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</font><font face="Courier, Courier" size=2><b>POLICE GUN DOWN ANOTHER
RICH WHITE MAN<br><br>
</b> (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?"<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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. <br><br>
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."
<br><br>
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.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
On-the-street interviews, however, indicate that
this prejudice might be harder to eradicate.<br><br>
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."
<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
"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.<br><br>
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."<br><br>
It was at this point that the officer radioed
for backup. <br><br>
"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."<br><br>
© Susie Day, 2006
</font><font size=3>Suzetski@aol.com<br><br>
<br>
</font><font face="Courier, Courier" size=2><i>Dedicated to Sean Bell,
another Black man killed by police, November 25, 2006<br>
</i></font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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