A-Infos (en) New Jersey Cop Watch #8

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Lawyer:  Something fishy about troopers story on shooting

Synopsis:  It appears troopers lied.  Their account does not wash with
the facts.
They were not at any risk when they shoot 11 bullets into the van with
four occupants inside, shooting 3 young black men.  
 
The Asbury Park Press (Tuesday May 5, l998)
The Associated Press - TRENTON - A lawyer for one of the young black
men shot by state troopers who stopped their van on the New Jersey
Turnpike says an inspection of the van casts doubt on the police
account.
     David G. Ironman said damage to the van and a police cruiser, as
well as placement of the bullet holes, show the two troopers had no
reason to fear for their lives.  The troopers fired 11 shots during
the stop last month.
     A special prosecutor is investigating the case, and state
Attorney General Peter G. Verniero announced yesterday the evidence
will be reviewed by a state grand jury rather than a Mercer County
panel.
     Ironman said an inspection by a private investigator, conducted
Saturday under police supervision, backs up his client's claim that
the van only drifted backward when the driver had trouble putting it
in park and that the officers were never directly in the van's path
when they opened fire.
     There was only minor damage to both vehicles, Ironman said,
though authorities said the van hit the cruiser with enough force to
push it further toward the shoulder of the highway.  The van's side
windows were shot out; the only bullet hole in the windshield appeared
to be an exit hole, he said.
     "The troopers were on the sides of the vehicle," Ironman said
yesterday.  "There's no indication that at any time the van was going
at high rate of speed.  The state police vehicle, in fact, is in
pristine condition.
     "No one was being run over, no one was at risk.  (The trooper)
lost sight of his partner and he started shooting."
     The state police account of the April 23 incident said troopers
James Kenna and John Hogan pulled the van over for speeding near Exit
7A of the turnpike in Washington Township, Mercer County.
     Authorities said the driver put the vehicle in reverse and headed
toward the officers, clipping Hogan, then striking the troopers'
patrol car and another car.  Kenna fired two shots when Hogan went
down, and both officers fired nine more shots when the van began
moving forward.
     In addition to Ironman's client, Danny Reyes, who remains
hospitalized at Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center in Camden,
passengers Leroy G. Grant and Rayshawn S. Brown also were injured by
the troopers' gunfire.  Driver Keshon L. Moore was not wounded by
bullets.
     O.J. Simpson's lawyer Jonnie L. Cochran Jr. announced last week
he would join Ironman in representing at least three of the four men.
     He plans to meet with his clients today.

                               Copyright - The Asbury Park Press 1998

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Commentary:  Johnnie L. Cochran said it best upon announcing his
taking the case, "These men were guilty of DWB.  Driving while black."
 In New Jersey that is apparently crime enough to be stopped by
police.  The State Police have often been accused of using profile
stops (being black) as sufficient cause for detainment and questioning
in traffic stops along New Jersey roadways.  

Earlier this month, The Record of Hackensack reported minority
representation has been declining in State Police graduating classes
since 1992, when the Justice Department's 17-year-old order ended to
increase the representation of Blacks, Hispanics and Asians.  In a
state with a 26 percent minority population, the state police claim a
14 percent minority membership with the percentage trending downward. 
The actual percentage is probably much lower than the 14 percent
claimed.  The state police head counters were probably stretching the
generally accepted racist methods of counting people of color.  Elaine
C. Harrington, New Jersey state leader of the National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People said, "The minimal representation of
minorities on the state police is disgusting, repulsive and even
hypocritical," at a news conference on the state house steps on April
27th.  It is certainly all of the above and much worse.  However
hypocritical on the part of the police, the small number of minority
cops speaks to the reality of life in amerikkka.    Most so-called
minority people already see the police as their natural enemy in a
capitalist environment.  They have been profiled and targeted by cops
since they were children, if they grew up in amerikkka, despite their
age.  Minority kids today are still victims of institutionalized
police brutality.  These white cops grew up fearing that blacks would
take their places in college admissions or take their jobs or both. 
When they are not competing with blacks in other ways, they are
holding them back from entrance into their neighborhoods, and the most
paralyzing fear of all, entrance into their families.  These cops are
the guys who fancy themselves the protectors of the white race with
all its privileges.  They sense these privileges are tentative as they
see their conditions worsen.  Their hold on these advantages is
constantly slipping.  In fact these privileges are only on loan,
granted from above by the ruling class.  Is it any wonder they shoot
to kill.
       
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