 Community members rally at Freedom Corner to demand justice for Jordan Miles and an end to racist police brutality, Pittsburgh, Pa., June 12. |
On June 12, 200 people marched to Pittsburgh’s City Hall to call for prosecution of the three police officers guilty of the racist beating of Jordan Miles, a Black high school student.
The action was the city’s largest demonstration against police brutality since the murder of Johnny Gammage 15 years ago. Other demands included an end to racial profiling and community control of the police force.
When the assault took place, Jordan was an honor student at the Creative and Performing Arts High School, where he played the viola. On Jan. 12, he was walking to his grandmother’s house in Homewood, one of the city’s most oppressed neighborhoods. Undercover cops David Sisak, Richard Ewing and Michael Saldutte brutally attacked Jordan, punching and kicking him and ripping his dreadlocks off of his head.
Even though the three officers did not identify themselves, Jordan was charged with resisting arrest—an absurd accusation that police were forced to drop.
Yet officials have closed ranks behind the three guilty cops. Dozens of officers marching in the St. Patrick’s Day parade wore T-shirts praising the assailants. On March 19, Ewing, Sisak and Saldutte were awarded commendations at a ceremony in City Hall.
New coaltion formed
Outraged community members and organizations, including the Party for Socialism and Liberation, formed the Alliance for Police Accountability shortly thereafter and called the June 12 action.
The march began at Freedom Corner, a historic venue where local demonstrations during the Civil Rights movement traditionally assembled. After a fiery rally, the crowd marched to the City-County Building, which houses the offices of most major municipal officials.
The militant marchers chanted, “No justice, no peace, no racist police.” Speakers from a wide range of organizations identified prosecution of the cops involved in the beating as the only just conclusion to the Jordan Miles case and a necessary step in effectively combating systemic police brutality.
Commenting on the multinational composition of the crowd, which had come together in an impressive display of working-class solidarity, locally prominent journalist Tony Norman noted, “The image of a crowd of 200 to 300 people from every demographic marching from Freedom Corner in the Hill District to the City-County Building on a hot weekend afternoon makes an impression on those inclined to dismiss police brutality protests as a ‘[B]lack thing.’” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 15)
The Alliance for Police Accountability is currently working on several follow-up actions to keep up the pressure on the district attorney to file charges against Ewing, Sisak and Saldutte. The only way forward is to continue the struggle and channel our outrage into organized action in the streets.
