A group of protesters representing various organizations in Syracuse assembled on Oct. 1 to protest the continued employment of openly racist jail deputy Joe Price. The action, organized by the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) was endorsed by the Syracuse Peace Council and the League of United Latin American Citizens. The protesters made it clear to the Sheriff and the media covering the event that they will not tolerate bigots anywhere in law enforcement.
 PSL photo: Ashley Sauers |
Price, who is also the Democratic candidate for Sheriff, has admitted to posting racist and homophobic comments on Syracuse.com, the website for the Post-Standard newspaper. After insisting that his account was hacked into and denying all of the inflammatory posts, Price was forced to admit that he made at least some of the comments.
In one post that he admitted making on an article about Black history month, Price lamented that “there were NO exclusive clubs for my race” while he was in college. “I had a dream too, but it was squashed because I was WHITE,” he went on to write.
In an interview with the Post-Standard, Price denied making a homophobic “joke” about kids playing in a high school band. The reporter then pointed out that the homophobic remark was posted in between two inoffensive comments, and Price then conceded the “possibility” that he posted it.
In his posts, Price refers to people from the Southside and Westside as “hood rats,” and in another he wrote “It’s okay to WORK for a living… pass it on at the next vigil!” He also demonstrates a clear hatred the indigenous Oneida and Onondaga people living in Central New York.
While the Democratic Party, which was aware of the comments in April, has finally dropped their active support of Price, he is still being allowed to work in the Onondaga County “Justice” Center. In the past year, two inmates have died in the Justice Center, and others have had arms broken, teeth kicked-in, and been left in vegetative states.
No more racist deputies! Justice for Chauniece Patterson and Raul Pinet Jr.! No more prison terror!
