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A cry for justice
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Dr. Ngara Balde, left, calls for justice in the
killing of his cousin Amadou Diallo as he at
tends a rally in New York Tuesday, Feb. 9, 1999.
More than 1,000 people gathered for a peace
ful rally in front of New York State Federal court
in lower Manhattan Thursday to remember
NYC cops shoot unarmed man
19 times; thousands protest -
By Donna De La Cruz
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
. NEW YORK
In a matter of seconds, four
white police officers from New
York’s elite Street Crime Unit
fired 41 shots at an unarmed
man, a black West African immi
grant who had no police record
and spoke with a stutter.
Amadou Dialle, a street ped
dler described as religious and
hard-working, was hit 19 times
and died instantly Thursday in
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Diallo. The unarmed West African immigrant
was killed by 19 of 41 bullets fired by four
police officers last Thursday. “A few days ago
he called me to say he was getting married,”
said Dr. Balde. “How can he with 41 bullets in
hisbody?” (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
the vestibule of his apartment
building in the Bronx.
The officers’ lawyer says Diallo
gestured with his hands, leading
the police to think he was reach
ing for a gun.
But the officers themselves
were the only witnesses, and now
Amnesty International is de
manding anexplanation,and U.S.
Attorney Mary Jo White says fed
eral prosecutors are reviewing the
case for possible civil rights viola
tions.
The shooting has also brought
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THE REYES MORADOS, “THE DARK KINGS,” who represent Africans brought to the Americas
by the Spanish conquistadors to work in mines, dance Sunday 7, Feb. 1999 in the
Candelaria festival in Puno high in the Peruvian Andes. Nearly 140 folk dance groups from
the Puno region take part in the two-week festival each year. The event is Peru’s biggest
folk festival.(AP Photo/Martin Mejia) 3
House begrudgingly honors Broncos bet
ATLANTA
(AP) A bet’s a bet, and members
of the Georgia House begrudg
ingly honored theirs with Colo
rado lawmakers by donning foam
horsehead hats in recognition of
the Denver Broncos’ Super Bowl
victory.
Speaker Tom Murphy was the
February 11 - 17, 1999
renewed scrutiny to the Street
Crime Unit, which has been criti
cized before for its aggressive tac
tics. The unit is assigned to seek
out and stop crime before it hap
pens. Its motto is “We Own the
Night.”
Neither New York Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani nor Police Com
missioner Howard Safir will say
anything substantial about the
case, which is under investiga
tion by the Police Department.
See SHOOTING PROTEST, 2A
first to wear one of the gaudy
headpieces — pullingit down over
his face, then removing it a few
seconds later — as he spoke by
phone with Colorado House
Speaker Russell George.
“He says, ‘We hope you enjoy
the hats,’ and he appreciates us
being good sports,” said Murphy,
State trooper told to
target black drivers
BPuerto Rican New
Jersey state trooper
is suing his agency
charging that his
refusal to target
blacks jeopardized
his chances for
advancement.
By Wayne Parry
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer
TRENTON, N.J.
In his 12 years as a New Jersey
State Police trooper, Emblez
Longoria heard whispered rumors
of how troopers allegedly targeted
minority motoristson the New Jer
sey Turnpike for roadside stops
designed to boost drug arrest sta
tistics.
After just two nights patrolling
the toll road in 1997, his lawyer
said, Longoria’s worst fears were
GOP leaders linked to
bigoted conservative group
By Alien G. Breed
ASSOCIATED PRESS Writer ;
COLUMBIA, S.C
Behind a wooden partition in a back room of the
Lizard’s Thicket restaurant, about 30 members of the
Council of Conservative Citizens _ many wearing Con
federate battle flag pins and belt buckles _ hovered over
plates of fried catfish and chocolate cream pie as Dennis
Wheeler laid out the struggle before them.
Wheeler, a freelance writer from Atlanta, opened last
week’s meeting with a reading from Revelation about
thebeast that “opened his mouthinblasphemies against
God.” Among those blasphemies, he told the group, is a
“Yankee radicalism” known as equalitarianism.
