his plan.
"The rally can only be good if something good comes out of it," he said, adding that steps are already taken to address Stratford's racial divide.
In August, he said all town employees, including police, will be taking cultural required cultural diversity training, audio and video equipment will be placed in all Stratford police cars and that a Citizen's action committee is being formed "to be his eyes and ears."
Before the rally, there were reports in the press that racist group known as the White Wolves may attend, but people interviewed at the rally said that none showed. The only sign that they were there was a scattered pile of 8x10 pieces of paper with "Thank You Gugliotti," "Most of the South End sucks" and "Goodbye O'Neal" scrawled on the front.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 3:13 PM
1 comments
Racial controversy takes toll on new businesses
Racial controversy takes toll on new businesses
RICHARD WEIZEL Rweizel@ctpost.com
STRATFORD — Ever since she was a girl growing up near Kingston, Jamaica, Marcia Mitchell-Davis loved mixing vegetables, meat and spices to conjure up Caribbean culinary delights.
She dreamed of coming to America to open a restaurant.
That dream came true nearly a year ago when her mother mortgaged a longtime Bridgeport home to launch Caribbean Delights Restaurant, a Woodend Road eatery specializing in Jamaican cuisine and American favorites.
But Mitchell-Davis' dream has turned sour.
Four counter stools remained empty at the peak of lunch hour Monday, with only a few customers stopping in for take-out orders.
It's been that way, she said, since her daughter, 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell, was arrested during a now-infamous March 21 fight in front of a group of Woodend Road storefronts.
The melee, which was sparked when two other girls began fighting, engulfed Mitchell and Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, both black. They allege Officer David Gugliotti, who is white, used excessive force and cursed at them while placing them under arrest.
Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day internal affairs investigation by the Police Department found a lack of "substantial" evidence that the officer used excessive force in making the arrests.
But both local and state minority leaders responded by organizing an anti-racism rally July 15, which despite threats by white supremacists, was attended by nearly 400 people at Town Hall.
The rally speakers included Mitchell-Davis, who delivered an impassioned plea, begging the town not to "forsake my daughter, my family, our restaurant.
"We want peace, but we also want to keep this business running," Mitchell-Davis said Monday, looking over a new Web site she set up to "let the public know the truth of what happened" through her eyes and more than 70 newspaper articles.
The site is, www.justicefortitasheenmitchellpolicebrutality.com.
"Things are very bleak, people are afraid to come here, as the police have tried to harass us and our customers," said Mitchell-Davis, 31, who came to America in 1983 and moved to Stratford in 1997. "We hope we can hold out, but I just don't know if we can."
Police officials have denied they have harassed Mitchell-Davis or her customers.
Mitchell-Davis said she could "make more money right now in a minimum-wage job" than running her own restaurant.
Another entrepreneur who opened up his own "dream" restaurant a few storefronts away from Caribbean Delights a few weeks after the March 21 incident, also said business has been slow.
"I first worked in this very pizzeria 10 years ago, it was my first job where I learned the business," said John Eren, the new owner of Corner Pizza, 1 Woodend Road. "I guess my timing wasn't the best, opening right in the middle of all this controversy. But I'm still hoping it will pass and people will forget."
Back at Caribbean Delights, one customer said he won't stop eating there.
"I love the food, it's unique and made perfectly," said 25-year-old Derin Wilson. "I know a lot of people have stayed away; it used to be crowded in here.
"I plan to come as much as possible because I don't know how much longer they are going to stay open."
Meanwhile, possible probes could be under way by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI has confirmed it has interviewed Mitchell, although she has not been interviewed by Stratford police. O'Neal indicated he has also been interviewed by the federal agency.
RICHARD WEIZEL Rweizel@ctpost.com
STRATFORD — Ever since she was a girl growing up near Kingston, Jamaica, Marcia Mitchell-Davis loved mixing vegetables, meat and spices to conjure up Caribbean culinary delights.
She dreamed of coming to America to open a restaurant.
That dream came true nearly a year ago when her mother mortgaged a longtime Bridgeport home to launch Caribbean Delights Restaurant, a Woodend Road eatery specializing in Jamaican cuisine and American favorites.
But Mitchell-Davis' dream has turned sour.
Four counter stools remained empty at the peak of lunch hour Monday, with only a few customers stopping in for take-out orders.
It's been that way, she said, since her daughter, 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell, was arrested during a now-infamous March 21 fight in front of a group of Woodend Road storefronts.
The melee, which was sparked when two other girls began fighting, engulfed Mitchell and Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, both black. They allege Officer David Gugliotti, who is white, used excessive force and cursed at them while placing them under arrest.
Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day internal affairs investigation by the Police Department found a lack of "substantial" evidence that the officer used excessive force in making the arrests.
But both local and state minority leaders responded by organizing an anti-racism rally July 15, which despite threats by white supremacists, was attended by nearly 400 people at Town Hall.
The rally speakers included Mitchell-Davis, who delivered an impassioned plea, begging the town not to "forsake my daughter, my family, our restaurant.
"We want peace, but we also want to keep this business running," Mitchell-Davis said Monday, looking over a new Web site she set up to "let the public know the truth of what happened" through her eyes and more than 70 newspaper articles.
The site is, www.justicefortitasheenmitchellpolicebrutality.com.
"Things are very bleak, people are afraid to come here, as the police have tried to harass us and our customers," said Mitchell-Davis, 31, who came to America in 1983 and moved to Stratford in 1997. "We hope we can hold out, but I just don't know if we can."
Police officials have denied they have harassed Mitchell-Davis or her customers.
Mitchell-Davis said she could "make more money right now in a minimum-wage job" than running her own restaurant.
Another entrepreneur who opened up his own "dream" restaurant a few storefronts away from Caribbean Delights a few weeks after the March 21 incident, also said business has been slow.
"I first worked in this very pizzeria 10 years ago, it was my first job where I learned the business," said John Eren, the new owner of Corner Pizza, 1 Woodend Road. "I guess my timing wasn't the best, opening right in the middle of all this controversy. But I'm still hoping it will pass and people will forget."
Back at Caribbean Delights, one customer said he won't stop eating there.
"I love the food, it's unique and made perfectly," said 25-year-old Derin Wilson. "I know a lot of people have stayed away; it used to be crowded in here.
"I plan to come as much as possible because I don't know how much longer they are going to stay open."
Meanwhile, possible probes could be under way by the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice. The FBI has confirmed it has interviewed Mitchell, although she has not been interviewed by Stratford police. O'Neal indicated he has also been interviewed by the federal agency.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 3:10 PM
1 comments
Business down since arrest, says restaurant owner
If she hasn't done so already, restaurant owner Marcia Mitchell Davis plans on filing a complaint against a group of Stratford police officers for harassment. The bizarre incident is just the latest of Davis' woes.
If she hasn't done so already, restaurant owner Marcia Mitchell Davis plans on filing a complaint against a group of Stratford police officers for harassment. The bizarre incident is just the latest of Davis' woes.
Davis is the mother of Titasheen Mitchell, the 15-year-old African American girl that was involved in a controversial dispute with a Caucasian police officer in March. Davis and others at the scene accused the officer of roughing up the girl as he handcuffed and arrested her for interfering with another arrest happening next door to her mother's restaurant.
Though the officer, David Gugliotti, was cleared of all charges following an internal affairs investigation, Mitchell still faces charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
Davis said the latest incident involves a group of uniformed police officers coming to her door and telling her to remove the signs advertising specials as well as a planned civil rights rally organized by Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, who happened to witness the girl's arrest.
At the time of Mitchell's arrest, O'Neal went up to Gugliotti and demanded to know why she was being arrested as she was being put into the police car. When Mitchell allegedly tried to break away, a scuffle ensued between O'Neal and Gugliotti, and O'Neal was promptly arrested too. He was charged with interfering with police and breach of the peace.
Due to the mayor's orders, the rally was cancelled (See related story)
Though Davis received a lot of support from the community shortly after the arrest, she says business at her restaurant, "Carribean Delights" located at the corner of Woodend and Main Street, has gone down sharply as people have been staying away. She said half of her customers are afraid of being harassed by the police and others are upset with her for bringing unwanted attention to Stratford's racial problems.
When the officers showed up at her store, O'Neal was again also there, and he promptly started calling town officials about the matter. According to her, the Zoning Office was contacted, and though they told her there is a law against sidewalk signs, it's a matter that's always enforced on a case by case basis through Planning and Zoning, not through the Stratford Police Department.
"They (Planning and Zoning) wanted to know why the Stratford Police Department was doing their job," said Davis. "If signs are not their job, what does that seem like to you?"
She also said one of the officers directed what seemed like a threat at her.
"He told me to remove the signs, or else," she said. "It's not so much him telling me to remove the signs that bothered me, it's the 'or else' part that scared me," she said.
As of press time, no official report exists documenting the incident, but Police Dept. Spokesman Capt. Harvey Maxwell says that's not unusual as police officers go about their daily patrols.
However, the officers were spoken to about the incident as well as reprimanded, he said.
"It's something that shouldn't have happened, especially in light of the ongoing situation," Maxwell said.
©Stratford Bard 2006
If she hasn't done so already, restaurant owner Marcia Mitchell Davis plans on filing a complaint against a group of Stratford police officers for harassment. The bizarre incident is just the latest of Davis' woes.
Davis is the mother of Titasheen Mitchell, the 15-year-old African American girl that was involved in a controversial dispute with a Caucasian police officer in March. Davis and others at the scene accused the officer of roughing up the girl as he handcuffed and arrested her for interfering with another arrest happening next door to her mother's restaurant.
Though the officer, David Gugliotti, was cleared of all charges following an internal affairs investigation, Mitchell still faces charges of resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.
Davis said the latest incident involves a group of uniformed police officers coming to her door and telling her to remove the signs advertising specials as well as a planned civil rights rally organized by Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, who happened to witness the girl's arrest.
At the time of Mitchell's arrest, O'Neal went up to Gugliotti and demanded to know why she was being arrested as she was being put into the police car. When Mitchell allegedly tried to break away, a scuffle ensued between O'Neal and Gugliotti, and O'Neal was promptly arrested too. He was charged with interfering with police and breach of the peace.
Due to the mayor's orders, the rally was cancelled (See related story)
Though Davis received a lot of support from the community shortly after the arrest, she says business at her restaurant, "Carribean Delights" located at the corner of Woodend and Main Street, has gone down sharply as people have been staying away. She said half of her customers are afraid of being harassed by the police and others are upset with her for bringing unwanted attention to Stratford's racial problems.
When the officers showed up at her store, O'Neal was again also there, and he promptly started calling town officials about the matter. According to her, the Zoning Office was contacted, and though they told her there is a law against sidewalk signs, it's a matter that's always enforced on a case by case basis through Planning and Zoning, not through the Stratford Police Department.
"They (Planning and Zoning) wanted to know why the Stratford Police Department was doing their job," said Davis. "If signs are not their job, what does that seem like to you?"
She also said one of the officers directed what seemed like a threat at her.
"He told me to remove the signs, or else," she said. "It's not so much him telling me to remove the signs that bothered me, it's the 'or else' part that scared me," she said.
As of press time, no official report exists documenting the incident, but Police Dept. Spokesman Capt. Harvey Maxwell says that's not unusual as police officers go about their daily patrols.
However, the officers were spoken to about the incident as well as reprimanded, he said.
"It's something that shouldn't have happened, especially in light of the ongoing situation," Maxwell said.
©Stratford Bard 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 3:03 PM
2 comments
Monday, July 24, 2006
Excessive force arresting Councilman Alvin O'Neal
Stratford Connecticut Officials Review Police Brutality Report After Using Excessive Force Against Councilman Alvin O'Neal And A Child
2006-07-19 STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT — An internal probe into complaints that a veteran police officer used excessive force arresting Councilman Alvin O'Neal and a 15-year-old girl is finished, but officials are reviewing the report before making it public next week.
"Much of the information still has to be thoroughly reviewed and a recommendation made to me by police on the officer," Mayor James Miron said. "This may be taking longer than people want it to, but it is a matter of such significance that we have to take our time and make the right decision." Miron said he would not necessarily go along with the Police Department's recommendation on discipline, if any, regarding the allegations against Officer David Gugliotti, which will be released with the report next Friday.
"I have to weigh all the evidence, the internal affairs report and what all the witnesses had to say and consider the department's recommendation, too," Miron said.
During a March 21 melee outside a South End restaurant, O'Neal contends Gugliotti punched him in the chest when he tried to stop the officer from hitting and "slamming" 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell against a car after the teen allegedly resisted arrest. The incident occurred outside the Caribbean Delights restaurant at Main Street and Woodend Road, which is owned by Mitchell's mother.
Witnesses say Gugliotti punched the girl, who was resisting arrest after a fight between two other girls, and then she allegedly struck the officer. O'Neal said he was arrested and punched when he intervened and asked Gugliotti to stop hitting Mitchell.
Gugliotti, a 12-year police veteran, was placed on paid administrative leave, though the police union wants him back on the job.
Mitchell recently appeared in Juvenile Court in Bridgeport, where she was advised she could be facing between 10 and 15 years in prison, according to her mother, Marcia Mitchell-Davis.
Mitchell's attorney, Gary Mastronardi, said Friday that both he and the state's attorney's office are awaiting the results of Stratford's internal affairs probe before talking further about her case.
"I think talk of any prison time for my client is very premature at this time," Mastronardi said. "She is the victim in this case, not someone who should be charged with a crime."
