Sunday, December 28, 2014
RALLIES SUPPORTING POLICE
A “Sea of Blue” demonstration Saturday in downtown Cleveland drew several thousand people, a surprise to police dispatcher Mary Jo Graves, who created the event and promoted it with a Facebook page. Many in the crowd wore blue as requested, walking silently from Public Square to a police memorial park to honor Ramos.Cleveland has seen a number of anti-police protests recently, some prompted by the Nov. 21 fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was holding a pellet gun when a police car responded to a report of a man with a gun.
Elsewhere, more than 200 people gathered in Denver to support police officers Saturday. The day before, 50 people turned out for a “Blue Lives Matter Too” rally in Dubuque, Iowa, and 200 gathered in Atlantic City, N.J.
RALLIES CRITICAL OF POLICE
About 200 people attended a rally Saturday in Chicago with the Rev. Jesse Jackson, including many who came from Milwaukee to protest the April death of a black man who was shot by a white officer. Former Milwaukee officer Christopher Manney shot Dontre Hamilton 14 times in a downtown park. Manney was fired in October for ignoring department policy, but the county district attorney announced Monday that he would not file charges because he said Manney acted in self-defense. Hamilton’s family members, who attended the rally, have said the 31-year-old suffered from schizophrenia. Jackson told the crowd, “We cannot stand by and let this happen without saying something.” Federal investigators said they’ll look into the shooting.
PROTESTER CHARGED WITH ARSON
A protester who advocated for peaceful demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo., was charged Saturday with setting fire to a convenience store after another fatal police shooting last week in nearby Berkeley.
‘I CAN’T BREATHE’ SHIRTS BANNED
The Mendocino High School boys and girls basketball teams were uninvited from a tournament in northern California because of concerns the players would wear “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts while warming up. The boys team was reinstated after all but one player agreed not to wear the shirts anywhere on the campus, according to the Mendocino Unified School District Superintendent, but too few girls accepted the condition to field a squad. Garner, who was put in a chokehold by an officer, was heard gasping, “I can’t breathe” before he lost consciousness and later died. The three-day tournament will start Monday.
Source: Associated Press