PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

Call to Action: Stop Police Violence
by david Thursday, Aug. 28, 2003 at 8:46 AM
david@heartofdarkness.org (email address validated)

for Pittsburgh Indymedia: March to stop police violence in Mt. Oliver.

CALL TO ACTION: STOP POLICE VIOLENCE IN MT. OLIVER!

WHAT: March to demand justice for Damian Jordan and Charles Dixon, two African American men killed by Mt. Oliver police.

WHEN: 2 PM Saturday, September 6.

WHERE: Lighthouse Church, 1761 Arlington Ave, Pittsburgh. See a map to the Church.

WHY: Mt. Oliver Police are responsible for the deaths of at least two unarmed African American males. To date none of the officers have been charged.

Charles Dixon, 43, was asphyxiated by police in Mt. Oliver on December 21, 2002.

Dixon attended a birthday party held at the firehall in Mt. Oliver along with dozens of other people. Mt. Oliver borough placed two officers, one with a dog, inside the party against the wishes of the organizers. These police first arrested Charles' brother, Gregory, on drunk and disorderly charges. When Charlie intervened to guide Gregory away, the officers said, "Well, you'll go, too," and beat him to the floor as they cuffed him. Up to 10 additional cops arrived and piled on top of Charlie.

They used an "asp baton" to put him in a chokehold, and pepper sprayed him. Witnesses said they heard Charlie say, "Get off of me, I can't breathe." Witnesses said, "We were helpless," "We said, 'Just stop! Please stop!'" But the K-9 officer with a growling dog held them back. Although authorities said Charlie died in the hospital, in fact he died there on the floor. One witness said, "I saw Charlie's eyes go to the back of his head. I knew he was dead."

On July 21, Allegheny County Coroner Dr. Cyril H. Wecht recommended that homicide charges be filed in Dixon’s death, which he said was caused by positional asphyxiation.

In another case, Damian Jordon, 26, died in police custody in Mt. Oliver in 1999. Police claim he hung himself in jail with his tee shirt, by the bars on the door of the cell. They claim this happened shortly after he was arrested and thrown in jail. He had no prior history of suicide attempts, and those who knew him describe him as an "upbeat" person. The autopsy showed "blunt force trauma" to his body as well as handcuff marks. His clothes, aside from his tee shirt, were never returned to the family.

On 8-19-03, the police retaliated against the director of the group demanding justice for Charles Dixon and Damian Jordon. They arrested her son and daughter, along with the girl friend of the late Jordan, all on trumpet up charges. In a blatent violation of protocol, the police took her son to the same Mt. Oliver cell that Damian Jordan was in and asked him if he was going to kill himself. That they did so demonstrates it was harassment and intimidation that motivated the arrests. (According to the law, the police had no business moving the director's son from the District Justice office to a local police station in Mt. Oliver.) This just goes to show how deep, systemic, and cancerous the problem of police violence really is.

WHO: This call is sponsored by People Against Police Violence, a Pittsburgh-based community group that works with the families of victims to advocate for justice for the victims of police violence, increase community awareness, and demand that guilty cops serve maximum prison sentences. For more information, visit www.papv.org, email justice@papv.org, or call 412-657-4268.

www.papv.org

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