The girl's mother said she still fears the worst.
"My daughter is a child and I don't can't even comprehend why she is being prosecuted at all," Mitchell-Davis said. "Why is the Police Department doing this to her after what they have already done?
"Even the parties who were fighting told police she was not involved in the fight, but that all fell on deaf ears," she said.
Mastronardi said "nothing is being ruled out" concerning a possible lawsuit against the Police Department and town.
O'Neal's attorney, Charles Kurmay, said he found it "curious" that the town didn't notify him of the mayor's meeting with police officials, or of the report's impending release.
"We hope the investigation is fair, and look forward to the outcome," Kurmay said. "I assume the result is going to be significant, one way or the other."
2006-07-19 STRATFORD, CONNECTICUT — An internal probe into complaints that a veteran police officer used excessive force arresting Councilman Alvin O'Neal and a 15-year-old girl is finished, but officials are reviewing the report before making it public next week.
"Much of the information still has to be thoroughly reviewed and a recommendation made to me by police on the officer," Mayor James Miron said. "This may be taking longer than people want it to, but it is a matter of such significance that we have to take our time and make the right decision." Miron said he would not necessarily go along with the Police Department's recommendation on discipline, if any, regarding the allegations against Officer David Gugliotti, which will be released with the report next Friday.
"I have to weigh all the evidence, the internal affairs report and what all the witnesses had to say and consider the department's recommendation, too," Miron said.
During a March 21 melee outside a South End restaurant, O'Neal contends Gugliotti punched him in the chest when he tried to stop the officer from hitting and "slamming" 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell against a car after the teen allegedly resisted arrest. The incident occurred outside the Caribbean Delights restaurant at Main Street and Woodend Road, which is owned by Mitchell's mother.
Witnesses say Gugliotti punched the girl, who was resisting arrest after a fight between two other girls, and then she allegedly struck the officer. O'Neal said he was arrested and punched when he intervened and asked Gugliotti to stop hitting Mitchell.
Gugliotti, a 12-year police veteran, was placed on paid administrative leave, though the police union wants him back on the job.
Mitchell recently appeared in Juvenile Court in Bridgeport, where she was advised she could be facing between 10 and 15 years in prison, according to her mother, Marcia Mitchell-Davis.
Mitchell's attorney, Gary Mastronardi, said Friday that both he and the state's attorney's office are awaiting the results of Stratford's internal affairs probe before talking further about her case.
"I think talk of any prison time for my client is very premature at this time," Mastronardi said. "She is the victim in this case, not someone who should be charged with a crime."
The girl's mother said she still fears the worst.
"My daughter is a child and I don't can't even comprehend why she is being prosecuted at all," Mitchell-Davis said. "Why is the Police Department doing this to her after what they have already done?
"Even the parties who were fighting told police she was not involved in the fight, but that all fell on deaf ears," she said.
Mastronardi said "nothing is being ruled out" concerning a possible lawsuit against the Police Department and town.
O'Neal's attorney, Charles Kurmay, said he found it "curious" that the town didn't notify him of the mayor's meeting with police officials, or of the report's impending release.
"We hope the investigation is fair, and look forward to the outcome," Kurmay said. "I assume the result is going to be significant, one way or the other."
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 11:53 AM
2 comments
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Coverage Of Stratford Rally
Coverage Of Stratford Rally
Article Created: 7/16/2006 04:45 AM
A UNITED FRONT
Connecticut Post Coverage Of Stratford Rally
By RICHARD WEIZEL
rweizel@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post Online
STRATFORD — The words echoed from the speakers, loud and clear, and perhaps even the ghosts of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, on the Town Hall green Saturday during a powerful and dramatic civil rights demonstration against alleged racism and brutality by Stratford police. There were impassioned, emotional speeches by state and local civil rights leaders, community activists, clergy and an appeal by the weeping, shouting mother of Titasheen Mitchell, the 15-year-old who complained of police brutality during a March 21 incident in the South End. Both Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, and Mitchell, who are black, contend excessive force was used against them by Officer David Gugliotti, who is white, during their March 21 arrests in front of Woodend Road storefronts after a fight between two other teens. Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day police internal affairs investigation. The investigation concluded there was not "substantial evidence" to prove the allegations, a finding endorsed by Mayor James Miron.
But on Saturday, black leaders refused to accept that finding, comparing Gugliotti's "cowardly actions" to slaveholders abusing black women, insisting it was only one example of what has been a decades-long history of "tyranny and racism" by some police officers against the South End's minority community.
The speeches often roused the crowd of about 350 that cheered loudly each time there were calls for the minority community "to unite and fight back" against police abuse. "Stratford, do not forsake my daughter. Do not forsake me. I beg of you," said Marcia Mitchell-Davis, her voice cracking with emotion. "I ask you, the town, to provide justice for my daughter," said Mitchell-Davis, owner of Caribbean Delights, a Woodend Road restaurant, which she called "her dream come true." The restaurant opened in 1997, years after she arrived from Jamaica in 1983. But she fears she might lose that business as a result of police retaliation and customers who now "fear coming to my restaurant."
Mitchell-Davis blasted Gugliotti for, what she called, a history of abuses against the minority community. The officer and his attorney have strongly denied those claims, though the FBI is considering launching a probe into his actions and those of the Stratford Police.
Many in the crowd Saturday wore T-shirts with images of Malcolm X and King, and carried placards imploring the town to "Stop Police Brutality," and calling for "Justice for Titasheen." "I never thought I would be back at a rally. It's like old times, but I wish it wasn't necessary in 2006," said David Farnsworth, who drove from Westport to attend the event. About a dozen skinheads showed up, as they warned, but were apparently cowed by the massive police presence, which included Stratford police, the FBI, State Police, and even members of Bridgeport's mounted police regiment.
"They were here, but we were close by," said Stratford Police Captain Harvey Maxwell, referring to the skinheads. "They didn't stay long. I guess they figured they were outnumbered."
There were no violent altercations, Maxwell said. Scott X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told the gathering he was particularly disturbed by alleged police abuse of Titasheen, and by the recent treatment of O'Neal by police. The Stratford Police Union alleged O'Neal was involved in a "road rage" incident with an 84-year-old man on May 1. The union also called on the council to remove O'Neal from office last week.
"We cannot tolerate little girls being hit in the face by a police officer, we cannot tolerate trumped up charges by police against an elected councilman, and we can no longer tolerate acts of racism and brutality by the Stratford police," Esdaile said. Nation of Islam Minister Kevin Muhammad, of Bridgeport, said black leaders want to work with police, but will "rise up and seize justice for ourselves if we are forced to. "When police become abusive and out of control, we have the right to check that power and challenge that authority. We say peace, but before we get peace we may have to get some power," Muhummad said.
Lyle Hassan-Jones, executive director of Save Our Babies Ministry in Bridgeport, praised O'Neal for trying to stop a police officer from "manhandling one of our young sisters, just like the slave-owners used to do on the plantations.
"The officer grabbed her even though she had nothing to do with the fight police originally responded to," Hassan-Jones said. "We know Alvin intervened and risked his life because to see this officer slam a young girl to a car, and slap her in the face, it was [Alvin's] duty to try and stop it. If a man doesn't do that, what kind of a man would he be?"
Hassan-Jones told the gathering "this is not a hate-fest, or a love-fest, this is just a time to tell the truth."
He said it wasn't black groups who "distributed hate literature this week, or defaced and distributed dollar bills that say kill niggers. It was the white supremacists who did that, and they have showed themselves for what they are."
The rally was first postponed a week — then cancelled by Miron two days ago because its organizer, O'Neal, bowed out. With increasing threats by white supremacists to "hijack the rally, it was better to call it off," the mayor had said. But a group of community leaders and clergy led by the Rev. Johnny Gamble, pastor at the Friendship Baptist of Stratford, stepped in and forced the mayor to capitulate and allow the rally to go forward.
"I have always said as long as this were a peaceful rally and could help to unite the town, I was all for it," Miron said. "Now, we must look to the future and find ways to heal."
Miron said police are still investigating who distributed more than a dozen defaced $1 bills found by a postal worker delivering mail in the South End on Friday.
The bills are defaced with Nazi swastikas next to the image of George Washington, with "Kill Niggers" scrawled across the bottom. The backs of the bills are marked "Niggers Suck," and signed "White Wolves."
The White Wolves are a self-proclaimed white supremacist group launched in Stratford several years ago. FBI and local police said it is a federal crime to deface U.S. currency. One of the bills was found in front of Caribbean Delights Restaurant.
Posted by Marcia MItchell-Davis
Titasheen Mitchell's Mother
Article Created: 7/16/2006 04:45 AM
A UNITED FRONT
Connecticut Post Coverage Of Stratford Rally
By RICHARD WEIZEL
rweizel@ctpost.com
Connecticut Post Online
STRATFORD — The words echoed from the speakers, loud and clear, and perhaps even the ghosts of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, on the Town Hall green Saturday during a powerful and dramatic civil rights demonstration against alleged racism and brutality by Stratford police. There were impassioned, emotional speeches by state and local civil rights leaders, community activists, clergy and an appeal by the weeping, shouting mother of Titasheen Mitchell, the 15-year-old who complained of police brutality during a March 21 incident in the South End. Both Councilman Alvin O'Neal, D-2, and Mitchell, who are black, contend excessive force was used against them by Officer David Gugliotti, who is white, during their March 21 arrests in front of Woodend Road storefronts after a fight between two other teens. Gugliotti was exonerated after a 60-day police internal affairs investigation. The investigation concluded there was not "substantial evidence" to prove the allegations, a finding endorsed by Mayor James Miron.But on Saturday, black leaders refused to accept that finding, comparing Gugliotti's "cowardly actions" to slaveholders abusing black women, insisting it was only one example of what has been a decades-long history of "tyranny and racism" by some police officers against the South End's minority community.
The speeches often roused the crowd of about 350 that cheered loudly each time there were calls for the minority community "to unite and fight back" against police abuse. "Stratford, do not forsake my daughter. Do not forsake me. I beg of you," said Marcia Mitchell-Davis, her voice cracking with emotion. "I ask you, the town, to provide justice for my daughter," said Mitchell-Davis, owner of Caribbean Delights, a Woodend Road restaurant, which she called "her dream come true." The restaurant opened in 1997, years after she arrived from Jamaica in 1983. But she fears she might lose that business as a result of police retaliation and customers who now "fear coming to my restaurant."
Mitchell-Davis blasted Gugliotti for, what she called, a history of abuses against the minority community. The officer and his attorney have strongly denied those claims, though the FBI is considering launching a probe into his actions and those of the Stratford Police.
Many in the crowd Saturday wore T-shirts with images of Malcolm X and King, and carried placards imploring the town to "Stop Police Brutality," and calling for "Justice for Titasheen." "I never thought I would be back at a rally. It's like old times, but I wish it wasn't necessary in 2006," said David Farnsworth, who drove from Westport to attend the event. About a dozen skinheads showed up, as they warned, but were apparently cowed by the massive police presence, which included Stratford police, the FBI, State Police, and even members of Bridgeport's mounted police regiment.
"They were here, but we were close by," said Stratford Police Captain Harvey Maxwell, referring to the skinheads. "They didn't stay long. I guess they figured they were outnumbered."
There were no violent altercations, Maxwell said. Scott X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, told the gathering he was particularly disturbed by alleged police abuse of Titasheen, and by the recent treatment of O'Neal by police. The Stratford Police Union alleged O'Neal was involved in a "road rage" incident with an 84-year-old man on May 1. The union also called on the council to remove O'Neal from office last week.
"We cannot tolerate little girls being hit in the face by a police officer, we cannot tolerate trumped up charges by police against an elected councilman, and we can no longer tolerate acts of racism and brutality by the Stratford police," Esdaile said. Nation of Islam Minister Kevin Muhammad, of Bridgeport, said black leaders want to work with police, but will "rise up and seize justice for ourselves if we are forced to. "When police become abusive and out of control, we have the right to check that power and challenge that authority. We say peace, but before we get peace we may have to get some power," Muhummad said.
Lyle Hassan-Jones, executive director of Save Our Babies Ministry in Bridgeport, praised O'Neal for trying to stop a police officer from "manhandling one of our young sisters, just like the slave-owners used to do on the plantations."The officer grabbed her even though she had nothing to do with the fight police originally responded to," Hassan-Jones said. "We know Alvin intervened and risked his life because to see this officer slam a young girl to a car, and slap her in the face, it was [Alvin's] duty to try and stop it. If a man doesn't do that, what kind of a man would he be?"
Hassan-Jones told the gathering "this is not a hate-fest, or a love-fest, this is just a time to tell the truth."
He said it wasn't black groups who "distributed hate literature this week, or defaced and distributed dollar bills that say kill niggers. It was the white supremacists who did that, and they have showed themselves for what they are."
The rally was first postponed a week — then cancelled by Miron two days ago because its organizer, O'Neal, bowed out. With increasing threats by white supremacists to "hijack the rally, it was better to call it off," the mayor had said. But a group of community leaders and clergy led by the Rev. Johnny Gamble, pastor at the Friendship Baptist of Stratford, stepped in and forced the mayor to capitulate and allow the rally to go forward.
"I have always said as long as this were a peaceful rally and could help to unite the town, I was all for it," Miron said. "Now, we must look to the future and find ways to heal."
Miron said police are still investigating who distributed more than a dozen defaced $1 bills found by a postal worker delivering mail in the South End on Friday.
