The family of Jeremy Marks awoke on Jan. 26 at 7:00 am to the sound of nearly 30 Los
Angeles Police Department cops bursting into their house in full tactical gear,
guns drawn. They searched the house, taking all computers, cell phones, cameras
and trashing Jeremy’s bedroom, his parent’s bedroom and the living room.
Police vehicles filled the streets of the predominantly
African American neighborhood in Lakeview Terrace. Neighbors were prevented
from going into or out of their homes. A next door neighbor had guns pointed at
him for trying to retrieve his children from Jeremy’s front porch, where they
went every morning to be taken to school by Rochelle Pittman, Jeremy’s mother.
Pittman asked to see a search warrant. She knew that, by law,
police must show a valid search warrant before entering a home. But there was
none. For nearly 45 minutes, neither the police nor the District Attorney’s
officers showed her anything. She continued to demand it until a warrant was
produced well after the raid had begun.
And when Pittman asked, many of the invading cops refused to
provide their names or badge numbers—a requirement under California law.
As the search ended three hours later, the house interior
was unrecognizable. In addition to electronic equipment, Jeremy’s notes, papers
and legal documents were seized—many of these documents are privileged
attorney-client communications.
Every item used to communicate with the outside world about
Jeremy’s case was taken from every member of Jeremy’s family, including his
parents’ and siblings’ personal possessions.
The raid took place as Jeremy’s mother was attempting to
gather herself and bring her kids and the neighbor’s kids to school. The
neighbor’s children were at the front door when police came up with shields and
shotguns ready.
Pittman recounted to Liberation at the scene that she
shouted, “Let me get my granddaughter! Let me get my granddaughter!” as the
police barged into the house. Pittman also demanded to wake up her son, Jeremy.
It was less than one year ago that Aiyana Stanley Jones, a
seven-year-old girl, was murdered by Detroit
police in a similar raid. Pittman knew better than to trust the police with her
children and grandchildren. She did not want the cops to startle her son or
give them any opportunity to harm him.
The truth behind the racist raid
The pretext for the raid, ordered by Los Angeles County
District Attorney Steve Cooley’s office, was an attempt to gather evidence
surrounding the May 10, 2010
incident near a Verdugo
Hills High
School bus stop.
That afternoon in May, Los Angeles United School District Police
officer, Erin Robles, beat up a 15-year-old African American student, allegedly
for smoking a cigarette. Jeremy, 18, quietly videotaped the incident.
But because he was on probation at the time, the police arrested him on charges
of “attempted lynching.”
The L.A. District Attorney’s office claims Jeremy yelled something during
the incident, which they claim amounted to trying to “incite a riot during an
attempt to free a suspect from police custody.” This charge is baseless, as bystander
videos of the incident show.
For taping the incident, Jeremy was thrown into jail near Santa Clarita and
kept there until December 2010. During that time, his mother’s tenacity began
to win support for his case.
Now, nine months after the incident, it is hard to understand why D.A.
Cooley would need to order a Gestapo-style raid simply to gather evidence. He
could have uncovered evidence through simple discovery before trial or by
issuing subpoenas. But he did not.
In fact, the same day of Jeremy’s house raid, a community source told Liberation
that the home of another Verdugo
Hills High
School student was raided. This student has no
criminal charges pending. He was targeted because he posted videos of the
original incident on Youtube. These videos show that Jeremy did nothing illegal.
Why
the sudden need to shut down an entire community with an army of heavily armed
cops—just to collect some cell phones, computers and video that has been
publicly available on the Internet for nine months?
The raids were clearly an act of intimidation and terror
with the purpose of instilling fear in those targeted. Jeremy’s pre-trial
hearings will begin in February. Cooley and the cops seek to get leverage so
that the case will end before going to trial. They want to intimidate Jeremy
and potential witnesses in order to influence the outcome.
All along, they have wanted Jeremy to accept an unjust plea
deal that would send him to prison for nearly three years. But neither Jeremy
nor his mother will admit “guilt” when, in fact, he did absolutely nothing
wrong.
After the raid, Pittman told Liberation, “I’m not
afraid. We’re not afraid. All this shows is that the D.A. knows that they do
not have a case.”
The D.A. and the police are truly fearful of Jeremy’s case
because of its potential to spark outrage in the African American community and
with progressive people in general. They also want to stop people from
exercising their constitutional right to videotape police. That is all that
Jeremy did—he recorded a police officer beating a young student.
The powers that be would like to sweep Jeremy’s case under
the rug before more people learn about the supreme injustice involved. Videotaping
officers throughout the country is exposing an ongoing epidemic of police
violence. It is viewed by young people and people of color as a method of
self-defense.
Terror tactics utilized by the police expose the role of the
state as an instrument of repression aimed at working families. But this harsh
reality has not deterred Jeremy, Pittman or the rest of the Marks family. On
the contrary, it has strengthened their resolve to fight back.
Just hours after the raid, these Liberation reporters
accompanied Pittman to the Foothill Police Station as she filed a police
misconduct complaint. And community supporters, including the Congress on
Racial Equality, the ANSWER Coalition, the PSL and others are organizing a
rally and press conference with Jeremy and his family at D.A. Cooley’s
headquarters on Friday, Jan. 28.
Click here to sign the petition demanding “Drop all charges against Jeremy Marks!”
