Newspaper Page Text
l VOLUME 18 NUMBER 923
WAUD B a 7 % /
. ¥
PRAR A
NPT R
T o &
¢ “ %, v_‘_“‘iév"."\\"
L
P P e RN N T S
T o ‘,“‘\{ :‘;fh“ 7
\1&
See Section C
Family charges cops
with brutality, racism
®Driving-While-Black
incident leads to three
arrests, including
family members of
unarmed black motor
ist killed by Augusta
police in 1998.
By Frederick Benjamin
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
=. AUGUSTA
“Family members of slain black
motorist Alfaigo Davis were
among four individuals who had
unpleasant confrontations with
Agusta police officers, on Satur
day, September 25. The confron
t4tion led to three arrests.
<Theincident hasled torenewed
charges of police brutality,
ufiprofessionalism, and racism
hurled at the Augusta-Richmond
County Sheriff's Department —
a department that has been
rocked by such accusations for
more than a decade.
At around 6:45 p.m. on the
above date, deputy Jason Vinson
stopped the blue Chevrolet Ca
price station wagon driven by 28-
year-old Bobby Bly on Grand
Boulevard in Augusta’s Turpin
Hill neighorhood. Riding with Bly
were 24-year-old Michael Jones
and Jesse Ross, 47 — all black
males.
After the stop was made, the
police account of what happened
and the account from the riders
and other witnesses differ
sharply.
According toJones, who alleges
that he was beaten by police, Dep.
Vinson, after telling him to get
out of the vehicle, grabbed him by
the seat of his pants and began
shoving him toward the police
cruiser.
Jonesreports that when he pro
tested verbally, the officer replied,
“What did you say boy?” and
grabbed him by the throat. Jones
if turn grabbed the officers arm.
Jury finds Williams guilty
#
m - it
A 8. Lol
i ;O
!ii T e "
i & o . v
Sl i e
Pr e 4 ~ ‘
s /
%
Does city support slum lords?
Augusta woman bhattles for decefiousing. See 3A
Serving Metropolitan leg!u, South Carolina and the Central Savannah River Area
" o " P -,_“{, : '
R b 4. BTR #
o — g - . y?nfi "
d o » / 'fi'_" 9 s b
E 5 B o 3 3 ¢il
P : -?Q: i ke V. ;
. i :
. .. : T BTN A ™ -
.‘ : l y ,f"'?" k - a_ e r !
eo. A e 5
e e e 7 Ll
’f*’“’% Wéfl: s : ; A L ey
s e L . 7 o
2 B s L.y N : o esl i o
3 él:":%;; N ” A . e B,
3 g 5 L eO OF f"a
e . e .
wan BLS e ¥ :
Willie Taylor (C) wants Sheriff Charlie Webster to discipline his deputies who allegedly beat Michael
Jones (L), and verbally abused his daughter LaToya (second from left) and son Antonio (R). Photo by
Frederick Berjamin Sr. :
At that time, according to Jones,
a second officer, Deputy Bob
Harrell, arrived and the two be
gan pummeling Jones.
“I was just trving to get loose,”
Jones said.
While he was being beaten,
Jones said, one of the officers (he
identified Harrell) shouted at
him, “I'll kill you, nigger. I'll kill
you.” s ;
. While this was going on, people
began to come closer to sée what
was happening. Among the on
lookers was Latoya Shantrelle
Taylor, Jones’ girlfriend.
“I walked up to see why they
were pulled over,” La Toya said.
“I asked the policeman if I could
stand here and see and he said,
‘no’. The next thing I know, they
grabbed Michael by the seat and
two officers started hitting him.”
Eventually, when Ms. Taylor
didn’t move along as quickly as
the police wanted, she too, was
apprehended.
“You're going to jail. I told you
to go on,” the policeman said,
SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 6, 1999 |
according to Ms. Taylor. At this
time Ms. Taylor reports, Officer
Harrell cursed at her and called
her“ablack bitch.” She was placed
in the back of the police cruiser
with Jones. Both officers accused
of the beating are white.
Another witness, Antonio Tay
lor, Latoya’s brother, had this to
say.
“I saw them taking Mike to the
car and the big one (Vinson)
started hitting him in the face. I
started hollering for peopletohelp
and a cop said to me, ‘shut the
f**k up boy.’ I wasn’t doing any
thing but shouting.” At this time,
Taylor reports, a black officer ap
proached him and urged him to
keep quiet about anything that
he saw and then he was given a
ticket for disorderly conduct.
LaToya and Antonio were cous
ins of Alfaigo Davis, the black
motorist, who was killed by Rich
mond County deputies in 1998.
Davis’ death led to protests and a
call for a police review board, and
calls for the Justice Department
BAugusta man
convicted of killing
school security officer.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
AUGUSTA
In amatter of three days, jurors
had heard enough evidence to
convict Bryan Tyrone Williams
for the murder of a Richmond
County Board of Education Pub
lic Safety Officer.
On Wednesday afternoon, Sept.
29, jurors decided on a guilty ver
dict for Williams, convicting the
21-year-old for the murder of
Michael D. Stephenson, who was
shot and killed July 16, 1997. It
took jurors only 40 minutes to
hand their decision to Richmond
County Superior Court judge
An unidentified county bailiff
assists Bryan Tyrone Williams
after jurors found Williams
guilty of the gunshot murder
of a Richmond County school
Augusta Chronicle) o 0 R
to intervene. :
Not surprisingly, the official
police version of the incident was
totally different.
According to the report, Jones
became “physically combative”
toward Dep. Vinson and struck
him with both fists. Jones akso
choked and kicked Vinson, the
report said. Further, when Ms.