The bills are defaced with Nazi swastikas next to the image of George Washington, with "Kill Niggers" scrawled across the bottom. The backs of the bills are marked "Niggers Suck," and signed "White Wolves."
The White Wolves are a self-proclaimed white supremacist group launched in Stratford several years ago. FBI and local police said it is a federal crime to deface U.S. currency. One of the bills was found in front of Caribbean Delights Restaurant.
Posted by Marcia MItchell-Davis
Titasheen Mitchell's Mother
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 12:58 PM
0 comments
Town Fights Racial Tension
Town Fights Racial Tension
Categories: politics / unrest, conflicts and war / United States / social issue / racism / local authority / demonstrations / crime, law and justice / police / citizens' initiative and recall / law enforcement / social conflict / civil unrest
STRATFORD, Jul. 16, 2006 (Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News delivered by Newstex) --
An anti-racism rally was held peacefully at town hall Saturday despite fears of disruption by a hate group.
A crowd of about 200 gathered on the plaza at noon for a rally sponsored by the state conference of the NAACP that was called in response to complaints by black residents in Stratford's South End of police brutality and harassment.
In the days leading up to the rally, a white supremacist group left leaflets on lawns in the neighborhood saying there would be a counter-protest on Saturday by Connecticut skinheads, according to press reports. Groups called Connecticut State Skinheads and Connecticut White Wolves sent e-mails to the Connecticut Post vowing to make an appearance at the rally.
Instead, a mixed crowd of black and white residents applauded remarks by Stratford Mayor James R. Miron and local church leaders. Stratford police were on the plaza.
Racial tension has simmered in the town since the March 21 arrest of town Councilman Alvin O'Neal following a confrontation with a Stratford police officer. O'Neal, who is black, was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police after he allegedly interceded as Officer David Gugliotti struggled with 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell outside a South End restaurant owned by her mother.
The girl, who has been charged with assault, allegedly struck the officer when he intervened to stop a fight between girls on the street near the restaurant. O'Neal and the girl's family have claimed that they saw the officer strike the girl in the face.
"People say there is no racism in Stratford," said Sen. Edwin Gomes, D-Bridgeport. "There is racism, just like there is racism everywhere, and it should not be tolerated whether it is 1 percent or 99 percent." Gomes said police officers should respect the people they are supposed to serve.
Miron said the rally is good only if there is a plan for what comes afterward. "We need to know what we need to do to move forward from today," said Miron, who also praised the city's police officers.
The mayor said bringing complaints against officers would be streamlined, that video cameras were being placed in patrol cars, and there will be cultural sensitivity training for town employees. "Stratford is no different than any other community - race is an issue that affects us, and we have to work on that. The issues that I hear about from everybody know no racial or cultural bounds."
Marcia Mitchell-Davis, Titasheen's mother, called for justice for her daughter, saying she believes the girl, who has an upcoming court appearance, has been wrongly charged for defending herself.
"We have some bad officers who need to be rooted out," Davis said. "I think things will change in Stratford; no one should forsake Stratford. I'm sure that the mayor and the [police] chief will work" to make positive change, she said.
Easter Bell, a resident of Stratford for 21 years, said there is prejudice in Stratford, particularly in racial profiling of drivers. "It's time for Stratford to have a change. If you live here, you pay the same taxes as everyone else, and you should get the same treatment."
Contact Frances Grandy Taylor at ftaylor@courant.com.
Newstex ID: KRTB-0083-9648739
Credit: The Hartford Courant, Conn.
Categories: politics / unrest, conflicts and war / United States / social issue / racism / local authority / demonstrations / crime, law and justice / police / citizens' initiative and recall / law enforcement / social conflict / civil unrest
STRATFORD, Jul. 16, 2006 (Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News delivered by Newstex) --
An anti-racism rally was held peacefully at town hall Saturday despite fears of disruption by a hate group.
A crowd of about 200 gathered on the plaza at noon for a rally sponsored by the state conference of the NAACP that was called in response to complaints by black residents in Stratford's South End of police brutality and harassment.
In the days leading up to the rally, a white supremacist group left leaflets on lawns in the neighborhood saying there would be a counter-protest on Saturday by Connecticut skinheads, according to press reports. Groups called Connecticut State Skinheads and Connecticut White Wolves sent e-mails to the Connecticut Post vowing to make an appearance at the rally.
Instead, a mixed crowd of black and white residents applauded remarks by Stratford Mayor James R. Miron and local church leaders. Stratford police were on the plaza.
Racial tension has simmered in the town since the March 21 arrest of town Councilman Alvin O'Neal following a confrontation with a Stratford police officer. O'Neal, who is black, was charged with breach of peace and interfering with police after he allegedly interceded as Officer David Gugliotti struggled with 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell outside a South End restaurant owned by her mother.
The girl, who has been charged with assault, allegedly struck the officer when he intervened to stop a fight between girls on the street near the restaurant. O'Neal and the girl's family have claimed that they saw the officer strike the girl in the face.
"People say there is no racism in Stratford," said Sen. Edwin Gomes, D-Bridgeport. "There is racism, just like there is racism everywhere, and it should not be tolerated whether it is 1 percent or 99 percent." Gomes said police officers should respect the people they are supposed to serve.
Miron said the rally is good only if there is a plan for what comes afterward. "We need to know what we need to do to move forward from today," said Miron, who also praised the city's police officers.
The mayor said bringing complaints against officers would be streamlined, that video cameras were being placed in patrol cars, and there will be cultural sensitivity training for town employees. "Stratford is no different than any other community - race is an issue that affects us, and we have to work on that. The issues that I hear about from everybody know no racial or cultural bounds."
Marcia Mitchell-Davis, Titasheen's mother, called for justice for her daughter, saying she believes the girl, who has an upcoming court appearance, has been wrongly charged for defending herself.
"We have some bad officers who need to be rooted out," Davis said. "I think things will change in Stratford; no one should forsake Stratford. I'm sure that the mayor and the [police] chief will work" to make positive change, she said.
Easter Bell, a resident of Stratford for 21 years, said there is prejudice in Stratford, particularly in racial profiling of drivers. "It's time for Stratford to have a change. If you live here, you pay the same taxes as everyone else, and you should get the same treatment."
Contact Frances Grandy Taylor at ftaylor@courant.com.
Newstex ID: KRTB-0083-9648739
Credit: The Hartford Courant, Conn.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 12:50 PM
3 comments
Police union moves to oust councilman
The Stratford police union this week leveled misconduct charges against Councilman Alvin O'Neal (D-2), who earlier this year accused a police officer of misconduct and brutality. The union also asked the Town Council to remove O'Neal from office.
The inflammatory charges, just days before a scheduled protest rally against alleged unfair treatment of minorities by police, may further strain relations between the town's police officers and African-American residents in the South End.
One of the officers who presented the union's complaint against O'Neal Monday evening, Ulysses Munoz, is a member of a new police unit in the South End that was formed with the hope that it would restore residents' confidence in the police.
The union representatives also said O'Neal was involved in a road rage incident on May 1 in which he allegedly intimidated and verbally abused an elderly resident, John Tabak, 84, of Flora Drive. Tabak reported it to police last week.
O'Neal said the new charge is a slanderous fabrication. "They are doing everything in their power to discredit me," he said.
Town Council Chairman James Feehan (R-9) refused to allow any discussion of the matter, referring it to Town Attorney Richard Buturla because of a question over whether the council has the authority to take any action against O'Neal.
The police union cited several sections of the Town Charter prohibiting council members from interfering with administrative officials in their official duties, and authorizing the council to remove a member from office for a violation.
However, those sections do not appear in the new charter voters adopted in the 2003 election, which rewrote the sections related to the Town Council to accommodate the powers of the newly created office of mayor.
Feehan also cautioned the other council members not to make any statements on the matter, to avoid the appearance of bias in case the complaint does come before them for a decision.
O'Neal accused
O'Neal was arrested on charges of interfering with a police officer and breach of peace on March 21 in a tense, racially charged incident at the corner of Woodend Road and Main Street, when he intervened while Police Cpl. David Gugliotti was attempting to arrest a teenage girl. Gugliotti is white, O'Neal and the girl are black.
O'Neal made a citizen complaint against Gugliotti, claiming the officer punched him and the girl and cursed at him. However, a police department internal affairs investigation ruled that conflicting eyewitness accounts of the incident provided insufficient evidence to support O'Neal's complaint.
Munoz and Police Officer Carlos Castro, both members of the police union's executive board, charged that O'Neal "grossly and repeatedly violated the town charter" by interfering with Gugliotti's arrest.
Regarding the road rage allegation, Munoz, Castro and Police Officer Shawn Farmer, the union president, said they did not know why Tabak waited more than two months to report O'Neal's alleged outburst.
Tabak told police he stopped on Church Street, a narrow, one-way lane in Stratford Center, waiting for another motorist to back into a parking space. He said a driver in a vehicle behind him began blaring his horn impatiently, angrily insisting he move.
Tabak said when he proceeded to the stop light at Main Street, the driver, whom he identified as O'Neal, got out, approached his vehicle in a manner Tabak described as menacing, and shouted repeatedly, "Do you know who I am?" at the elderly man. Tabak reported he was frightened and locked his car doors.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Tabak said he didn't decide to report the incident until he read news reports about O'Neal's plans for the rally at Town Hall.
Tabak told the Star he is angry with the police union for using his report for political purposes. He said he only intended to give police information to use in O'Neal's trial on the interfering charge, and now that he was used as a pawn he would never file a report again.
In response to O'Neal's counter-accusation that Tabak's charge is false, Farmer replied, "Based on his previous statements and actions, this is just what we'd expect from him."
The three police officers scoffed that they had better things to do than invent false charges against O'Neal.
Officer reprimanded
However, the officers now have to field problems of their own. Earlier on Monday, Police Chief Michael Imbro reprimanded an unidentified officer on the order of visibly angry Mayor James R. Miron for harassing Marcia Mitchell-Davis, the mother of the girl O'Neal defended on March 21.
According to O'Neal - and confirmed by Miron - the police officer appeared Monday morning at Mitchell-Davis' Caribbean Delights restaurant at Woodend and Main and ordered her to remove sandwich signs from the sidewalk.
Miron said the signs violate the town's zoning regulations, but police officers normally do not enforce zoning rules.
"How does it look?" Miron asked.
It is the second time police were accused of harassing Mitchell-Davis. Shortly after the March 21 incident, while Gugliotti was on administrative leave pending the internal affairs investigation, Mitchell-Davis said she saw Gugliotti and another officer, Sean Martinez, drive past her restaurant with a video camera.
That allegation was dismissed, along with the other charges against Gugliotti. Imbro said Martinez was on patrol in another part of town when the alleged video drive-by took place.
Mitchell-Davis' daughter, now 15, faces charges in juvenile court of assaulting a police officer, assault in the third degree and breach of peace.
O'Neal was scheduled for a pre-trial court appearance in Bridgeport Monday, but his case was continued until next week.
Rally on Saturday
O'Neal appeared with Miron and an NAACP representative, Wayne Winston, last Thursday to announce that the rally will take place Saturday, July 15, to give town officials time to prepare for traffic and crowd control.
The rally, which will feature state NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile as a speaker, previously was scheduled for last Saturday.
O'Neal said the rally will focus on resolving the racial conflict, not on the alleged police brutality - Miron, in fact, announced he also will be a speaker - but that was before the police union raised the new controversy.
Miron has been supportive of the police and said in an interview last week that the officers feel they have been unfairly attacked in news media reports and under-appreciated.
But the mayor, normally even-tempered and cheerful, was visibly angry with the union officials Monday.
"It's offensive to me that the Stratford police union would take this action," he said before cutting reporters' questions short and storming away.
Miron noted that O'Neal has not been charged with a crime related to Tabak's allegation, and he should be presumed innocent if he were.
New charges by the Stratford police union against District 2 Councilman Alvin O'Neal and a demand that he be removed from office were referred to the town attorney this week along with the question of where some key sections of the Town Charter went.
The police union cited Sections 2.2.14, 2.2.15 and 2.1.4 in its complaint against O'Neal, which prohibit councilmen from interfering with town officials, including police officers, in their official duties, and authorizing the council to remove a violator from office.
Councilmen have no authority to order an administrative official to do something, but they might threaten a budget cut that eliminates the official's job, which is why the provision was there.
When the councilmen looked up the specific sections in their official Town Charter booklets, they weren't there.
That is only one of the questions that have landed in the lap of Town Attorney Richard Buturla, a former council chairman.
Buturla said beside the mystery of the missing charter sections, he must determine what powers the Town Council actually has.
The best explanation at this point is that the sections were inadvertently omitted when Section 2, defining the powers of the Town Council, were rewritten in the last charter revision, adopted by the voters in a referendum in the 2003 election.
Council Chairman James Feehan (R-9) said he would soon propose an ordinance to create a new Charter Revision Commission to address numerous technicalities and conflicts between the new powers of the mayor and the council.
A new Charter Revision Commission could reinstate the missing sections. It could also rewrite town history from 2005, when the campaign for the town's first mayor took place, although Feehan said that isn't his intention.
Buturla said the more pertinent question he must answer includes whether the new charter includes any prohibition against a councilman using his office to influence the conduct of a member of the administration in his duties.
He said the town's Ethics Code is too narrow in scope to apply in such a case.
Beyond the question of what the charter says, Buturla said he must determine if any state statutes apply and override the Town Charter.
Lastly, he said he must see if there is any legal case law that affects the situation.
