Newspaper Page Text
VOLUME 17 No. 844
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adventure » See 1B
Killer cops target of probe
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NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE is the mood reflected by community members
during a rally designed to comfort the family of Alfaigo Terrell Davis, 29,
who was gunned down by Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies last week
end. (Above) County Commissioner Willie Mays asks the community to let
the system work for justice. Mays reminded the crowd of the civil strife of
the 70s where many innocent people died. Patricia Davis, Mr. Davis’
mother (R) and Charonda Davis (L) are also present. Photo by Frederick Benjamin Sr.
By Christy Allen =
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
On Tuesday, community members ral
lied in support of the family of Alfaigo
Terrell Davis who died at the hands of
two Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies
on February 20. Witnesses are convinced
that Mr. Davis was summarily executed.
He had his hands over his head in surren
der before bullet after bullet tore into his
skull and torso, witnesses say. At least 15
rounds were poured into his body and
vehicle, according to eye witnesses. Mr.
Davis was unarmed.
The shooters, Richmond County offic
ers Nicholas Capobianco and Gary Clark
Jr., say they “feared for their lives” as Mr.
Davis attempted to run them over with
his vehicle, but witnesses angrily de
nounce the police account as lies.
Many Augusta police are thugs and
liars, many in the community feel. Recent
court cases have proven that sentiment to
be rootcd in fact.
Theofficersresponsible for Davis’ death
ca,mm
Reaching for the planets
By Lillian Wan
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
The first two installments of thi:
three-part series covered the firs
eight African-American astronauts
seven of whom have flown intospac:
up to date since 1983 (see August
Focus issues for October 23 anc
November 20 in 1997.) This las
article will cover information abou
the current and upcoming astro
nauts scheduled for future flights
They are the next to continue or
the path of Black agtronauts head
ing into outer space.
i~ Lt. Cmdr. Robert L. Curbeam Jr.
' Lt.Omdr. Curbeam, a native of Baltimore, Md., flewon
hisfirst mission on STS-85in August 7- 19, 1997. His 12-
' day mission included the deployment and retrieval of the
: CRISTA-SPAS payload, the operation of the Japanese
+ Manipulator Flight Demonstration robotic arm, studies
of changes in the Earth’s atmosphere and testing of
technology for use on the future International Space
Station. He is already assigned to STS-99 scheduled for
' the summer of 1999 and is currently in training in
preparation for the spacewalks that will be required for
. on-orbit construction of the international space station.
He will be the third African-American astronaut to walk
in space ( Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr. and Capt.
Winston Scgtt.) He is the first Black astronaut officially
sclwduledvtithacqvetedposifionforworkontbehta—
Sports: Jasey reigns supreme in region play Pi -
~ VWoikßotha denies snubbing truth panel Pag 2\
y |
Augusta Focus
Serving Metropolitan Augusta, South Curglinu and the Central Savannah River Area
After the shooting,
witnesses listened
as some of the
@ £
officers snickered.
have been placed on administrative leave
while the Georgia Department of Investi
gation investigates the incident.
What has been widely perceived by many
members of the community — especially
the Apple Valley community where Davis
lived and died — as a vicious cold-blooded
act of murder, has succeeded in placing the
Augusta police dead center in the glare of
media attention. It is widely believed by
those observers of the local police that they
are ill-equipped to handle the intense scru
tiny.
In the past year, Augusta Focus has
reported case after case of police miscon
duct that has gone largely ignored by the
daily newspaper and the television news
See POLICE ASSAULT, page 3A
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Maj. Michael P. Anderson
Lt. Cmdr. Curbeam graduated with a B.S. degree in
aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in
1984, an M.S. degree in aeronautical engineering from
the Naval Postgraduate School in 1990 and with a degree
of aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the
Naval Postgraduate School in 1991. His last non-astro
nautjobbeforeshuttletrainingand assignment wasasan
instructor in the US. Naval Academy Weapons and
Systems Engineering Department.
Major Michael P. Anderson
Maj. Anderson, a native of Plattsburgh, N.Y., has just
flown on the January 1998 STS-89 flight as a mission
specialist onshuttle Discovery which docked with Russia’s
Mir space station. Maj. Anderson had graduated with a
bachelor of science degree in physics/astronomy from the
University of Washington and with a master of science
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Gary Clark Jr.: Known to shoot
without provocation.
Two policemen at center of
controversy looked for trouble
By Frederick J. Benjamin
and Christy Allen
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writers
AUGUSTA
Gary Clark Jr. and
Nicholas Capobianco,
the’ two Richmond-
County deputiesiden
tified as the killers of
Alfaigo Terrell Davis,
have overreacted vio
lently with black
males in the past, ac
cording to two men
personally involved
withincidentsinvolv
ing the two men.
