[Ppnews] Apartheid Americana

[Political Prisoner News]

http://www.counterpunch.org/day07262007.html

July 26, 2007


"I Don't Know That the Police Look at Us as Human"


Apartheid Americana

By SUSIE DAY

Two of my friends were just beaten and arrested 
by Brooklyn police. My friends, Michael Tarif 
Warren and Evelyn Warren, are African-American 
attorneys whose work consists, in part, of 
defending victims of police violence. I want to 
tell you about how police punched and humiliated 
these good people on the corner of Vanderbilt and 
Atlantic, in their own, predominantly Black 
neighborhood on June 21st; about Tarif's clothes 
being torn almost off--I don't want you to miss a 
thing. But many facts must wait until the 
Warrens' trial. Here, excerpted from a legal 
brief, is how Tarif describes what happened:

"At approximately 5:45pm, petitioner and his wife 
were in their vehicle, stuck in traffic, when 
they saw members of the New York Police 
Department apprehend a young man, handcuff him, 
and physically abuse him while he was prone on 
the ground. Petitioner and his spouse exited 
their vehicle to inquire why police were engaging 
in that behavior, but immediately returned when 
ordered, without getting near the police or the 
young man. Sergeant Steven Talvy, however, 
approached the petitioner and his spouse and, 
after they identified themselves as attorneys, 
proceeded to strike petitioner numerous times in 
the head and face and strike petitioner's wife in the face."

Sergeant Talvy handcuffed Tarif and pushed him 
into the police van. Evelyn, though "stunned," 
remembered her legal training and walked toward 
the mostly African-American crowd of onlookers:

"I said, 'Did you see what was happening?' 
Naturally, they did. All these people had poured 
out of a nearby McDonalds, plus it's rush hour 
and traffic was deadlocked. I say, 'Did anybody 
take photographs?' They said, 'Look at your jaw.'

"I didn't know it, but my jaw was swelling up. So 
I said, 'Take a picture of my jaw,' you know?"

I saw Evelyn three days later; her jaw was still 
swollen. It could have been worse: Seeing that 
Evelyn was trying to retrieve her confiscated 
driver's license, Sergeant Talvy ordered police 
to throw her to the ground, but the onlookers' 
shouts stopped them. Evelyn and Tarif were taken to Brooklyn's 77th Precinct.

"We were lined up against the wall with other 
prisoners. Tarif's clothes were ripped and 
falling off him. I will never forget, there was 
this blond officer in Talvy's unit--they were 
laughing together--and the guy said, 'What's this, a strip show?'

"You have to remember that Tarif and I were 
involved because the police were kicking this 
young man viciously. He was Black; probably 
around 18. His face was a bloody mess. Obviously, 
Talvy thought he could get away with it because 
he said, 'Well, it's your word against mine. Let's see what happens.'"

What happened was that Tarif was charged with 
Obstructing Governmental Administration, 
Disorderly Conduct, and Resisting Arrest; Evelyn, 
with Disorderly Conduct. Reactions poured from 
the Black press and community; there was almost 
no coverage from mainstream media; and a 
resounding silence still emanates from the New York Times.

Three weeks later, I visit Evelyn at home. She 
tells me how she's fighting to put her life back together:

"I grew up before segregation ended. My father 
was a contractor, a small-business person. He 
used to go to Mississippi to work. And every time 
he would leave for Mississippi, my mother would cry. So I recognize racism.

"I guess I was raised to be the best I could be 
in whatever I chose to do--by being the best, I 
could overcome certain conditions. I was foolish 
enough to believe that. I still know my value, 
but this incident tells me that they don't know 
my value--whether you're a kid wearing baggy 
pants, or a lawyer wearing a suit and driving an 
upscale vehicle--it doesn't matter to them.

"I should have been more aware of this. Tarif and 
I represent police brutality victims. I've heard 
accounts and seen the evidence, but to experience 
it firsthand--it's earth-shattering. So I have a 
new appreciation for what people go through. 
While you live in a world that's in turmoil, you 
still have a little corner where you feel safe 
and secure. I no longer have that. Before this, I 
was concerned about what was going on in Iraq, 
Africa, Venezuela. Now, I'm concerned about what 
goes on within ten blocks of where I live.

"Black people are hit harder by police than any 
other community--I know that. Tarif and I went to 
a meeting last Saturday where, in the projects, 
Black people are accosted coming out their door. 
Police say, 'Let me see some identification.' 
Now, if you're coming out the door, you must have 
had some right to be there. Unless you're seen 
carrying a TV or stereo system, why should you show ID?"

I ask Evelyn what she wants white people to know.

"I want them to know that what I'm telling is the 
truth. That any people of good moral standards 
should be concerned about law enforcement that's 
out of control. At minimum, they should ask 
questions of Police Commissioner Kelly and of 
Mayor Bloomberg: 'What's going on, here? This is 
unacceptable.' If those officers knew they could 
face charges just like any civilian, they'd think twice."

Then Evelyn says something that stops me cold:

"I don't know that the police look at us as 
human. I don't know that they would hear us if we spoke to them."

And I realize that, like many white people, I 
have lived for years with the genteel, 
self-protective assumption that, if I believed 
hard enough that Black and White people are 
equal, then the world must be OK. I realize it's 
never been OK--that my friends are in 
danger--that our lives remain deeply divided.

"Tarif keeps saying this happened for a reason, 
that the Creator is on a mission here. But my 
overriding emotion, aside from sadness and 
feeling powerless, is anger. I'm determined to 
change things. Because, if that officer can do 
what he did to us, in broad daylight, with 50 to 
100 people watching--what happens when nobody's around?"

Susie Day can be reached at: <mailto:sday at skadden.com>sday at skadden.com

© Susie Day, 2007

Contact:

<http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.bd08ee7c7c1ffec87c4b36d501c789a0/index.jsp?doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fmail%2Fhtml%2Fmayor.html>Mayor 
Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
(212) 788-9600



Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly

New York City Police Department

One Police Plaza

New York, NY 10038

<http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mailnypd.html>http://www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/mailnypd.html




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