O'Neal was arrested on March 21 for interfering with a police officer, Cpl. David Gugliotti, while he was arresting a teenage girl.
Following his arrest, O'Neal filed a citizen complaint alleging that Gugliotti had punched him and swore at him, and used unnecessary force while arresting the girl.
When a Police Department Internal Affairs investigation ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the complaint, police union leaders called for O'Neal's removal from the council, and on Monday they made formal charges against him.
©Stratford Star 2006
The inflammatory charges, just days before a scheduled protest rally against alleged unfair treatment of minorities by police, may further strain relations between the town's police officers and African-American residents in the South End.
One of the officers who presented the union's complaint against O'Neal Monday evening, Ulysses Munoz, is a member of a new police unit in the South End that was formed with the hope that it would restore residents' confidence in the police.
The union representatives also said O'Neal was involved in a road rage incident on May 1 in which he allegedly intimidated and verbally abused an elderly resident, John Tabak, 84, of Flora Drive. Tabak reported it to police last week.
O'Neal said the new charge is a slanderous fabrication. "They are doing everything in their power to discredit me," he said.
Town Council Chairman James Feehan (R-9) refused to allow any discussion of the matter, referring it to Town Attorney Richard Buturla because of a question over whether the council has the authority to take any action against O'Neal.
The police union cited several sections of the Town Charter prohibiting council members from interfering with administrative officials in their official duties, and authorizing the council to remove a member from office for a violation.
However, those sections do not appear in the new charter voters adopted in the 2003 election, which rewrote the sections related to the Town Council to accommodate the powers of the newly created office of mayor.
Feehan also cautioned the other council members not to make any statements on the matter, to avoid the appearance of bias in case the complaint does come before them for a decision.
O'Neal accused
O'Neal was arrested on charges of interfering with a police officer and breach of peace on March 21 in a tense, racially charged incident at the corner of Woodend Road and Main Street, when he intervened while Police Cpl. David Gugliotti was attempting to arrest a teenage girl. Gugliotti is white, O'Neal and the girl are black.
O'Neal made a citizen complaint against Gugliotti, claiming the officer punched him and the girl and cursed at him. However, a police department internal affairs investigation ruled that conflicting eyewitness accounts of the incident provided insufficient evidence to support O'Neal's complaint.
Munoz and Police Officer Carlos Castro, both members of the police union's executive board, charged that O'Neal "grossly and repeatedly violated the town charter" by interfering with Gugliotti's arrest.
Regarding the road rage allegation, Munoz, Castro and Police Officer Shawn Farmer, the union president, said they did not know why Tabak waited more than two months to report O'Neal's alleged outburst.
Tabak told police he stopped on Church Street, a narrow, one-way lane in Stratford Center, waiting for another motorist to back into a parking space. He said a driver in a vehicle behind him began blaring his horn impatiently, angrily insisting he move.
Tabak said when he proceeded to the stop light at Main Street, the driver, whom he identified as O'Neal, got out, approached his vehicle in a manner Tabak described as menacing, and shouted repeatedly, "Do you know who I am?" at the elderly man. Tabak reported he was frightened and locked his car doors.
Reached by phone Tuesday, Tabak said he didn't decide to report the incident until he read news reports about O'Neal's plans for the rally at Town Hall.
Tabak told the Star he is angry with the police union for using his report for political purposes. He said he only intended to give police information to use in O'Neal's trial on the interfering charge, and now that he was used as a pawn he would never file a report again.
In response to O'Neal's counter-accusation that Tabak's charge is false, Farmer replied, "Based on his previous statements and actions, this is just what we'd expect from him."
The three police officers scoffed that they had better things to do than invent false charges against O'Neal.
Officer reprimanded
However, the officers now have to field problems of their own. Earlier on Monday, Police Chief Michael Imbro reprimanded an unidentified officer on the order of visibly angry Mayor James R. Miron for harassing Marcia Mitchell-Davis, the mother of the girl O'Neal defended on March 21.
According to O'Neal - and confirmed by Miron - the police officer appeared Monday morning at Mitchell-Davis' Caribbean Delights restaurant at Woodend and Main and ordered her to remove sandwich signs from the sidewalk.
Miron said the signs violate the town's zoning regulations, but police officers normally do not enforce zoning rules.
"How does it look?" Miron asked.
It is the second time police were accused of harassing Mitchell-Davis. Shortly after the March 21 incident, while Gugliotti was on administrative leave pending the internal affairs investigation, Mitchell-Davis said she saw Gugliotti and another officer, Sean Martinez, drive past her restaurant with a video camera.
That allegation was dismissed, along with the other charges against Gugliotti. Imbro said Martinez was on patrol in another part of town when the alleged video drive-by took place.
Mitchell-Davis' daughter, now 15, faces charges in juvenile court of assaulting a police officer, assault in the third degree and breach of peace.
O'Neal was scheduled for a pre-trial court appearance in Bridgeport Monday, but his case was continued until next week.
Rally on Saturday
O'Neal appeared with Miron and an NAACP representative, Wayne Winston, last Thursday to announce that the rally will take place Saturday, July 15, to give town officials time to prepare for traffic and crowd control.
The rally, which will feature state NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile as a speaker, previously was scheduled for last Saturday.
O'Neal said the rally will focus on resolving the racial conflict, not on the alleged police brutality - Miron, in fact, announced he also will be a speaker - but that was before the police union raised the new controversy.
Miron has been supportive of the police and said in an interview last week that the officers feel they have been unfairly attacked in news media reports and under-appreciated.
But the mayor, normally even-tempered and cheerful, was visibly angry with the union officials Monday.
"It's offensive to me that the Stratford police union would take this action," he said before cutting reporters' questions short and storming away.
Miron noted that O'Neal has not been charged with a crime related to Tabak's allegation, and he should be presumed innocent if he were.
New charges by the Stratford police union against District 2 Councilman Alvin O'Neal and a demand that he be removed from office were referred to the town attorney this week along with the question of where some key sections of the Town Charter went.
The police union cited Sections 2.2.14, 2.2.15 and 2.1.4 in its complaint against O'Neal, which prohibit councilmen from interfering with town officials, including police officers, in their official duties, and authorizing the council to remove a violator from office.
Councilmen have no authority to order an administrative official to do something, but they might threaten a budget cut that eliminates the official's job, which is why the provision was there.
When the councilmen looked up the specific sections in their official Town Charter booklets, they weren't there.
That is only one of the questions that have landed in the lap of Town Attorney Richard Buturla, a former council chairman.
Buturla said beside the mystery of the missing charter sections, he must determine what powers the Town Council actually has.
The best explanation at this point is that the sections were inadvertently omitted when Section 2, defining the powers of the Town Council, were rewritten in the last charter revision, adopted by the voters in a referendum in the 2003 election.
Council Chairman James Feehan (R-9) said he would soon propose an ordinance to create a new Charter Revision Commission to address numerous technicalities and conflicts between the new powers of the mayor and the council.
A new Charter Revision Commission could reinstate the missing sections. It could also rewrite town history from 2005, when the campaign for the town's first mayor took place, although Feehan said that isn't his intention.
Buturla said the more pertinent question he must answer includes whether the new charter includes any prohibition against a councilman using his office to influence the conduct of a member of the administration in his duties.
He said the town's Ethics Code is too narrow in scope to apply in such a case.
Beyond the question of what the charter says, Buturla said he must determine if any state statutes apply and override the Town Charter.
Lastly, he said he must see if there is any legal case law that affects the situation.
O'Neal was arrested on March 21 for interfering with a police officer, Cpl. David Gugliotti, while he was arresting a teenage girl.
Following his arrest, O'Neal filed a citizen complaint alleging that Gugliotti had punched him and swore at him, and used unnecessary force while arresting the girl.
When a Police Department Internal Affairs investigation ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the complaint, police union leaders called for O'Neal's removal from the council, and on Monday they made formal charges against him.
©Stratford Star 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 12:14 PM
3 comments
Watching television
Mayor James R. Miron shone a spotlight on the news media - TV news in particular - last Thursday when he announced in front of their cameras that Saturday's civil rights rally would be called off to keep white supremacists from hijacking the message."Nobody will put my five-minute speech on if they have a chance to show skinheads waving Confederate flags," he said.
As we know, the rally wasn't called off. It went forward with a new sponsor, the Rev. Johnny Gamble, instead of Councilman Alvin O'Neal.
Gamble and others said they weren't afraid of a few skinheads and that their issues were about more than O'Neal, so they rejected Miron's reasoning.
But the mayor succeeded in making the media part of the story, and it's about time. News media producers - newspapers, radio stations and television stations - didn't create the events and grievances that are being reported, but to a large extent their reporting is pushing it forward.
No one can deny that the media have influenced the story by their choices of what they report and how they report it. Competition, the rush to meet deadlines, and the nature of the media itself are real factors influencing what you see, hear and read.
With the exception of me and one other print reporter, the reporters at last Thursday's press conference passively recorded the event without asking any questions.
Then, as if to prove that Miron was right, the TV cameras swarmed around a young woman who crashed the press conference and said she was friendly with the White Wolves, a white supremacist group that has made its presence known a few times in the past couple of years.
Near the end of her interview, I asked her if she was friends with the racist group and lived in Stratford. Yes and no, she answered. That these questions weren't asked first tells you something about the coverage.
When digesting the information from a news story (from any media), judge if it is reporting facts or opinions. All opinions all the time is a hallmark of superficiality.
A news business rule of thumb says, "If it bleeds, it leads." Another rule says to simplify the story, so the audience often gets a two-sided story about a conflict, although the situation may in reality be much more complex. Television reporters follow these rules like the Bible, and more and more frequently print reporters follow them too.
Saturday is usually a slow news day, so the rally got extensive coverage across the state. The Hartford Courant was among the newspapers that sent reporters. All the state's television stations covered it, including CBS affiliate Channel 3, ABC affiliate Channel 8, Cablevision's Channel 12, NBC affiliate Channel 30, and Fox affiliate Channel 61.
I caught the reports on Channel 3 and Channel 8. They both carried video clips of Marcia Mitchell-Davis and video of her daughter, who was arrested in the incident that launched the story. Both carried archive video of O'Neal.
Both stations included the white supremacist angle. Channel 3 said the racists did attend; Channel 8 said they didn't.
Both interviewed one woman who was at the rally, but Channel 8 included another resident who sided with the police. Both used the same clip of Miron talking about the cultural diversity training he has ordered town employees to attend.
I estimated about 300 people attended the rally, not including about 50 law officers and 25 news people. Channel 3 said the turnout was "lower than expected" and estimated the crowd at 100 people. Channel 8 said the rally was "huge," without being specific.
On Friday, I called Rich Hanley, a journalism professor at Quinnipiac University who has worked in both print and television news, to get his prediction of what the TV stations would do and his opinion of Miron's reason for calling off the rally.
"The media will certainly cover skinheads waving Confederate flags," said Hanley, but he also predicted that television would run a clip of the mayor's speech too.
He said the story legitimately would be the conflict between the civil rights protestors and the white supremacists. "It has to be distilled to its essence, and conflict is the story."
Hanley felt the white supremacists had already achieved their objective by becoming part of the story, but by showing them for what they are, the television audience would interpret them as "ugly and repulsive."
"They don't necessarily win," he said.
He disagreed with Miron that the possible appearance of a group of counter-demonstrators was reason to call off the rally. Instead, he said, the mayor should do what he thinks is right.
"I think he's giving too much power to television instead of to his speech," Hanley said.
This column reflects the opinion of Editor Fred Musante and does not necessarily represent the views of Hometown Publications.
©Stratford Star 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 12:04 PM
2 comments
Rally protests police brutality
FRED MUSANTE, Editor July 20, 2006
Pastor Arthur Bennett of the Interdenominational Minersterial Alliance addresses a crowd of about 300, plus police and reporters, at a Town Hall rally Saturday.
Photo by Wayne Ratzenberger
A rally against racism and police brutality filled the Town Hall Green Saturday with impassioned speeches reminiscent of the Civil Rights struggle of decades ago.
Some speakers used incendiary rhetoric, but many also prayed for God's in healing the town's divisions and making it a better place.
By and large, the rally was more anti-police and less focused on the "One Stratford" theme that its original sponsor, Councilman Alvin O'Neal, wanted it to pursue.
The question on many people's minds was: what will happen next?
"Let what we accomplished this afternoon be a beacon of what man can do," said the Rev. James Morton of the First Baptist Church of Stratford.
Mayor James R. Miron told the gathering of about 300 residents that the test of the rally would be whether something good came out of it.
Also at the Green were scores of police officers, state troopers and FBI agents, as well as reporters from nearly 20 print, radio and television news organizations from across the state.
A handful of white supremacists said they planned a counter-demonstration Saturday. However, no counter-demonstration occurred. Instead, a police official said, the racists broke their agreement with the police and entered the fenced area where the protestors had gathered.
Police Capt. Harvey Maxwell said police followed about a dozen individuals who entered the fenced-in area and stood next to them, ready to act quickly if they started trouble.
A few were heard to make comments during some of the speeches, and they were warned sternly that any further remarks would not be tolerated, Maxwell said.
Other than the misbehavior by the racists, there was no trouble.
Moving forward
"From my perspective, I'm moving forward," Miron said Tuesday. "The solution to this issue isn't something that I have, but I want to provide some leadership."
He said he would do that by appointing a citizens' panel that would conduct a public discussion about the racial differences in town. Miron said he has asked more than 30 interested residents to serve on the panel.
