Questions Surround Samuel Evans' Death - NAACP Meets With Sheriff
Thursday, December 9, 2004 at 11:43PM
TheSpook
The NAACP has been researching the death of Samuel
Evans, the Springfield man who died last week while in police custody.
There is some controversy as to the details leading up to Evans death,
controversy over whether police may have used excessive force on Evans.
According to reports, police officers approached Evans and some others
while they were consuming alcoholic beverages outside. According to
witnesses, the altercation ended with the officers slamming Evans to
the ground head first. However, police deny this. Members of the NAACP and members of
the Black Ministers Alliance met
with Sheriff John Rutherford, were expected to discuss the case
on Tuesday. "It's open season against African Americans," says NAACP
President
Isaiah Rumlin. "We are gonna give them justice in this
case, Whatever that might be. It's going to be a thorough investigation
and let the chips fall where they may," says Sheriff John Rutherford.
The NAACP was pleased with how the meeting went and what Sheriff
Rutherford promised. "He's considered bringing in an independent source
in to do the investigation, the Justice Department, we're very pleased
with that," says Rumlin. Evan's family was not as pleased. His brother,
Barney Evans says, "They murdered my brother. The Sheriff, he still had
this mad maniac out on the street." The NAACP says that investigation
as well as the Evans incident is proof JSO is targeting blacks. "We
want to know how many citations, how many tickets have been issued to
African Americans in this community," says Rumlin. [more] and [more] and [more]
Witnesses Speak Out About Officers' Excessive Force [more]
2 Die In Police Custody: 1 Identified; Arresting Officer Faces More Abuse Claims [more]
Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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