F*ck Racism

fearless_fx · Mar 17, 2009

Reporting from Homer, La. -- On the last afternoon of his life, Bernard Monroe was hosting a cookout for family and friends in front of his dilapidated home in this small northern Louisiana town.

Throat cancer had left the 73-year-old retired electric utility worker unable to talk, but family members said he clearly was enjoying the commotion of a dozen of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren cavorting in the grassless yard.

Then the Homer police showed up, two white officers whose arrival caused the participants at the black family's gathering to fall silent.

Within moments, Monroe was dead, shot by one of the officers as his family looked on.

Now the Louisiana State Police, the FBI and the Justice Department are swarming over this impoverished lumber town of 3,800, drawn by allegations from numerous witnesses that police killed Monroe without justification -- and then moved a gun to make it look like he had been holding it.

"We are closely monitoring the events in Homer," said Donald Washington, the U.S. attorney for the western district of Louisiana. "I understand that a number of allegations are being made that, if true, would be serious enough for us to follow up on very quickly."

Monroe's friends and relatives say they still don't understand why the neighborhood patriarch ended up dead.

Four witnesses said he was sitting outside his home in the late afternoon on Feb. 20 -- clutching a large sports-drink bottle -- when two police officers pulled up and summoned over his son, Shawn.

Shawn Monroe, who has a long record of arrests and convictions on charges of assault and battery but was not wanted on any warrants, reportedly ran into the house.

One of the officers, who had been on Homer's police force only a few weeks, chased after him and reappeared moments later in the doorway, the witnesses said.

Meanwhile, the elder Monroe had started walking toward the front door. When he got to the first step on the porch, the witnesses said, the rookie officer opened fire, striking Monroe several times.

"He just shot him through the screen door," said Denise Nicholson, a family friend who said she was standing a few feet away. "After [Monroe] was on the ground, we kept asking the officer to call an ambulance, but all he did was get on his radio and say, 'Officer in distress.' "

The witnesses said the second officer picked up a handgun that Monroe, an avid hunter, always kept in plain sight on the porch for protection. Using a latex glove, the officer grasped the gun by its handle, the witnesses said, and ordered everyone to back away. The next thing they said they saw was the gun next to Monroe's body.

"I saw him pick up the gun off the porch," Marcus Frazier said. "I said, 'What are you doing?' The cop told me, 'Shut the hell up, you don't know what you're talking about.' "

Homer police maintain Monroe was holding a loaded gun when he was shot, but would not comment further.

The shooting took place amid long-standing tensions between police and the residents of Monroe's crime-plagued neighborhood.

"People here are afraid of the police," said Terry Willis, vice president of the Homer branch of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People. "They harass black people, they stop people for no reason and rough them up without charging them with anything."

That is how it should be, responded Homer Police Chief Russell Mills, who noted the high rates of gun and drug arrests in the neighborhood.

"If I see three or four young black men walking down the street, I have to stop them and check their names," said Mills, who is white. "I want them to be afraid every time they see the police that they might get arrested.

"We're not out there trying to abuse and harass people -- we're trying to protect the law-abiding citizens locked behind their doors in fear."
Click to expand...

What the FUCK. Stories like this make me sick, i can't believe shit like this still goes down in the US.

mobidoo · Mar 17, 2009

This is worse then what is happening in Tibet.

master_g · Mar 17, 2009

dont the people down south watch nascar and wear pillowcases.

Aoes · Mar 17, 2009

i hope that Police Chief gets fired and put in jail... in Oakland, the police chief said something similar only not as direct, the city wanted her head... she resigned the next morning...

Phoenix · Mar 17, 2009

thats so bad cant believe the police are so 'suy gak'

Akki · Mar 17, 2009

shit like that is still going down? amazing...

rts · Mar 17, 2009

Not surprised. Parts of the South in the US is still pretty much segregated. Just not the small towns either, even in the urban centres you'll find cops and white folks still like acting like that.

mr_evolution · Mar 17, 2009

That's just terrible, power abuse

MissCheekS · Mar 17, 2009

unfortunately im not surprised either... there are still enough of these ignorant ppl....

*sigh* racism just so pointless... poor old man.... finally retired n getting fucked over just like that

@ fx ur becoming like ralph

fearless_fx · Mar 17, 2009

^ I used to copy paste main parts of the text to summarize and then provide a link with the full article.

This way is easier, and lazy people can read things in context.

but yeah, the old man definitely didn't deserve this.

wysandman · Mar 17, 2009

it's news like this makes me happy to be living in Canada.

wysandman · Mar 17, 2009

It's news like this make me glad that I'm in Canada.

fearless_fx · Mar 17, 2009

It's news like this in Canada, that makes me glad.

Dan · Mar 17, 2009

it's glad like news me this canada makes that.

wat

Aoes · Mar 17, 2009

It's Canada that makes news like me glad!

AC0110 · Mar 18, 2009

rofl, Scarbrough - The Getto for the Blacks

I love Canada too!!! But I'm scare of going to Scarbrough.... I think

fearless_fx · Mar 18, 2009

^ seriously?

my aunt lives in scarbarough, i thought it was a pretty nice area when i visited last

Dan · Mar 18, 2009

fearless_fx said: ↑

^ seriously?

my aunt lives in scarbarough, i thought it was a pretty nice area when i visited last
Click to expand...

it is.. i don't know what he's talking about lol

AC scarborough's changed... hell.. jane and finch is changing....

ralphrepo · Mar 19, 2009

It is indeed shocking and appalling, that even within a nation finally able to elect the son of a subjugated minority to its highest office, that change has failed to fully eradicate the ugly climate of racial intolerance. For those who know little about the US, Louisiana (the state that this occurred in) and Mississippi, its next door neighbor, continues to be distasteful remnants of another era. On the basis of that comment by the police chief alone, I hope they launch a federal civil rights investigation into the death.
-madsign1

bbgirlsum · Mar 19, 2009

lol USA is the first place i think of the most racism is happening
everywhere has racism, i livei n england and usually the racists r the ones that used to get bullied but to be honest if anybody is racist to u jus say ur proud of it and if they start causin a fight jus kick em on the balls or the shin relle hard, n if you dna carry on the fight make a run for it. show those racists that we can defend ourselves..
*from previous experiences* lol

F*ck Racism

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

mobidoo Well-Known Member

master_g .

Aoes Well-Known Member

Phoenix ~Though she be but little, she is fierce~

Akki ...

rts Member

mr_evolution ( • )( •ԅ(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

MissCheekS Reconnaîssant ❤

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

wysandman Well-Known Member

wysandman Well-Known Member

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

Dan 8-D

Aoes Well-Known Member

AC0110 Let the Fun Begin

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

Dan 8-D

ralphrepo Well-Known Member

bbgirlsum Well-Known Member

F*ck Racism

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

mobidoo Well-Known Member

master_g .

Aoes Well-Known Member

Phoenix *~Though she be but little, she is fierce~*

Akki ...

rts Member

mr_evolution ( • )( •ԅ(ˆ⌣ˆԅ)

MissCheekS Reconnaîssant ❤

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

wysandman Well-Known Member

wysandman Well-Known Member

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

Dan 8-D

Aoes Well-Known Member

AC0110 Let the Fun Begin

fearless_fx Eugooglizer

Dan 8-D

ralphrepo Well-Known Member

bbgirlsum Well-Known Member

Phoenix ~Though she be but little, she is fierce~