Just two days after a vicious police raid on the home of
Jeremy Marks and his family, community organizations held a press conference
and rally at the office of Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley to
denounce the raid.
The press conference, organized by the ANSWER Coalition (Act
Now to Stop War and End Racism), the Congress on Racial Equality-California,
the PSL and the family and supporters of Marks, drew local television and print
media coverage.
Speakers stood in front of the doors of the D.A.’s office
building. They included Celes King of CORE-California, Peta Lindsay and Doug
Kauffman of ANSWER, Lisette Lasso of the Labor Community Strategy Center; Lydia
Grant, an activist in Lakeview Terrace where Marks lives; Marks’s attorneys and
his mother, Rochelle Pittman; and others.
ANSWER Coalition organizer and civil rights attorney Ian
Thompson facilitated the press conference. He gave background on the case: “On
Wednesday, Jan. 26, the Los Angeles Police Department carried out Gestapo-style
police raids on the home of Jeremy Marks, 18-year-old African American falsely
accused of ‘attempted lynching’ for videotaping an L.A. school police officer
beating another student in May 2010. That day, the police also raided the home
of a youth who witnessed the incident and posted videos on YouTube.”
Letter to the Editor
NYPD: “It’s not illegal … but I could turn it into something”
A Liberation News reader reacts to the Jeremy Marks case and shares his experience with the NYPD.
This whole case is absolutely infuriating.
I’m a filmmaker who
was threatened by an NYPD when I was taking pictures inside of Union
Square station. He asked why I was taking ‘surveillance footage’. I told
him I was just taking pictures and took out my “Photographers Bill of
Rights” and repeatedly asked him if I was doing something illegal.
He said ‘no’ but then said that he could ‘turn it into something’. I asked him what that meant and he said that since my behavior could be considered ‘suspicious activity’, he could arrest me based on that.
-Ougie Pak
The raids were ordered by D.A.
Cooley. His office filed the charges Marks is now facing. Under the pretext of
gathering “evidence,” nearly 30 officers burst into Marks’s home with
guns drawn at 7:00 a.m. on the day of the raid. When asked for a warrant by
Jeremy’s mother, Rochelle Pittman, the police failed to produce one for 45
minutes. Officers also refused to give their names. They ransacked the home and
confiscated computers, cell phones, as well as protected communications between
Jeremy and his attorney.
Thompson continued: “This is not justice. This is
intimidation and harassment. It is an attempt to scare Jeremy and his family
right before pre-trial hearings begin.”
Marks’s case has received some attention
because of the obvious injustice involved. He spent nine months in adult jail
simply for videotaping police misconduct. The Jan. 28 press conference was a
big step forward in spreading the word.
With Jeremy Marks at his side, his attorney Mark Ravis
discussed his dismay at the police raid. “This was uncalled for,” he
said. Ravis also criticized the L.A. school police for their general harassment
of Marks and other students at Verdugo Hills High School. Ravis said, “The
L.A. school police need to be investigated–changes need to be made.”
Mark’s mother, Rochelle Pittman, gave an emotional
statement. She described the scene during the police raid: “They had guns
drawn– at our neighbor and his small children; at my family; my granddaughter.
And they entered my house and took my things. They took my son’s things. They
want me to be afraid, but I am not afraid.” Pittman pledged to continue
the fight to get all of the charges dropped against her son.
Celes King, director of CORE-LA, recounted a letter that his
organization sent to D.A. Cooley to condemn the raid: “This blatant action
clearly sends a message to the communities of color that due process and
fairness are not applicable to the people of this community. Actually, the
entire population of Los Angeles County is being served notice that any
reporting of police abuse shall have dire consequences.”
The case of Jeremy Marks is not an isolated incident. It is
the result of the criminalization of youth, especially youth of color. It is
also an attempt by law enforcement to stop people from recording or videotaping
police misconduct.
Marks is being targeted because he captured police abuse on
camera. He was exposing the oppressive nature of law enforcement in Los Angeles
schools. Marks is not a criminal.
As the press conference came to a close, activists chanted
“Drop all the charges now!”
Click here to sign a petition to drop the charges that Marks is facing.
