[Ppnews] Police Gun Down Another Rich White man

[Political Prisoner News]

POLICE GUN DOWN ANOTHER RICH WHITE MAN

      (PU) Hours before he was to be married, a 
wealthy Caucasian man leaving his bachelor party 
at a country club in East Hampton was shot and 
killed in a hail of police bullets. Two of his 
friends were wounded, one critically. Witnesses 
at the scene expressed shock and outrage, one of 
the club's patrons voicing the pervasive 
sentiment: "Why, oh why is it always rich white 
people who suffer at the hands of bigoted, trigger-happy cops?"

      Details of the shooting were not 
immediately clear, but relatives of the dead man, 
James Bellwether, IV, age 23, and community 
leaders, including Martha Stewart, demanded an 
investigation into what some call an overreaction by officers.

      Witnesses told of chaos, screams and a 
barrage of gunfire near the Club du Beau Latte at 
about 4:15 a.m. after Mr. Bellwether and his 
friends walked out of the club and began an 
altercation during which one of the men shouted, "Yo, get my gun."

      The men then got into a golf cart, backed 
up onto the newly seeded lawn, and drove into an 
unmarked police limousine bearing several 
plainclothes police. In response, five terrified 
officers fired at least 50 rounds at the men's 
cart; the bullets ripped into other cars and 
slammed through a nearby gazebo, injuring a game poacher.

      Irate bystanders later explained to 
officers that the gentlemen in question had been 
arguing about stock options, and decided to 
settle their differences amicably by a round of 
impromptu sporting events. One of the men then 
asked his butler, Yosworth, to fetch his skeet-shooting rifle.

      Mr. Bellwether - who was to have been wed 
at 5 p.m. yesterday - was shot in the neck, 
shoulder, and right arm and was taken to Our Lady 
of Aetna Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. 
The two wounded men, Clive Gilfordshire, 31, and 
Troy Bennington, 23, were taken to Cashflow 
Medical Center. Mr. Gilfordshire was listed in 
critical condition and Mr. Bennington, with a 
shattered leg, in stable condition. Both had been 
arrested and handcuffed to their beds. No guns were found at the scene.

      With emotions swirling around this case, 
and a long history of no criminal indictments for 
police who kill rich white people, legal experts 
say it will be difficult to determine if the 
shootings were justified. "Let's be honest," said 
district attorney Roger Gray, "As an affluent 
white male, Mr. Bellwether was part of a minority 
community. Those people don't trust us. They 
don't understand that cops confront danger every 
day and have to react in seconds. And if cops 
happen to shoot the same minority people from the 
same minority community again and again, that's a 
simple mistake - not a systemic pattern of 
brutality and injustice." Mr. Gray went on to say 
that reporters and investigators would be barred 
from questioning the officers, "to give them time 
to get their story straight."

      The investigation into this case will 
likely prove controversial. At a time of growing 
social division, any appearance of police 
carelessness or bias could set off civic unrest. 
"And when white people get mad, it's really 
scary," said police commissioner Patrick O'Reyes. 
"That's why the department has maximized 
equal-opportunity. With our new, fully-armed 
multi-ethnic teams, we've got it fixed so nobody 
can say we're racist - even if we only shoot 
white people." The commissioner then ordered his 
multi-ethnic officers to roughly interrogate 
witnesses and family members of the victims, and 
ransack their homes for anything incriminating. "It's routine," he added.

      Although civil rights leaders concede that 
social awareness has improved in recent years, 
some say more progress is needed. "The negative 
stereotype of the 'well-healed honky' is rampant 
in this case," proclaimed activist Martha Stewart 
at a press conference today. "But I think we can 
get it out with a touch of white vinegar."

      On-the-street interviews, however, indicate 
that this prejudice might be harder to eradicate.

      Byron Johnston, on line at an employment 
agency, said: "A rich white dude bought my 
apartment building and now I have to live with my 
sister and her kids in Section 8 housing. I know 
all rich white folks aren't like that, but I can't help hating them."

      "It is a proven fact that those people have 
an extra chromosome that makes them condescending 
and greedy," stated Shirley Butterfield, who runs 
a non-rich non-white supremacist website.

      "Face it, prosperous white people own the 
corporations; they break unions; they're behind 
environmental degradation; they got us into Iraq 
- they're nothing but little Eichmanns," declared 
a professor of Equality and Justice Studies at 
Red Hook Community College. Victim advocates say 
this mentality has wormed its way into the police force.

      One of the plainclothes officers who had 
been working undercover at the country club on 
the night of the shooting spoke on condition of 
anonymity. He said he thought there might be 
trouble when he saw several of the revelers 
wearing their black, navy blue, and beige "gang 
colors." Noticing hushed voices and some numbers 
being scratched onto cocktail napkins, the 
officer suspected that another hostile corporate 
takeover was being planned. "I couldn't stand to 
see more people suffer because of lost jobs, 
lowered salaries, the privatization of our 
infrastructure," the officer stated. "That's why 
I joined the police force - I wanted to help."

      It was at this point that the officer radioed for backup.

      "People criticize us for entrapping these 
thugs," he continued. "But they don't know what 
it's like. That's a dangerous neighborhood. Those 
people are capable of anything."

                                    ©  Susie Day, 2006  Suzetski at aol.com


Dedicated to Sean Bell, another Black man killed by police, November 25, 2006

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20061213/289a23dc/attachment.htm>