The mayor said he disagrees with those speakers who made anti-police remarks, but though he insisted on speaking last to have the last word, he decided not to reply directly to those other speakers. Instead he focused on the future instead.
"When we try to find common ground we're all better off," he said.
The rally almost didn't happen. On Thursday, Miron and O'Neal, accompanied by Police Chief Michael Imbro and O'Neal's lawyer, Charles Kurmay, had a press conference to announce the event would be canceled.
Miron said he was concerned that the White Wolves, a racist group started by two brothers from Stratford, and two other small white supremacist organizations might cause trouble at the rally in order to "hijack" the news media coverage.
"Nobody will put my five-minute speech on [the air] if they have a chance to show skinheads waving Confederate flags," he said.
O'Neal withdraws
O'Neal said he was withdrawing as the sponsor because his defense lawyers advised him that sponsoring the rally was not in his best interest.
The councilman was charged with interfering with a police officer in a March 21 incident in which he intervened in the arrest of 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell in front of her mother's restaurant. The case has not gone to trial yet.
O'Neal and Mitchell's mother claim the officer used excessive force in the arrest.
Kurmay would not explain why sponsoring the rally was not in O'Neal's interest. However, Burton Weinstein, a lawyer who has brought numerous civil rights cases against area police departments, including Stratford's, said anything O'Neal said at the rally might be used against him in his trial.
Weinstein said O'Neal's sponsorship of the rally also might be construed as an attempt to influence the court.
Two black clergymen from Stratford, the Rev. Johnny Gamble of the Friendship Baptist Church and Morton, interrupted the press conference to object that they weren't afraid of a few racists. They said the issues they had with the police involved more than O'Neal's arrest.
They met with Miron later that day to name Gamble as the new rally sponsor, and that evening joined Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile at the Messiah Baptist Church in Bridgeport to convince the leaders of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP chapter to support the rally.
Friday brought another twist. Dollar bills with Nazi swastikas and racial slurs written on them were found in the South End. One was found in front of the restaurant owned by the Titasheen's mother, Marcia Mitchell-Davis.
Captain Maxwell said defacing U.S. currency is a federal offense and the acts also are being investigated as hate crimes.
FBI agents circulated in the crowd at the rally on Saturday looking for leads into the case.
'Shackles of hatred'
"We refuse to be weighed down by the shackles of hatred," said Gamble as the rally opened.
Esdaile said: "Change comes from continuous struggle, so we must straighten our backs. A man can't ride on your back unless your back is bent."
"Why do we need a rally?" said Pastor Arthur Bennett of Bridgeport, head of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. "We are here today because people sacrificed. How dare we feel it is irrelevant?"
Two Muslim ministers from Bridgeport, Minister Kevin Muhammed and Minister Lyle Hassan-Jones, made the strongest anti-police statements.
Muhammed compared the officer's use of force in Mitchell's arrest to the rape of black slave women by white slave owners before the Civil War. Black people may have been forced to keep silent during slavery, he said, but now they must resist.
Hassan-Jones said that, in his opinion, if a police officer attempts to arrest a person who doesn't think he committed a crime, the person has a legal right to resist arrest.
He also noted that white people were the ones passing out hate messages written on dollar bills, not black people.
"I want to thank the White Wolves for coming out," said Wayne Winston of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP. "The world needs to know this is not a figment of black folks' imaginations."
Marcia Mitchell-Davis read from prepared remarks, but she became distraught, breaking down in tears before finishing.
"Police brutality has been a problem in Stratford for decades," she said. "Save my daughter from those who prosecute her."
State Sen. Ed Gomes, who is a former union official, criticized the Stratford police union for asking the Town Council last week to remove O'Neal from his seat.
"The only people who can call for a recall are the people who elected you," said Gomes, a Democrat whose Bridgeport district includes Stratford's South End neighborhood, which O'Neal represents on the Town Council.
Gomes added that the rally gave him hope. "I see the makings of a good community that will get past this," he said.
Speaking last, Miron listed some of the steps he has taken to address complaints since the dispute started, including ordering cultural diversity training for all police officers and town employees, ordering video cameras in all Stratford police vehicles, and simplifying the process for making a citizen's complaint against an officer.
The mayor also defended Stratford police, calling it a good department. "We're going to respect them and honor them," he said. "We're going to move forward from today."
©Stratford Star 2006
Pastor Arthur Bennett of the Interdenominational Minersterial Alliance addresses a crowd of about 300, plus police and reporters, at a Town Hall rally Saturday.
Photo by Wayne Ratzenberger
A rally against racism and police brutality filled the Town Hall Green Saturday with impassioned speeches reminiscent of the Civil Rights struggle of decades ago.
Some speakers used incendiary rhetoric, but many also prayed for God's in healing the town's divisions and making it a better place.
By and large, the rally was more anti-police and less focused on the "One Stratford" theme that its original sponsor, Councilman Alvin O'Neal, wanted it to pursue.
The question on many people's minds was: what will happen next?
"Let what we accomplished this afternoon be a beacon of what man can do," said the Rev. James Morton of the First Baptist Church of Stratford.
Mayor James R. Miron told the gathering of about 300 residents that the test of the rally would be whether something good came out of it.
Also at the Green were scores of police officers, state troopers and FBI agents, as well as reporters from nearly 20 print, radio and television news organizations from across the state.
A handful of white supremacists said they planned a counter-demonstration Saturday. However, no counter-demonstration occurred. Instead, a police official said, the racists broke their agreement with the police and entered the fenced area where the protestors had gathered.
Police Capt. Harvey Maxwell said police followed about a dozen individuals who entered the fenced-in area and stood next to them, ready to act quickly if they started trouble.
A few were heard to make comments during some of the speeches, and they were warned sternly that any further remarks would not be tolerated, Maxwell said.
Other than the misbehavior by the racists, there was no trouble.
Moving forward
"From my perspective, I'm moving forward," Miron said Tuesday. "The solution to this issue isn't something that I have, but I want to provide some leadership."
He said he would do that by appointing a citizens' panel that would conduct a public discussion about the racial differences in town. Miron said he has asked more than 30 interested residents to serve on the panel.
The mayor said he disagrees with those speakers who made anti-police remarks, but though he insisted on speaking last to have the last word, he decided not to reply directly to those other speakers. Instead he focused on the future instead.
"When we try to find common ground we're all better off," he said.
The rally almost didn't happen. On Thursday, Miron and O'Neal, accompanied by Police Chief Michael Imbro and O'Neal's lawyer, Charles Kurmay, had a press conference to announce the event would be canceled.
Miron said he was concerned that the White Wolves, a racist group started by two brothers from Stratford, and two other small white supremacist organizations might cause trouble at the rally in order to "hijack" the news media coverage.
"Nobody will put my five-minute speech on [the air] if they have a chance to show skinheads waving Confederate flags," he said.
O'Neal withdraws
O'Neal said he was withdrawing as the sponsor because his defense lawyers advised him that sponsoring the rally was not in his best interest.
The councilman was charged with interfering with a police officer in a March 21 incident in which he intervened in the arrest of 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell in front of her mother's restaurant. The case has not gone to trial yet.
O'Neal and Mitchell's mother claim the officer used excessive force in the arrest.
Kurmay would not explain why sponsoring the rally was not in O'Neal's interest. However, Burton Weinstein, a lawyer who has brought numerous civil rights cases against area police departments, including Stratford's, said anything O'Neal said at the rally might be used against him in his trial.
Weinstein said O'Neal's sponsorship of the rally also might be construed as an attempt to influence the court.
Two black clergymen from Stratford, the Rev. Johnny Gamble of the Friendship Baptist Church and Morton, interrupted the press conference to object that they weren't afraid of a few racists. They said the issues they had with the police involved more than O'Neal's arrest.
They met with Miron later that day to name Gamble as the new rally sponsor, and that evening joined Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile at the Messiah Baptist Church in Bridgeport to convince the leaders of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP chapter to support the rally.
Friday brought another twist. Dollar bills with Nazi swastikas and racial slurs written on them were found in the South End. One was found in front of the restaurant owned by the Titasheen's mother, Marcia Mitchell-Davis.
Captain Maxwell said defacing U.S. currency is a federal offense and the acts also are being investigated as hate crimes.
FBI agents circulated in the crowd at the rally on Saturday looking for leads into the case.
'Shackles of hatred'
"We refuse to be weighed down by the shackles of hatred," said Gamble as the rally opened.
Esdaile said: "Change comes from continuous struggle, so we must straighten our backs. A man can't ride on your back unless your back is bent."
"Why do we need a rally?" said Pastor Arthur Bennett of Bridgeport, head of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance. "We are here today because people sacrificed. How dare we feel it is irrelevant?"
Two Muslim ministers from Bridgeport, Minister Kevin Muhammed and Minister Lyle Hassan-Jones, made the strongest anti-police statements.
Muhammed compared the officer's use of force in Mitchell's arrest to the rape of black slave women by white slave owners before the Civil War. Black people may have been forced to keep silent during slavery, he said, but now they must resist.
Hassan-Jones said that, in his opinion, if a police officer attempts to arrest a person who doesn't think he committed a crime, the person has a legal right to resist arrest.
He also noted that white people were the ones passing out hate messages written on dollar bills, not black people.
"I want to thank the White Wolves for coming out," said Wayne Winston of the Greater Bridgeport NAACP. "The world needs to know this is not a figment of black folks' imaginations."
Marcia Mitchell-Davis read from prepared remarks, but she became distraught, breaking down in tears before finishing.
"Police brutality has been a problem in Stratford for decades," she said. "Save my daughter from those who prosecute her."
State Sen. Ed Gomes, who is a former union official, criticized the Stratford police union for asking the Town Council last week to remove O'Neal from his seat.
"The only people who can call for a recall are the people who elected you," said Gomes, a Democrat whose Bridgeport district includes Stratford's South End neighborhood, which O'Neal represents on the Town Council.
Gomes added that the rally gave him hope. "I see the makings of a good community that will get past this," he said.
Speaking last, Miron listed some of the steps he has taken to address complaints since the dispute started, including ordering cultural diversity training for all police officers and town employees, ordering video cameras in all Stratford police vehicles, and simplifying the process for making a citizen's complaint against an officer.
The mayor also defended Stratford police, calling it a good department. "We're going to respect them and honor them," he said. "We're going to move forward from today."
©Stratford Star 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 11:52 AM
1 comments
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
White Wolves Expected To Break Up Black Rally In Stratford
White Wolves Expected To Break Up Black Rally In Stratford
FBI "Bracing" For Confrontation
7/15/2006 12:14:00 PM
Discuss this story in the forum
LSN Staff
Stratford, Connecticut -- The White Wolves, a skinhead group that has previously broken up local meetings in Connecticut by gay and Jewish organizations, is expected to confront black activists who are meeting this afternoon to protest alleged "police brutality" against a local Negro official.
Local news reports were also circulating of hundreds of one dollars bills that had been "defaced with swastikas" and messages critical of the Negro councilman, who appears to have attacked patrons of a local restaurant, Carribean Delight, and then complaint about "police brutality" when he was arrested, justly, for assault.
The antics of Negros in public office, who are often as corrupt and criminal as their "street Negro" counterparts, have angered whites across the country, who often have corrupt Negro governments forced upon them by the Jewish-influenced and corrupt political parties.
The events in Connecticut are supposed to begin at noon, but no reports of what is occurring there have reached internet news services at this time.
-----
Emailed to you by:
Libertarian Socialist News
ATTN: Bill White, Editor
Post Office Box 8631
Roanoke, VA 24014
http://www.overthrow.com
dhyphen@yahoo.com
FBI "Bracing" For Confrontation
7/15/2006 12:14:00 PM
Discuss this story in the forum
LSN Staff
Stratford, Connecticut -- The White Wolves, a skinhead group that has previously broken up local meetings in Connecticut by gay and Jewish organizations, is expected to confront black activists who are meeting this afternoon to protest alleged "police brutality" against a local Negro official.
Local news reports were also circulating of hundreds of one dollars bills that had been "defaced with swastikas" and messages critical of the Negro councilman, who appears to have attacked patrons of a local restaurant, Carribean Delight, and then complaint about "police brutality" when he was arrested, justly, for assault.
The antics of Negros in public office, who are often as corrupt and criminal as their "street Negro" counterparts, have angered whites across the country, who often have corrupt Negro governments forced upon them by the Jewish-influenced and corrupt political parties.
The events in Connecticut are supposed to begin at noon, but no reports of what is occurring there have reached internet news services at this time.
-----
Emailed to you by:
Libertarian Socialist News
ATTN: Bill White, Editor
Post Office Box 8631
Roanoke, VA 24014
http://www.overthrow.com
dhyphen@yahoo.com
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 11:28 AM
1 comments
David Gugliotti was placed on administrative leave
Police officer put on administrative leave after brutality claim
March 23, 2006
STRATFORD, Conn. --A Stratford police officer is on administrative leave after being accused of brutality by a town councilman.
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David Gugliotti was placed on administrative leave Wednesday, a day after he was called to break up a fight between several teenage girls outside a Stratford restaurant.
Police and eyewitness statements indicate at least four girls were involved in the fight outside Mitchell's Caribbean Delights. Titasheen Mitchell, 15, the daughter of restaurant owner Marcia Mitchell-Davis, said she was trying to keep the fight away from the restaurant's doors when she got pulled into the fracas.
