Pittsburgh community members and
activists met April 6 to plan further actions to protest the brutal beating of
Black honor student and viola player Jordan Miles by three plain-clothes police
officers. The assault took place Jan. 12, as Miles was walking to his
grandmother’s house.
Richard Ewing, David Sisak and
Michael Saldutte,
who did not immediately identify themselves as police officers, attacked Miles
and threw him in the back seat of a car. They claimed that they saw him holding
something heavy, which turned out to be a bottle of Mountain Dew, and that he
attempted to resist arrest.
Miles’ desire to escape was understandable
in view of the brutality employed by the three men he later found out were
policemen.
The initial response from the city
government and police department was insufficient and insincere, but has since
become more combative. While the accusations against Miles were dismissed by
the magistrate, the Fraternal Order of Police is urging the district attorney
to re-press charges.
In a disgusting public display of
bigotry, scores of police officers marching in the local St. Patrick’s Day
parade wore shirts praising the three men who perpetrated the assault on Miles.
At a March 19 ceremony in the City Council chambers, Ewing, Sisak, and Saldutte
were awarded commendations by the Pittsburgh Police Bureau.
Some have suggested that the
Citizen’s Police Review Board could
ensure that this case is resolved fairly. The ostensible purpose of the CPRB is
to ensure that the police are accountable to the communities they patrol.
However, the CPRB has no real authority, and placing our hopes in this
powerless mechanism will only divert attention and energy from the single
effective response: a mass movement to demand justice.
There is widespread anger over the
incident. With the memory of unprecedented police repression during the G20
summit in late September 2009 fresh in the minds of the people of Pittsburgh,
outrage is felt across communities.
Indignation is especially strong
among Miles’ classmates at the Creative and Performing Arts High School, dozens
of whom left school in late January to join a protest march to the City
Council.
What happened to Jordan Miles is not an
isolated event. Under the capitalist system, the social function of the police
is to terrorize residents of working-class communities, especially people of
color. Poor and working people will only win respect and dignity when they
unite and fight back.
