Revolution #265, April 8, 2012
Outrage and Protest at Chicago Police Murder of Rekia Boyd
From a reader:
Chicago, March 30. One a.m. in the morning, March 21, it was unseasonably warm and a crowd of people were hanging out in Douglas Park on Chicago’s west side. An off-duty cop pulled up to the crowd hanging in the park across the street from his house. Words were exchanged, and he fired from 10 to 15 times into the crowd. Anthony Cross had his hand up to his face, talking on a cell phone. He was hit in that hand but saved from being shot in the face by his hand and cell phone. Rekia Boyd, 22 years old, was not so lucky. She was shot in the head and died two days later. People in the area reported that the night before Rekia’s murder, the cop had said to people in the neighborhood, “What do I have to do to get some peace and quiet around here? Shoot someone?” While admitting that Rekia was an innocent bystander, the police immediately ruled the shooting justified, as the cop claimed that Anthony Cross had pointed a gun at him. No such gun was ever found.
The murder of Rekia came in the midst of outrage around the murder of Trayvon Martin. In the course of many rallies for Trayvon, the murder of Rekia was spoken to—a brutal example of the climate that accepts and justifies the targeting of Black youth.
The murder of Rekia and shooting of Anthony were one of five “police involved shootings” in Chicago in six days. Six days which culminated in the murder of Ricky Bradley, a 52-year-old former school teacher who had fallen on hard times and become homeless.
Tuesday, March 27, a rally was called for Justice for Rekia. It was joined by friends and acquaintances of Ricky Bradley, by people who have been at rallies for Trayvon, by people from Occupy Chicago, and others. Among the chants were “Justice for Rekia, Justice for Ricky, Justice for Trayvon,” “Indict, convict, send the killer cops to jail! The whole damn system is guilty as hell” and “No more modern lynchings.” Protesters marched through the neighborhood for three hours—in the streets. They blocked the whole of Ogden Avenue, a six-lane major street through Chicago’s west side, for about 20 minutes. They marched to the hidden police center, from which it is rumored the police “special teams” that terrorize the neighborhoods are sent out. At its height the march had about 300 protesters with people joining in, marching for awhile and stepping back out all along the way. 120 copies of Revolution newspaper got out in the crowd and along the route. People held up the front cover with Trayvon Martin’s photo throughout the march.
There is a “Hoodie Protest for Trayvon, Rekia and Ricky” planned for Sunday. Rekia’s funeral is Monday.
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