In a police report, Gugliotti said the teenager tried to hit him as he was breaking up the fight and he struck her arms to defend himself. But Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, who witnessed the fight, said Gugliotti threw the 15-year-old girl onto his police cruiser and punched her twice in the face. The girl was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
Gugliotti also arrested O'Neal and charged him with interfering with police and breach of peace. O'Neal said he was arrested when he tried to stop the officer from striking the teenager.
"I told the officer ... to stop punching the girl and he told me to shut up," O'Neal told the Connecticut Post. "When I identified myself as the district councilman, he said he didn't care who the (expletive) I was. Then, I was handcuffed and thrown in the back of the police car and verbally taunted."
Mitchell-Davis said O'Neal should be credited with saving her daughter.
"If Councilman O'Neal wasn't there to stop the officer from continuing to slam her against the car and punching her, my daughter could have easily become a paraplegic or even been killed," she said.
Mayor James Miron, who met with about 70 residents Wednesday night at a community forum, promised a complete investigation. "I take any allegation of any abuse by anybody, including a police officer, seriously," he said in a statement. "It will not be tolerated."
But some residents said the incident is a sign of bigger problems in the police department.
"When that officer put his hand on that elected official, we have crossed the line somewhere," Stratford resident Clyde Nicholson said.
O'Neal is charged with interfering with police and breach of peace, while Mitchell is charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, breach of peace and third-degree assault. Both are due in Bridgeport Superior Court on March 30.
Also arrested in connection with the original fight are two girls, ages 14 and 15. Both are charged with third-degree assault, breach of peace, and interfering with police. They were released to their mothers and are due in court March 30.
© Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
March 23, 2006
STRATFORD, Conn. --A Stratford police officer is on administrative leave after being accused of brutality by a town councilman.
Article Tools
Printer friendly
Globe City/Region stories |
Boston.com
David Gugliotti was placed on administrative leave Wednesday, a day after he was called to break up a fight between several teenage girls outside a Stratford restaurant.
Police and eyewitness statements indicate at least four girls were involved in the fight outside Mitchell's Caribbean Delights. Titasheen Mitchell, 15, the daughter of restaurant owner Marcia Mitchell-Davis, said she was trying to keep the fight away from the restaurant's doors when she got pulled into the fracas.
In a police report, Gugliotti said the teenager tried to hit him as he was breaking up the fight and he struck her arms to defend himself. But Town Councilman Alvin O'Neal, who witnessed the fight, said Gugliotti threw the 15-year-old girl onto his police cruiser and punched her twice in the face. The girl was treated at a hospital for minor injuries.
Gugliotti also arrested O'Neal and charged him with interfering with police and breach of peace. O'Neal said he was arrested when he tried to stop the officer from striking the teenager.
"I told the officer ... to stop punching the girl and he told me to shut up," O'Neal told the Connecticut Post. "When I identified myself as the district councilman, he said he didn't care who the (expletive) I was. Then, I was handcuffed and thrown in the back of the police car and verbally taunted."
Mitchell-Davis said O'Neal should be credited with saving her daughter.
"If Councilman O'Neal wasn't there to stop the officer from continuing to slam her against the car and punching her, my daughter could have easily become a paraplegic or even been killed," she said.
Mayor James Miron, who met with about 70 residents Wednesday night at a community forum, promised a complete investigation. "I take any allegation of any abuse by anybody, including a police officer, seriously," he said in a statement. "It will not be tolerated."
But some residents said the incident is a sign of bigger problems in the police department.
"When that officer put his hand on that elected official, we have crossed the line somewhere," Stratford resident Clyde Nicholson said.
O'Neal is charged with interfering with police and breach of peace, while Mitchell is charged with assault on a police officer, interfering with a police officer, breach of peace and third-degree assault. Both are due in Bridgeport Superior Court on March 30.
Also arrested in connection with the original fight are two girls, ages 14 and 15. Both are charged with third-degree assault, breach of peace, and interfering with police. They were released to their mothers and are due in court March 30.
© Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 11:14 AM
3 comments
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Stratford rally could turn into battlefield
Stratford rally could turn into battlefield
Neal McNamara, Register Correspondent
07/13/2006
STRATFORD — Police said Wednesday that they will increase their presence at an anti-racism rally planned for Saturday as three alleged white supremacist groups have made their presence known in town by dropping leaflets on residents’ driveways and pledging to appear at the event.
The groups are openly advertising for area white supremacists to attend the rally, which is being held in conjunction by Councilman Alvin O’Neal, D-2, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
O’Neal has advertised the rally as an informative, community-healing event that will draw attention to issues between town police and residents. Mayor James Miron and Connecticut NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile are both scheduled to speak at the rally. Neither Esdaile nor O’Neal could be reached Thursday for comment. Miron declined comment, citing what he said would be a "big announcement" regarding the rally today. He declined to say what would be announced or whether the rally would be cancelled.
Police Capt. Harvey Maxwell said that police presence at the rally would be stepped up. However, Maxwell noted that he does not expect a large contingent of white supremacists to attend the rally.
"It’s bad enough to have two groups protesting. … But two groups with different opinions makes it even more difficult," said Maxwell. "We’re going to have additional manpower."
Maxwell confirmed that white supremacy groups, who identified themselves only as the White Wolves, the Connecticut State Skinheads and North East White Pride, littered residents’ driveways on Wednesday with fliers. One resident, who lives at Cutspring Road complained to police, but Maxwell said that the handing out of the fliers in such a manner is simply littering.
"It’s like when you put fliers under car windshield wipers," said Maxwell. "It’s the same category."
An alleged white supremacist Internet radio show, called the "Captain Piddles Show," which is linked from the North East White Pride Web site, implores area white supremacists to come to Stratford Saturday.
The host, called Captain Piddles, plays hate-inspired heavy metal and in between speaks in a thick New England accent about goings-on in the white supremacy community. Piddles talks specifically about the rally in Stratford, and urges white supremacists who plan to attend to "bring baseball bats."
The rally was set up by O’Neal and residents of both Stratford and Bridgeport in response to an incident that occurred in the town’s South End on March 21. According to O’Neal, Stratford police Officer David Gugliotti used excessive force in arresting 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell. O’Neal himself tried to intervene, and was arrested.
An Internal Affairs investigation was launched into whether Gugliotti brutalized Mitchell — O’Neal testified that he saw Gugliotti punch Mitchell in the face — but Gugliotti recently was cleared of all charges.
The Stratford Police Union has recently come out against O’Neal, demanding that he be removed from the town council.
©New Haven Register 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 7:20 PM
1 comments
Stratford cop cleared in probe of fight
Stratford cop cleared in probe of fight
Phil Helsel, Register Staff
06/10/2006
STRATFORD — An internal affairs investigation has cleared a police officer accused of punching a 14-year-old girl in the face while breaking up a large fight in the South End in March.
Police Chief Michael Imbro and Mayor James R. Miron cited "vastly disparate accounts" from witnesses to the March 21 disturbance, during which Officer David Gugliotti allegedly punched Titasheen Mitchell in the face and arrested Councilman Alvin O’Neal, who tried to intervene.
But there were also two different accounts of how the investigation played out.
At a news conference to announce the results Friday, Imbro and Miron called the 60-day investigation into Gugliotti and four other officers a "long, thorough, exhaustive process" during which police practically begged Titasheen to give her side of the story. But the girl’s mother said Friday at the press conference that no such attempts were made.
"The town never requested to speak to Titasheen," said her mother, Marcia Mitchell-Davis, who accused Gugliotti of punching her daughter, and four other officers of either harassing her after the incident or refusing to provide the girl medical care. "My daughter is the victim."
Imbro said police called her several times and sent a letter requesting an interview, but received no response.
In clearing Gugliotti and police Capt. Mark DeLieto, Lt. Michael Fernandez, Sgt. Celeste Robitaille and Officer Shaun Martinez, Imbro said the investigation could find no physical evidence that the officers violated departmental policy, and that 12 witnesses to the fight interviewed by police all gave different accounts of what had happened.
According to statements taken by police, some of the witnesses said that Gugliotti slammed Titasheen onto the trunk of a police cruiser twice as she was being arrested and that he punched her, but several others said that Titasheen struck Gugliotti in the mouth while struggling with him.
Miron said that all town employees would undergo diversity and sensitivity training as a result of the incident, and that the town is outfitting police cruisers with video cameras and audio recorders to clear up similar situations in the future. He said Gugliotti admitted to using profanity as he and others tried to break up the crowd but denied that the officer ever used racial slurs directed at Titasheen, O’Neal or anyone else.
The girl and O’Neal are black, while Gugliotti is white.
Charles Kurmay, O’Neal’s attorney, said Friday that he had not read the report and couldn’t comment on the internal affairs investigation, but he said that O’Neal can resolve his criminal case without a conviction.
O’Neal was charged interfering with police and breach of peace. Two other juveniles involved in the fight were charged with assault, breach of peace and interfering with police. Titasheen was also charged with those crimes as well as one count of assault on a police officer.
Mitchell-Davis said her daughter suffered contusions to her back and neck and is undergoing physical therapy.
Police union President Shawn Farmer said Friday that Miron "illegally placed (Gugliotti) on administrative leave because David enforced the law ... and arrested Jim Miron’s friend, Alvin O’Neal."
"I arrested one of the mayor’s friends and he took it out on me," Gugliotti said Friday.
©New Haven Register 2006
Phil Helsel, Register Staff
06/10/2006
STRATFORD — An internal affairs investigation has cleared a police officer accused of punching a 14-year-old girl in the face while breaking up a large fight in the South End in March.
Police Chief Michael Imbro and Mayor James R. Miron cited "vastly disparate accounts" from witnesses to the March 21 disturbance, during which Officer David Gugliotti allegedly punched Titasheen Mitchell in the face and arrested Councilman Alvin O’Neal, who tried to intervene.
But there were also two different accounts of how the investigation played out.
At a news conference to announce the results Friday, Imbro and Miron called the 60-day investigation into Gugliotti and four other officers a "long, thorough, exhaustive process" during which police practically begged Titasheen to give her side of the story. But the girl’s mother said Friday at the press conference that no such attempts were made.
"The town never requested to speak to Titasheen," said her mother, Marcia Mitchell-Davis, who accused Gugliotti of punching her daughter, and four other officers of either harassing her after the incident or refusing to provide the girl medical care. "My daughter is the victim."
Imbro said police called her several times and sent a letter requesting an interview, but received no response.
In clearing Gugliotti and police Capt. Mark DeLieto, Lt. Michael Fernandez, Sgt. Celeste Robitaille and Officer Shaun Martinez, Imbro said the investigation could find no physical evidence that the officers violated departmental policy, and that 12 witnesses to the fight interviewed by police all gave different accounts of what had happened.
According to statements taken by police, some of the witnesses said that Gugliotti slammed Titasheen onto the trunk of a police cruiser twice as she was being arrested and that he punched her, but several others said that Titasheen struck Gugliotti in the mouth while struggling with him.
Miron said that all town employees would undergo diversity and sensitivity training as a result of the incident, and that the town is outfitting police cruisers with video cameras and audio recorders to clear up similar situations in the future. He said Gugliotti admitted to using profanity as he and others tried to break up the crowd but denied that the officer ever used racial slurs directed at Titasheen, O’Neal or anyone else.
The girl and O’Neal are black, while Gugliotti is white.
Charles Kurmay, O’Neal’s attorney, said Friday that he had not read the report and couldn’t comment on the internal affairs investigation, but he said that O’Neal can resolve his criminal case without a conviction.
O’Neal was charged interfering with police and breach of peace. Two other juveniles involved in the fight were charged with assault, breach of peace and interfering with police. Titasheen was also charged with those crimes as well as one count of assault on a police officer.
Mitchell-Davis said her daughter suffered contusions to her back and neck and is undergoing physical therapy.
Police union President Shawn Farmer said Friday that Miron "illegally placed (Gugliotti) on administrative leave because David enforced the law ... and arrested Jim Miron’s friend, Alvin O’Neal."
"I arrested one of the mayor’s friends and he took it out on me," Gugliotti said Friday.
©New Haven Register 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 7:19 PM
3 comments
Stratford antiracism rally is a ‘go’
Stratford antiracism rally is a ‘go’
Neal McNamara, Register Correspondent
07/15/2006
STRATFORD — Community groups will proceed with an antiracism rally at noon today in spite of the threatened presence of hate groups, but police will be out in force, including to sweep the area around Town Hall for weapons and other threats.
Town officials had canceled the rally Thursday after self-proclaimed white supremacists vowed to appear.
But the Rev. Johnny Gamble, who is a pastor at the Friendship Baptist Church, and members of various community groups, obtained permission from the Police Department late Thursday to hold the rally.
Originally organized by Councilman Alvin O’Neal, D-2, in response to alleged police brutality issues in town, the rally was supposed to peacefully demonstrate concerns of residents and unite a town split over issues of race.
But Tuesday, several area alleged hate groups littered residents’ lawns with racist pamphlets, letting their intentions to show up at the rally be known. And as late as Friday, according to police Capt. Harvey Maxwell, the groups had again littered the town with more pamphlets.
On Thursday, in a joint press conference with O’Neal and Police Chief Michael Imbro, Mayor John R. Miron canceled the rally, saying that the hate groups would overshadow the rally’s intent to bring peace and understanding to the community.
Miron had maintained in canceling the event that the hate groups would get all the media attention, thus overshadowing the rally’s peaceful message.
"When we look at this rally ... its intention was supposed to be to unite. Our message will get diluted," Miron said Thursday.
