Pubdate: Sat, 25 Mar 2000
Source: San Francisco Examiner (CA)
Copyright: 2000 San Francisco Examiner
Contact:  http://www.examiner.com/
Forum: http://examiner.com/cgi-bin/WebX
Author: Lukas I. Alpert, Associated Press

MARCHERS PROTEST POLICE SHOOTING

NEW YORK -- A crowd of angry protesters threw bottles and briefly
clashed with police Saturday during a funeral procession for the
latest unarmed black man killed by New York officers, this time a
Haitian immigrant who rebuffed an undercover officer's request for
drugs.

The disturbance came after a miles-long procession of protesters and
mourners followed a hearse carrying the body of 26-year-old Patrick
Dorismond, who was shot to death March 16.

"It's our blood, it's not cheap. We must let them know this must
stop," said Michel Eddy, a 26-year-old Haitian immigrant.

As car horns blared loudly, protesters chanted and knocked down police
barricades. Many demanded the mayor's resignation over the killing -
the third of an unarmed black civilian by undercover officers in the
city in the past 13 months.

Two police officers were injured, one suffering a possible broken nose
when barriers and people crushed him. Police did not have an immediate
count of how many people had been arrested.

A car driving the wrong way on the street was plastered with banners,
including one that read: "If you shoot one of my children, I shoot
five of you," and others threatening Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's family.

A man walking through a crush of people shouted: "Rudy, I'll blow you
up to kingdom come, cut you with a chain saw, and feed you to the dogs!"

Another protester's sign named others caught up in police-linked
violence: "Diallo, Louima, Baez, Bumpers, enough."

Phone calls to Giuliani's office Saturday were not immediately
returned.

Dorismond, a security guard and the son of Haitian singer Andre
Dorismond, was shot after an officer conducting a drug sting allegedly
asked Dorismond if he would sell him marijuana. The two scuffled,
backup officers arrived and one officer's gun went off, killing Dorismond.

The shooting happened just two weeks after another undercover officer
fatally shot an unarmed man in the Bronx near where unarmed immigrant
Amadou Diallo was shot and killed in hail of 41 police bullets last
year. The four officers in the Diallo case were acquitted last month.

As Dorismond's coffin was brought out of the funeral home draped in
Haitian and American flags Saturday morning, what had started as a
quiet family gathering grew into a loud protest march of at least
3,000 people.

The Rev. Al Sharpton headed the procession from the funeral home to a
church mass with supporters hoisting a banner that read "Justice for
Patrick."

At the entrance to Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, a few protesters
surged forward and snatched the U.S. flag off Dorismond's coffin, tore
it to shreds, then set the pieces on fire.

Cathy Dumont, 26, a Haitian-born Brooklyn resident, compared Haiti's
decades of military rule with America's democracy.

"Mrs. Dorismond took her son out of a military regime and brought him
here because she thought it would be better and safer, but Giuliani
and the way he's empowered the police have proved her wrong," she said.

Giuliani had been criticized since the shooting for releasing
information from Dorismond's police record, including sealed juvenile
files, and for not visiting Dorismond's family.

At Dorismond's wake Friday evening, thousands paid their respects as
sobs drifted through the largely Haitian crowd of family, friends and
supporters. One mourner, Blaise Lambre, described Dorismond as "a
person who just enjoyed life," and he blamed Giuliani for failing to
show sympathy for the family.

"I'm angry at the fact that he died," Lambre said. "It was wrong. To
me, it's murder, simple as that." 
- ---
MAP posted-by: Greg