On July 28, over 200 community members and activists participated in a mid-day march and rally in Inglewood, Calif., to express outrage at the police department for the killing of African American postal worker Kevin Wicks, 38.
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Wicks was shot and killed by Officer Bryan Ragan on July 21. Wicks was not Ragan’s first victim. On May 11, Ragan shot Michael Byoune, 19; Larry White, 19; and Chris Larkin, 21. Byoune died from his wounds. Ragan had just returned to the job when he killed Wicks, after spending over a month on paid administrative leave.
The July 28 march was both vibrant and militant. The overwhelmingly African American crowd marched nearly a mile from New Mount Pleasant Baptist Church to the steps of City Hall. Along the way, passing cars and pedestrians heard loud chants of “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!” and “No justice! No peace! No racist police!”
Lucilla Esguerra, the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s candidate for State Assembly 48th Dist. (Peace and Freedom Party), marched and chanted with the crowd. Esguerra expressed solidarity with the community and family members in this difficult time, and unequivocally condemned the police murder of innocent Black men. Esguerra was the only candidate for political office at the event.
Speakers at the City Hall rally included Tony Muhammad, Nation of Islam; Pastor Lewis Logan, Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles; and Lumumba, African Students 4 African People. A statement from former Black Panther David Hilliard was read at the rally by one of his relatives.
Wicks’ friends and his grandmother, Dorothy Nelson, were also present. Nelson described Wicks as an honest and hard-working man, and a loving father of two daughters.
Days earlier, Nelson told the Los Angeles Times, “It’s very sad that our system is so poor that they would put a police officer that just shot someone back on the street.”
Rally speakers all demanded justice for Wicks and for the many victims of police brutality in Inglewood and beyond. They demanded that Ragan and Inglewood Police Chief Jaqueline Seabrooks be fired and that Ragan be prosecuted. The organizers vowed to continue to pressure Inglewood city officials and to build an even larger mobilization in the weeks to come. The ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) had a delegation and also provided the sound system for the rally.
Earlier that morning, Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) had held a press conference in Inglewood demanding an FBI-led federal civil rights probe of the Inglewood Police Department. Waters did not participate in the march and rally.
Racist cops and their brand of oppression against African Americans and Latinos, and the whole working class must be stopped. There can never be “good” cops or “bad” cops under capitalism. In a society where the interests of a wealthy, privileged few stand supreme above the needs of the majority, “law and order” will always translate into the oppression of workers and the poor. A united movement against police brutality can become one of the seeds for a mass movement against such a repressive system.
Jail racist, killer cops! Justice for Kevin Wicks!