Miron said Friday that he would attend the rally; O’Neal’s attorney, Charles Kurmey, declined to comment whether O’Neal would be there.
Shortly after the end of the press conference Thursday, Gamble and several other church leaders get permission to proceed with the rally. According to the town clerk’s office, all that’s needed to hold a rally is to give 48 hours notice to the Police Department.
Maxwell said that a police force stretched thin by vacation season is gearing up to keep the rally safe. Maxwell could not give specifics in terms of deployment or method, but said that the police are making "preparations."
Police also are making sure the area where the rally will take place around Town Hall is secure, sweeping for weapons and graffiti, or anything else that may disturb the peace of the rally, he said.
"We don’t know how many people will attend the rally. We’re not even sure the people holding the rally know," said Maxwell.
Maxwell said the duty of police at the rally would be to protect people there.
Scott X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is scheduled to speak at the rally.
Self-proclaimed white supremacists hailing from groups calling themselves the White Wolves, Northeast White Pride and the Connecticut State Skinheads also have said they plan to attend.
O’Neal and residents of Stratford and Bridgeport had originally set up the rally in response to an incident in the town’s South End March 21.
According to O’Neal, police Officer David Gugliotti used excessive force in arresting 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell. O’Neal tried to intervene and also was arrested.
Gugliotti was investigated by the Internal Affairs division of his department and was later cleared of wrongdoing. The town, at Miron’s behest, has streamlined the system for residents who make complaints against police. Residents, for instance, can now fill out a complaint form online.
©New Haven Register 2006
Neal McNamara, Register Correspondent
07/15/2006
STRATFORD — Community groups will proceed with an antiracism rally at noon today in spite of the threatened presence of hate groups, but police will be out in force, including to sweep the area around Town Hall for weapons and other threats.
Town officials had canceled the rally Thursday after self-proclaimed white supremacists vowed to appear.
But the Rev. Johnny Gamble, who is a pastor at the Friendship Baptist Church, and members of various community groups, obtained permission from the Police Department late Thursday to hold the rally.
Originally organized by Councilman Alvin O’Neal, D-2, in response to alleged police brutality issues in town, the rally was supposed to peacefully demonstrate concerns of residents and unite a town split over issues of race.
But Tuesday, several area alleged hate groups littered residents’ lawns with racist pamphlets, letting their intentions to show up at the rally be known. And as late as Friday, according to police Capt. Harvey Maxwell, the groups had again littered the town with more pamphlets.
On Thursday, in a joint press conference with O’Neal and Police Chief Michael Imbro, Mayor John R. Miron canceled the rally, saying that the hate groups would overshadow the rally’s intent to bring peace and understanding to the community.
Miron had maintained in canceling the event that the hate groups would get all the media attention, thus overshadowing the rally’s peaceful message.
"When we look at this rally ... its intention was supposed to be to unite. Our message will get diluted," Miron said Thursday.
Miron said Friday that he would attend the rally; O’Neal’s attorney, Charles Kurmey, declined to comment whether O’Neal would be there.
Shortly after the end of the press conference Thursday, Gamble and several other church leaders get permission to proceed with the rally. According to the town clerk’s office, all that’s needed to hold a rally is to give 48 hours notice to the Police Department.
Maxwell said that a police force stretched thin by vacation season is gearing up to keep the rally safe. Maxwell could not give specifics in terms of deployment or method, but said that the police are making "preparations."
Police also are making sure the area where the rally will take place around Town Hall is secure, sweeping for weapons and graffiti, or anything else that may disturb the peace of the rally, he said.
"We don’t know how many people will attend the rally. We’re not even sure the people holding the rally know," said Maxwell.
Maxwell said the duty of police at the rally would be to protect people there.
Scott X. Esdaile, president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, is scheduled to speak at the rally.
Self-proclaimed white supremacists hailing from groups calling themselves the White Wolves, Northeast White Pride and the Connecticut State Skinheads also have said they plan to attend.
O’Neal and residents of Stratford and Bridgeport had originally set up the rally in response to an incident in the town’s South End March 21.
According to O’Neal, police Officer David Gugliotti used excessive force in arresting 15-year-old Titasheen Mitchell. O’Neal tried to intervene and also was arrested.
Gugliotti was investigated by the Internal Affairs division of his department and was later cleared of wrongdoing. The town, at Miron’s behest, has streamlined the system for residents who make complaints against police. Residents, for instance, can now fill out a complaint form online.
©New Haven Register 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 7:18 PM
2 comments
Stratford rally on Green goes off without a hitch
STRATFORD — If any white supremacists showed up at the antiracism rally in front of Town Hall Saturday, they kept a low profile.
A few hundred people braved the withering noon heat to decry racism and police brutality, all under a heavy police presence because of concerns that hate-groups would make good on their pledge to disrupt the event.
At a lectern emblazoned with the words ‘Stop Racism,’ activists, clergy and politicians delivered impassioned speeches and condemned the police scuffle and arrest of a 15-year-old black girl and a minority councilman, an incident that, for the moment, made this shoreline town ground zero in a perceived statewide civil rights struggle.
"We shouldn’t let black leadership be mistreated like that. We shouldn’t let little girls in our community be able to be punched in her face and not say something. We shouldn’t let black leadership get arrested and we don’t say nothing," shouted Scot X. Esdaile, the president of the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
"We must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride on your back unless your back is bent. We must stand up straight. We must organize. We must mobilize."
The rally went off without any problems.
Titasheen Mitchell, the 15-year-old whose arrest was the catalyst for the event, was there. Her mother delivered a scathing rebuke of the police department, which she says has a reputation for racial profiling and mistreating minorities.
Stratford is a tale of two towns, with the more affluent North End and the poorer — and blacker — South End, according to Marcia Mitchell-Davis. Minority customers at her restaurant routinely ask for delivery because they’re afraid they’ll be hassled by police.
"South Avenue and Stratford Avenue is the Mason-Dixon Line in this town," she proclaimed with a cracking voice. "Once you cross over that you find a whole different town."
Mayor James Miron, who is white, was one of the final speakers, and focused on the future and not the past, laying out a set of initiatives to move forward, including sensitivity and cultural training for all city employees and video and audio cameras in squad cars.
"The police department in this town is a good police department and most of you know that," he said. "Most police officers in this town, the great majority of them, are good men and good women who work hard, so we’re going to respect them and we’re going to honor them."
Earlier this week, self-proclaimed white supremacist groups put leaflets in driveways pledging to be at Saturday’s event. On Thursday, Councilman Alvin O’Neal, who organized the event, Police Chief Michael Imbro and Miron canceled the rally, saying that the hate groups would overshadow the rally’s intent, which was to bring peace and understanding to the community. O’Neal was the councilman who was arrested in the incident with Titasheen.
The rally was back on that same day, this time organized by Gamble and others community groups.
Both police and the media kept an eye out for any hate groups. A woman and some young men with shaved heads and tattoos drew the attention of reporters, but they were not there to oppose the rally and were no supporters of police.
"My friend got beat down (by police) and he’s white so it ain’t no black thing," said 28-year-old Anthony Cardillo.
While no skinheads showed up and made a scene, there were varying opinions. A woman, who only identified herself as Donna, said the situation was being unfairly cast as racial.
"I don’t have a problem with the Stratford Police Department," she said. "The guy was doing his job."
According to O’Neal, police Officer David Gugliotti used excessive force in arresting Titasheen in March after a dispute outside her mother’s business. Gugliotti was investigated by the department’s internal affairs division and cleared of wrongdoing.
©New Haven Register 2006
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 7:16 PM
1 comments
http://www.brownwatch.com/
Boot Camp Beating Death of Black Teenager Sets Off Protest & Sit-Ins at Gov. Bush's office
Thirty students staged a sit-in at the office of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday to protest what they called a slow investigation into the death of a teenager at a juvenile boot camp in January. "It's been 105 days since this young man's death and nothing has been done," said Gabriel Pendas, 23, president of the student senate at Florida State University. "We will stay here until something is done." Bush, the younger brother of President Bush, was in Washington to show support for the war in Iraq. The students declined an offer to meet with Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings. Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died hours after arriving at the juvenile detention facility in Panama City, Florida, for stealing his grandmother's car and violating probation. A videotape taken at the camp showed guards punching and kicking the boy, who at times appeared limp. An autopsy by the Bay County medical examiner attributed Anderson's death to internal bleeding from a previously undiagnosed disorder, sickle cell trait. But the autopsy results were heavily criticized and the governor called for an independent investigation into Anderson's death. Anderson's body was exhumed and a second autopsy conducted. Official results have not been released, but a coroner who observed the second autopsy has said the results of the first autopsy were wrong. The protesters want the second autopsy to be made public and for the Republican governor to publicly apologize to Anderson's family. They also want law enforcement officials reprimanded, and all seven guards seen in the video arrested and charged.
Thirty students staged a sit-in at the office of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush on Wednesday to protest what they called a slow investigation into the death of a teenager at a juvenile boot camp in January. "It's been 105 days since this young man's death and nothing has been done," said Gabriel Pendas, 23, president of the student senate at Florida State University. "We will stay here until something is done." Bush, the younger brother of President Bush, was in Washington to show support for the war in Iraq. The students declined an offer to meet with Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings. Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died hours after arriving at the juvenile detention facility in Panama City, Florida, for stealing his grandmother's car and violating probation. A videotape taken at the camp showed guards punching and kicking the boy, who at times appeared limp. An autopsy by the Bay County medical examiner attributed Anderson's death to internal bleeding from a previously undiagnosed disorder, sickle cell trait. But the autopsy results were heavily criticized and the governor called for an independent investigation into Anderson's death. Anderson's body was exhumed and a second autopsy conducted. Official results have not been released, but a coroner who observed the second autopsy has said the results of the first autopsy were wrong. The protesters want the second autopsy to be made public and for the Republican governor to publicly apologize to Anderson's family. They also want law enforcement officials reprimanded, and all seven guards seen in the video arrested and charged.
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 7:11 PM
2 comments
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/split/documents/polmis.htm
ADDRESSING POLICE MISCONDUCT
LAWS ENFORCED BY THE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
The vast majority of the law enforcement officers in this country perform their very difficult jobs with respect for their communities and in compliance with the law. Even so, there are incidents in which this is not the case. This document outlines the laws enforced by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) that address police misconduct and explains how you can file a complaint with DOJ if you believe that your rights have been violated.
Federal laws that address police misconduct include both criminal and civil statutes. These laws cover the actions of State, county, and local officers, including those who work in prisons and jails. In addition, several laws also apply to Federal law enforcement officers. The laws protect all persons in the United States (citizens and non-citizens).
Each law DOJ enforces is briefly discussed below. In DOJ investigations, whether criminal or civil, the person whose rights have been reportedly violated is referred to as a victim and often is an important witness. DOJ generally will inform the victim of the results of the investigation, but we do not act as the victim's lawyer and cannot give legal advice as a private attorney could.
The various offices within DOJ that are responsible for enforcing the laws discussed in this document coordinate their investigation and enforcement efforts where appropriate. For example, a complaint received by one office may be referred to another if necessary to address the allegations. In addition, more than one office may investigate the same complaint if the allegations raise issues covered by more than one statute.
What is the difference between criminal and civil cases?
Criminal and civil laws are different. Criminal cases usually are investigated and handled separately from civil cases, even if they concern the same incident. In a criminal case, DOJ brings a case against the accused person; in a civil case, DOJ brings the case (either through litigation or an administrative investigation) against a governmental authority or law enforcement agency. In a criminal case, the evidence must establish proof "beyond a reasonable doubt," while in civil cases the proof need only satisfy the lower standard of a "preponderance of the evidence." Finally, in criminal cases, DOJ seeks to punish a wrongdoer for past misconduct through imprisonment or other sanction. In civil cases, DOJ seeks to correct a law enforcement agency's policies and practices that fostered the misconduct and, where appropriate, may require individual relief for the victim(s).
Federal Criminal Enforcement
It is a crime for one or more persons acting under color of law willfully to deprive or conspire to deprive another person of any right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. (18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242). "Color of law" simply means that the person doing the act is using power given to him or her by a governmental agency (local, State, or Federal). A law enforcement officer acts "under color of law" even if he or she is exceeding his or her rightful power. The types of law enforcement misconduct covered by these laws include excessive force, sexual assault, intentional false arrests, or the intentional fabrication of evidence resulting in a loss of liberty to another. Enforcement of these provisions does not require that any racial, religious, or other discriminatory motive existed.
What remedies are available under these laws?
Violations of these laws are punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. There is no private right of action under these statutes; in other words, these are not the legal provisions under which you would file a lawsuit on your own.
Federal Civil Enforcement
"Police Misconduct Provision"
This law makes it unlawful for State or local law enforcement officers to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. (42 U.S.C. § 14141). The types of conduct covered by this law can include, among other things, excessive force, discriminatory harassment, false arrests, coercive sexual conduct, and unlawful stops, searches or arrests. In order to be covered by this law, the misconduct must constitute a "pattern or practice" -- it may not simply be an isolated incident. The DOJ must be able to show in court that the agency has an unlawful policy or that the incidents constituted a pattern of unlawful conduct. However, unlike the other civil laws discussed below, DOJ does not have to show that discrimination has occurred in order to prove a pattern or practice of misconduct.
What remedies are available under this law?