D-Bremen. “He don’t know how
bad a sports we are, does he?”
Georgia and Colorado lawmak
ers agreed before last Sunday’s
matchup between the Atlanta Fal
cons and the Broncos that the
losing House would wear the
winner’s paraphernalia on the
floor.
realized.
“He found out it was worse than
all the rumors he had heard,” at
torney Philip J. Moran said.
Longoria filed a lawsuit Thurs
day in U.S. District Court here
accusing the state police of using
racial profiling in deciding whom
to pull over. He also alleges he was
ordered by superiors to use the
tactic — which officials have said
is not the agency’s policy — if he
wanted to succeed in his law en
forcement career.
“The first twonightson the Turn
pike, he sees profile stops, illegal
searches and seizures, and tar
geted stops of blacks,” Moran said.
“He says, ‘Uh-uh, I ain’t playing.”
The lawyer said Longoria pro
tested to his co-workers and supe
riors, and refused to patrol the
Turnpike unless he was driving
the car so he could decide whom to
stop and search.
But Longoria’ssuperiorstold him
he needed to boost his drug seizure
numbers, and that the best way to
“(Int is exactly this philosophy that our Confederate
forefathers fought against in the War Between the
States,” said Wheeler, head of a council chapter in
Georgia. “The current mark of the beast is the equalitar
ian religion which names as sins racism, sexism, anti-
Semitism and homophobia, among others, rather than
the Ten Commandments.”
The only blacks within earshot were the waitresses
and busboys working the tables on the other side of the
partition.
Just what is the Council of Conservative Citizens? It
was formed 13 years ago, it claims 15,000 members and
latelyit’sbeeninthe newssince Sen. Trent Lottand Rep.
SEE CONSERVATIVE COUNCIL, page 3A
radio spot honored
by advertising group
il st
By Lillian Wan
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
The Augusta Focus received a Certificate of Merit
for its local radio campaign, “Augusta Focus: You
Will Know” in its first-time entry in the prestigious
Augusta Advertising Federation’s American Ad
vertising Awards competition, also known as the
1998 Addys this year. The contest recognized the
most creative advertising generated in the Aiken/
Augusta area and published initially between Janu
ary 1 and December 31, 1998. The local competi
tion is the first step of a three-tier national compe
tition conducted by the American Advertising Fed
eration. Nationwide, the American Advertising
Awards is the advertising industry’s largest com
petition for creative excellence. There were 60
categories for entry: newspaper, radio, television,
magazine, brochure, etc. Twenty-eight out ofabout
150 nominations were Addy winners that will be
eligible for competition for possible district and
national honors.
Reggie Cofer, WAGT-TV 26's operations man
ager, received the Addys’ top individual honor, the
coveted Silver Medal Award given for creative
excellence and responsibility in fields of social
concern. He was presented the award by his fellow
WAGT associate, last year’s Silver Medal Award
winner Adriene Goldman.
Mr. Cofer, a 15-year employee for WAGT, had
received previous awards for his work, including a
Best of Show award at the 1991 Addys. He is also
affiliated and involved with the Boys and Girls
Club of Augusta, the local chapter of the 100 Black
Men of America, and his church.
Top mulitiple Addy winners were Allison & Asso-
See ADDY AWARDS, page 2A
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do that was by stopping minority
drivers.
Longoria, who is of Puerto Rican
descent, also claims he has been
discriminated against, including
being transferred to ten different
stations withinthe past 3 1/2 years.
Most recently, he was assigned
to the State Police station at Fort
Dix, near his Pemberton Town
ship home. But after state police
were notified of the lawsuit, which
was filed Thursday in U.S. District
Court in Trenton, Longoria was
transferred back to the Turnpike,
Moran said.
While refusing to comment on
Longoria’s lawsuit, state police of
ficials denied engaging in racial
profiling.
“As I have continued to main
tain, it isextremely important that
state troopers and the public un
derstand that racial profiling or
any form of discrimination, for that
matter — is not and will not be
See DRIVING BLACK, page 2A