Taylor arrived on the scene she
also became “physically in
volved” and tried to prevent the
arrest, the report stated. Jones
was charged with simple bat
tery of a police officer and Ms.
Taylor was charged with ob
structing an officer. Both spent
several hours in jail
Willie Taylor, the father of
Antonio and LaToya, this week,
gathered the three (Jones,
LaToya, and Antonio), made an’
appointment to see Sheriff
Webster about the behavior of
the two deputies.
“I wanted Sheriff Webster to
See COPS, page 2A ‘
Albert M. Pickett. Williams, who
was 18 when the murderoccurred,
was found guilty of shooting Of
ficer Stephenson at point-blank
range, inside the policemant’s pa
trol car -- after Stephenson had
detained Williams for burgldriz
ing Jamestown Elementary
School in south'Augusta. 4,
Stephenson, 29, was familiar
with Williams and had reportedly
worked with his eventual killer
during the officer’s days as a vol
unteer coach of youtl'rssports
teams. Fingerprints found at the
school and inside Stephenson’s
cruiser matched Williams’ prints.
The killer used a ‘,;?O-caliber
handgun in committingthe crime,
accordingtoteports. Theincident
occurred around 4:20,a.m. and
Richmond County Sheriff’s De
partment investigators arrested
Williams later that night around
11:30 p.m.
Stephenson is survived by his
wife and two young children. At
presstime, it was unclearwhether
Williams will be sentenced to life
in prison or handed the death
maltidbhummbmy
Craig led the prosecution team.
Walker honored in
Keysville ceremony
Senate. ; :
majority e
leader ' b
Charles W, . , & bl
Walker (L) . : '
poses with ; T
Keysville ) e
mayor .
Emma £ %é
Gresham (R) N . s
during a ‘ &“ e
ceremony AR .
naming a N - }
new com- . g ‘
munity- | ; ,
develop- : :
ment center
in his : e &
honor. \ : ;
Photo by o 2
Timothy Cox 7 &
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
: KEYSVILLE
As the sun beamed with esca
lating temperatures, a Satur
day afternoon crowd of about
100 people, including Gov. Roy
Barnes, stood at the steps ofthe
newly named Senator Charles
Walker Human Development
Center — honoring the senator
and many of Keysville’s war
veterans.
Keysville mayor Emma
Gresham led a list of dignitar
ies citing the senator and his
many accomplishments as a
politician, always forging ahead
to help the common man.
According tomayor Gresham,
the building is aptly named be
cause Sen. Walker has never
forgotten his rural roots.
Keysville is located just across
the Richmond County line,
about 30 minutes from Augusta.
“He’s a Burke County native
and he never forgot us,” said
the mayor at the Sept. 26 event.
“We want his name to be re
membered by the great grand
children. They need to know
there was a senator who cared
for the pegple in the rural areas
— and, that he was a black
man,” said mayor Gresham,
Local country station
switches to black music
BCumulus Broadcast
ing official says
Augusta’s black buying
power too significant
too ignore; local area
¢an no longer support
two country stations.
By Timothy Cox
AUGUSTA FOCUS Staff Writer
. AUGUSTA
On Friday, Oct. 1, Augusta lis
teners will have one less country
radio station to listen to.
At approximately 1:07 p.m.,
what was formerly US 107 will
change to a black radio format.
Specifically, the type of music,
call letters or format for the new
station was not disclosed by Gary
Pizzati, general manager of Cu
mulus Broadcasting, owners of
the new station. Oct. 1 is the an
nouncement date, he added.
In response to why the format
|SO CENTS I
E ) g 7 o i ;
LA A e 2 “ ;*‘-u-,‘_'_.;'_;.’ :;»_;4-;‘ S
Clouds, sun,
warm, 80s
See Page 6B
BULK RATE
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
NO. 302 AUGUSTA, GA
who was the senator’s second
grade teacher. “He never forgot
our struggle,” said Gresham
who at 74, was instrumental in
Keysville’sdesignation as a city
in 1990, having lost the status
in 1933, she said.
Senator Walker was sup
ported by the attendance of his:
wife Sheila Davis Walker, their
children and grandchildren. A
portrait of the senator was also
presented at the ceremony. -
Gov. Barnes commended his
friend and fellow Democrat for
the senator’s commitment to
ward serving all Georgians. The
governor led the ribbon-cutting
ceremony and proceeded to
announce his “One Georgia”
plan to develop economic op
portunities in rural communi
ties.
In his speech, the senator
thanked his constituents and
told the audience, “This is a
great day. As a Burke County
native, I am very proud. With
all the many buildings in Rich
mond County, in Atlanta ...
there is something magical
about Keysville,” he added. A
bystander remarked that Au
gustans should consider honor
ing the senator in a similar
fashiion.
was changed, Pizzati said, na
tionally, most radio markets can
no longer support two or more
country-formatted stations. “It's
almost like country music hit its
peak whenever Garth Brooks
played the live concert at Central
Park,” he said, making reference
to Brooks’ ground-breaking per
formance on HBO in 1998.
The rising power of black eco
nomic dollars, in terms of radio
sales, is another reason for the
switch, said Pizzati. And he’s not
alone in his thinking. According
to Radio Sales Today, a radio ad
vertising trade magazine, Afri
can American buying power in
creased from SBOB billion in 1990
to $633 billion in 1999 —a 73
percent increase. In addition,
Hispanic Americans, Asian
Americans and Native Americans
have all experienced increased
economic empowerment in the
past nine years, according to the
magazine. .. ,
“Through our extensive mar-
See RADIO, page 12A