The remedies available under this law do not provide for individual monetary relief for the victims of the misconduct. Rather, they provide for injunctive relief, such as orders to end the misconduct and changes in the agency's policies and procedures that resulted in or allowed the misconduct. There is no private right of action under this law; only DOJ may file suit for violations of the Police Misconduct Provision.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the "OJP Program Statute"
Together, these laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and religion by State and local law enforcement agencies that receive financial assistance from the Department of Justice. (42 U.S.C. § 2000d, et seq. and 42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c)). Currently, most persons are served by a law enforcement agency that receives DOJ funds. These laws prohibit both individual instances and patterns or practices of discriminatory misconduct, i.e., treating a person differently because of race, color, national origin, sex, or religion. The misconduct covered by Title VI and the OJP (Office of Justice Programs) Program Statute includes, for example, harassment or use of racial slurs, unjustified arrests, discriminatory traffic stops, coercive sexual conduct, retaliation for filing a complaint with DOJ or participating in the investigation, use of excessive force, or refusal by the agency to respond to complaints alleging discriminatory treatment by its officers.
What remedies are available under these laws?
DOJ may seek changes in the policies and procedures of the agency to remedy violations of these laws and, if appropriate, also seek individual remedial relief for the victim(s). Individuals also have a private right of action under Title VI and under the OJP Program Statute; in other words, you may file a lawsuit yourself under these laws. However, you must first exhaust your administrative remedies by filing a complaint with DOJ if you wish to file in Federal Court under the OJP Program Statute.
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability. (42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq. and 29 U.S.C. § 794). These laws protect all people with disabilities in the United States. An individual is considered to have a "disability" if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all State and local government programs, services, and activities regardless of whether they receive DOJ financial assistance; it also protects people who are discriminated against because of their association with a person with a disability. Section 504 prohibits discrimination by State and local law enforcement agencies that receive financial assistance from DOJ. Section 504 also prohibits discrimination in programs and activities conducted by Federal agencies, including law enforcement agencies.
These laws prohibit discriminatory treatment, including misconduct, on the basis of disability in virtually all law enforcement services and activities. These activities include, among others, interrogating witnesses, providing emergency services, enforcing laws, addressing citizen complaints, and arresting, booking, and holding suspects. These laws also prohibit retaliation for filing a complaint with DOJ or participating in the investigation.
What remedies are available under these laws?
If appropriate, DOJ may seek individual relief for the victim(s), in addition to changes in the policies and procedures of the law enforcement agency. Individuals have a private right of action under both the ADA and Section 504; you may file a private lawsuit for violations of these statutes. There is no requirement that you exhaust your administrative remedies by filing a complaint with DOJ first.
How to File a Complaint with DOJ
Criminal Enforcement
If you would like to file a complaint alleging a violation of the criminal laws discussed above, you may contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is responsible for investigating allegations of criminal deprivations of civil rights. You may also contact the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) in your district. The FBI and USAOs have offices in most major cities and have publicly-listed phone numbers. In addition, you may send a written complaint to:
Criminal Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66018
Washington, D.C. 20035-6018
Civil Enforcement
If you would like to file a complaint alleging violations of the Police Misconduct Statute, Title VI, or the OJP Program Statute, you may send a written complaint to:
Coordination and Review Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66560
Washington, D.C. 20035-6560
You may also call the Coordination and Review Section's toll-free number for information and a complaint form, at (888) 848-5306 (voice and TDD).
If you would like to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability, you may send a written complaint to:
Disability Rights Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66738
Washington, D.C. 20035-6738
You may also call the Disability Rights Section's toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TDD).
How do I file a complaint about the conduct of a law enforcement officer from a Federal agency?
If you believe that you are a victim of criminal misconduct by a Federal law enforcement officer (such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the FBI; the Customs Service; Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; or the Border Patrol), you should follow the procedures discussed above concerning how to file a complaint alleging violations of the criminal laws we enforce. If you believe that you have been subjected by a Federal law enforcement officer to the type of misconduct discussed above concerning "Federal Civil Enforcement," you may send a complaint to the Coordination and Review Section, at the address listed above. That office will forward your complaint to the appropriate agency and office.
What information should I include in a complaint to DOJ?
Your complaint, whether alleging violations of criminal or civil laws listed in this document, should include the following information:
Your name, address, and telephone number(s).
The name(s) of the law enforcement agency (or agencies) involved.
A description of the conduct you believe violates one of the laws discussed above, with as many details as possible. You should include: the dates and times of incident(s); any injuries sustained; the name(s), or other identifying information, of the officer(s) involved (if possible); and any other examples of similar misconduct.
The names and telephone numbers of witnesses who can support your allegations.
If you believe that the misconduct is based on your race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or disability, please identify the basis and explain what led you to believe that you were treated in a discriminatory manner (i.e., differently from persons of another race, sex, etc.).
Reproduction of this document is encouraged.
Return to Conduct of Law Enforcement Agencies Page
Return to Documents and Publications Page
Return to Special Litigation Section Home Page
Last updated October 13, 1999
LAWS ENFORCED BY THE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
The vast majority of the law enforcement officers in this country perform their very difficult jobs with respect for their communities and in compliance with the law. Even so, there are incidents in which this is not the case. This document outlines the laws enforced by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) that address police misconduct and explains how you can file a complaint with DOJ if you believe that your rights have been violated.
Federal laws that address police misconduct include both criminal and civil statutes. These laws cover the actions of State, county, and local officers, including those who work in prisons and jails. In addition, several laws also apply to Federal law enforcement officers. The laws protect all persons in the United States (citizens and non-citizens).
Each law DOJ enforces is briefly discussed below. In DOJ investigations, whether criminal or civil, the person whose rights have been reportedly violated is referred to as a victim and often is an important witness. DOJ generally will inform the victim of the results of the investigation, but we do not act as the victim's lawyer and cannot give legal advice as a private attorney could.
The various offices within DOJ that are responsible for enforcing the laws discussed in this document coordinate their investigation and enforcement efforts where appropriate. For example, a complaint received by one office may be referred to another if necessary to address the allegations. In addition, more than one office may investigate the same complaint if the allegations raise issues covered by more than one statute.
What is the difference between criminal and civil cases?
Criminal and civil laws are different. Criminal cases usually are investigated and handled separately from civil cases, even if they concern the same incident. In a criminal case, DOJ brings a case against the accused person; in a civil case, DOJ brings the case (either through litigation or an administrative investigation) against a governmental authority or law enforcement agency. In a criminal case, the evidence must establish proof "beyond a reasonable doubt," while in civil cases the proof need only satisfy the lower standard of a "preponderance of the evidence." Finally, in criminal cases, DOJ seeks to punish a wrongdoer for past misconduct through imprisonment or other sanction. In civil cases, DOJ seeks to correct a law enforcement agency's policies and practices that fostered the misconduct and, where appropriate, may require individual relief for the victim(s).
Federal Criminal Enforcement
It is a crime for one or more persons acting under color of law willfully to deprive or conspire to deprive another person of any right protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. (18 U.S.C. §§ 241, 242). "Color of law" simply means that the person doing the act is using power given to him or her by a governmental agency (local, State, or Federal). A law enforcement officer acts "under color of law" even if he or she is exceeding his or her rightful power. The types of law enforcement misconduct covered by these laws include excessive force, sexual assault, intentional false arrests, or the intentional fabrication of evidence resulting in a loss of liberty to another. Enforcement of these provisions does not require that any racial, religious, or other discriminatory motive existed.
What remedies are available under these laws?
Violations of these laws are punishable by fine and/or imprisonment. There is no private right of action under these statutes; in other words, these are not the legal provisions under which you would file a lawsuit on your own.
Federal Civil Enforcement
"Police Misconduct Provision"
This law makes it unlawful for State or local law enforcement officers to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives persons of rights protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States. (42 U.S.C. § 14141). The types of conduct covered by this law can include, among other things, excessive force, discriminatory harassment, false arrests, coercive sexual conduct, and unlawful stops, searches or arrests. In order to be covered by this law, the misconduct must constitute a "pattern or practice" -- it may not simply be an isolated incident. The DOJ must be able to show in court that the agency has an unlawful policy or that the incidents constituted a pattern of unlawful conduct. However, unlike the other civil laws discussed below, DOJ does not have to show that discrimination has occurred in order to prove a pattern or practice of misconduct.
What remedies are available under this law?
The remedies available under this law do not provide for individual monetary relief for the victims of the misconduct. Rather, they provide for injunctive relief, such as orders to end the misconduct and changes in the agency's policies and procedures that resulted in or allowed the misconduct. There is no private right of action under this law; only DOJ may file suit for violations of the Police Misconduct Provision.
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
and the "OJP Program Statute"
Together, these laws prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, and religion by State and local law enforcement agencies that receive financial assistance from the Department of Justice. (42 U.S.C. § 2000d, et seq. and 42 U.S.C. § 3789d(c)). Currently, most persons are served by a law enforcement agency that receives DOJ funds. These laws prohibit both individual instances and patterns or practices of discriminatory misconduct, i.e., treating a person differently because of race, color, national origin, sex, or religion. The misconduct covered by Title VI and the OJP (Office of Justice Programs) Program Statute includes, for example, harassment or use of racial slurs, unjustified arrests, discriminatory traffic stops, coercive sexual conduct, retaliation for filing a complaint with DOJ or participating in the investigation, use of excessive force, or refusal by the agency to respond to complaints alleging discriminatory treatment by its officers.
What remedies are available under these laws?
DOJ may seek changes in the policies and procedures of the agency to remedy violations of these laws and, if appropriate, also seek individual remedial relief for the victim(s). Individuals also have a private right of action under Title VI and under the OJP Program Statute; in other words, you may file a lawsuit yourself under these laws. However, you must first exhaust your administrative remedies by filing a complaint with DOJ if you wish to file in Federal Court under the OJP Program Statute.
Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 prohibit discrimination against individuals with disabilities on the basis of disability. (42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq. and 29 U.S.C. § 794). These laws protect all people with disabilities in the United States. An individual is considered to have a "disability" if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a record of such an impairment, or is regarded as having such an impairment.
The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in all State and local government programs, services, and activities regardless of whether they receive DOJ financial assistance; it also protects people who are discriminated against because of their association with a person with a disability. Section 504 prohibits discrimination by State and local law enforcement agencies that receive financial assistance from DOJ. Section 504 also prohibits discrimination in programs and activities conducted by Federal agencies, including law enforcement agencies.
These laws prohibit discriminatory treatment, including misconduct, on the basis of disability in virtually all law enforcement services and activities. These activities include, among others, interrogating witnesses, providing emergency services, enforcing laws, addressing citizen complaints, and arresting, booking, and holding suspects. These laws also prohibit retaliation for filing a complaint with DOJ or participating in the investigation.
What remedies are available under these laws?
If appropriate, DOJ may seek individual relief for the victim(s), in addition to changes in the policies and procedures of the law enforcement agency. Individuals have a private right of action under both the ADA and Section 504; you may file a private lawsuit for violations of these statutes. There is no requirement that you exhaust your administrative remedies by filing a complaint with DOJ first.
How to File a Complaint with DOJ
Criminal Enforcement
If you would like to file a complaint alleging a violation of the criminal laws discussed above, you may contact the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which is responsible for investigating allegations of criminal deprivations of civil rights. You may also contact the United States Attorney's Office (USAO) in your district. The FBI and USAOs have offices in most major cities and have publicly-listed phone numbers. In addition, you may send a written complaint to:
Criminal Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66018
Washington, D.C. 20035-6018
Civil Enforcement
If you would like to file a complaint alleging violations of the Police Misconduct Statute, Title VI, or the OJP Program Statute, you may send a written complaint to:
Coordination and Review Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66560
Washington, D.C. 20035-6560
You may also call the Coordination and Review Section's toll-free number for information and a complaint form, at (888) 848-5306 (voice and TDD).
If you would like to file a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis of disability, you may send a written complaint to:
Disability Rights Section
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
P.O. Box 66738
Washington, D.C. 20035-6738
You may also call the Disability Rights Section's toll-free ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301 (voice) or (800) 514-0383 (TDD).
How do I file a complaint about the conduct of a law enforcement officer from a Federal agency?
If you believe that you are a victim of criminal misconduct by a Federal law enforcement officer (such as the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the FBI; the Customs Service; Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; or the Border Patrol), you should follow the procedures discussed above concerning how to file a complaint alleging violations of the criminal laws we enforce. If you believe that you have been subjected by a Federal law enforcement officer to the type of misconduct discussed above concerning "Federal Civil Enforcement," you may send a complaint to the Coordination and Review Section, at the address listed above. That office will forward your complaint to the appropriate agency and office.
What information should I include in a complaint to DOJ?
Your complaint, whether alleging violations of criminal or civil laws listed in this document, should include the following information:
Your name, address, and telephone number(s).
The name(s) of the law enforcement agency (or agencies) involved.
A description of the conduct you believe violates one of the laws discussed above, with as many details as possible. You should include: the dates and times of incident(s); any injuries sustained; the name(s), or other identifying information, of the officer(s) involved (if possible); and any other examples of similar misconduct.
The names and telephone numbers of witnesses who can support your allegations.
If you believe that the misconduct is based on your race, color, national origin, sex, religion, or disability, please identify the basis and explain what led you to believe that you were treated in a discriminatory manner (i.e., differently from persons of another race, sex, etc.).
Reproduction of this document is encouraged.
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Last updated October 13, 1999
posted by Titasheen Mitchell at 7:06 PM
3 comments
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- Name: Titasheen Mitchell
- Location: Stratford, Fairfield County, United States
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