Less than a month
ago, Gary Clark Jr.
shot at Ernest Dent
Harris, a relative of
theslain man whowas
driving down the
highv_vay minding his
own business. Clark subsequently
pulled Harris over and began beat
ing him and vandalizing his car.
Harris was arrested for DUI. Police
say Harris was stopped because of
an outstanding warrant, but that
proved tobefalse. Harris plans take
legal action.
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Aff:.‘:‘,, R E
Nicholas Capobianco: Said to
have a problem with black
males.
Capobianco’s professionalism
was brought into question by a
Richmond County jury in April
1997 which decided that he ar
rested ex-U.S. Army captain Ron
Booth for no reason. Booth was
b
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Gary Clark Jr. fired at this vehicle driven
by Ernest Dent Harris, two months prior
to the Davis killing. Police trashed the
vehicle before hauling Mr. Harris off to
jail. The bullet holes were produced by a
nine-millimeter shell from a police Glock
semi-autematic pistol. Photo by Debby Rivera
merely standing in the parking lot
of a Washington Road restaurant
and drew Capobianco’s wrath
when he asked him a question.
Accordingto Booth, Capobianco
threatened toarrest him and a few
See PROBLEMS, page 3A
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degree in physics from Creighton University. He hasalso
logged over 3,000 flight hoursin variousmodels of the KC
-135 and T-38A aircraft. His experience includes serving
as an instructor pilot and tactics officer in the 380 Air
Refueling Wing at the Pittsburgh AFB in New York.
Before his current training as mission specialist, he was
assigned technical duties in the Flight Support Branch of
the Astronaut Office. i 1
The ASCANS are about to graduate
The August 1996 group of astronaut candidates, a.k.a.
ASCANS, included three African-American women who
will be graduating from training on April 24 this year.
Their future assignments aboard shuttle flights will be as
mission specialists.
See ASTRONAUTS, page 2A
| Ms. Joan Higginbotham
Top brass
P
in public
dilemmma
Sheriff Webster and Chief Deputy
Strength appear totally confused.
WArticle of analysis and interpretation
By Frederick Benjamin
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
In his first public pro
nouncement regarding
thepolice killing of Alfaigo
Davis, Chief Deputy
Ronnie Strength defended
his officers’ actions. They
feared for their lives, Mr.
Strength said.
The statement flies in
the face of the accounts of
eye witnesses whosaythe
policeassault on Davis was
as reckless as it was mur
derous. Davis was not al
lowed to surrender, but
was shot todeath instead.
Strength’sill-conceived
statement is_illustrative
‘of thelack of professional
ismofapolice department
whose officers routinely
harass citizens — espe
cially black males — and
whose public-relations ef
forts are nonexistent at a
timewhenthey are needed
most.
Of the major law en
forcement agencies in the
area, the Richmond
County Sheriff’s office is
the only one that is not
accredited by any profes
sional police accreditation
agency or organization.
Sheriff Charlie Webster
boasts that he surrounds
himself with those that
can get the job done, be
cause hisown law enforce
ment background is not
in police work.
It widely thought that it
is Strength, and not
~ Don’t Miss
The CSRA Classic e,
and Delta House, Tnc.
Vouth Leadership pv‘ogy‘a:n
is kos‘ring its
1998 Kick-off
Black ‘His’rory prog ram,
Sa’rurday, Feb. 28 at 10
a.m. at the Lucy Craft
Laney Museum of Black
History. Students ages 12-
19 are invited.
Call 724-3576 X
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NO. 302 AUGUSTA EA
Webster, who calls the po
licing shots. While
Webster is not expected to
run for another term as
sheriff, Strength is known
to be campaigning for the
Jjob, law enforcement in
siders say. Some observ
ers feel he would readily
“give up” the cops who
killed Alfaigo Davis if it
meant appeasing potential
black voters in South Au
gusta.
One of the clear prob
lems faced by the Rich
mond County Sheriff’s
Department is that it was
not within its power to
prevent the Davis tragedy.
Although it seldom gets
reported in the daily me
“dia outlets serving the re
gion, the Richmond
County Sheriff's depart
ment has an extremely
poor reputation among
African Americans.
Harassment and abuse
appear to be the rule. In
most cases, however, the
police discourage any real
attempt to curb the abuse
through fear and intimi
dation because most of the
victims don’t have the re
sources to successfully
combat police abuse. Get
ting away with unprofes
sional behavior has be
come a way of life for local
police and it has
emboldened them.
The police are in a di
lemma because they can’t
remain the same and they
don’t have the vision to
change.