Video Reportback! Enough Is Enough! Community Rally and March!

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Submitted by Rochester Indymedia on Tue, 2013-05-28 22:56

Enough Is Enough! A Rally to Support Benny Warr & Denounce Police Brutality!

Enough Is Enough! Rally and March in Support of Benny Warr and Against Police Brutality!

From Rochester Indymedia: http://rochester.indymedia.org/node/98871

On the evening of May 1 st, 201 3, Benny Warr was waiting for the bus in his wheelchair at the intersection of Bartlett St. and Jefferson Ave., near his home. As he was waiting for the bus, a Rochester police cruiser rolled up to the intersection. The officers exited the car and according to Warr, told him to move.

"I told them I was just waiting for the bus. I was being polite," he said to me in a brief phone interview today. One of the officers replied, "Fucking move!"

The next thing Warr knew, he had a face full of mace, thanks to officer Joseph "Joey" M. Ferrigno II, while, being punched, kicked, and thrown out of his wheelchair where he was further beat on the ground, by Ferrigno and his partner, Anthony R. Liberatore, and another, unnamed officer, who arrived shortly after Mr. Warr was thrown from his chair, according to a Notice of Claim filed against the city and the RPD on May 1 7, 201 3. A savvy citizen, who goes by the handle Shakur Muhammed on YouTube, started recording the incident with her phone just before Warr was violently forced from his chair.

After Warr was arrested, he said he was taken to the Strong Memorial Hospital where he was released and given an appearance ticket. He was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

Watch a higher res. video by Shakur Muhammed of Benny Warr being assaulted by three RPD cops: http://blip.tv/indy-tv/corrected-higher-res-video-of-benny-warr-being-attacked-6587434

Enough is Enough

A community rally and march

On May 18, a warm Saturday afternoon in the Genesee-Jefferson neighborhood, the air is punctuated by the faces and voices of over one hundred and fifty community members, activists and friends of Benny Warr. The scene is an unusual one; the tone has changed but the topic is so stagnant that chants of “Enough is enough” fill the air. The people of this neighborhood are everyday working class people and have weathered the same challenges the country has faced as a whole, be it economic downturn or natural disasters, but they have also endured undue hardship in ways many Americans cannot even imagine. The rally for Benny Warr brought the community together to share their experiences with the RPD in a “speak out.” During the event, a young man explained how the same officers attacked his family on the same corner just weeks before the incident involving Mr. Warr. Another man explains that the community is so accustom to this type of abuse that if the officers involved had offered even a small apology, he would have dismissed their actions. No such apology is being offered. Benny Warr will appear in court again on May 30, 2013, at 9:30am in Judge Stephen Miller's courtroom.

In the video by Shakur Muhammed, a white sedan can be seen entering the parking lot behind the scene, and later a woman is seen approaching the police under a tree; apparently trying to reason with the officers. That concerned citizen is RCSD Commissioner Mary Adams, a resident of the community. Mrs. Adams was present at the rally for Mr. Warr as well and spoke to the crowd about what she calls “the truth, nothing more, nothing less.” Mrs. Adams spent some time telling the crowd what she witnessed with her husband and two daughters, recalling a “very hard violent kick to Mr. Warr’s head.” But possibly more importantly, Mrs. Adams explains why she got out of her vehicle and spoke to Mr. Warr and the police. In a speech predicated by the statement “this is a product of an entirely racist society,” the Commissioner explained that the way she was “socialized” as a white Rochestarian gave her the “permission” to act freely around the police. This is a sentiment which is echoed by the palpable fear in rest of crowd, especially as more and more officers fill the streets.

For many Rochestarians, the trial against Mr. Warr is already decided. With over 37,000 views on YouTube, the evidence has been examined thoroughly. Today concerned citizens met again to show their support for Mr. Warr, but the conversation has moved out of the neighborhood with force. In some ways, this day is all too familiar for many in the crowd who have been in the same shoes and followed the same roads to face the same court. For Benny Warr the journey is just beginning. The crowd is as diverse as the city itself, but one common ground can be heard in their chants: Enough is Enough.

For more info and links, see: http://rochester.indymedia.org/node/98904

Rally & March:

Speakers include: Pastor Nina Warr (Mr. Warr's wife), Dave Atias, Mary & Ricardo Adams, Sister Felicia Abrams, Markel Miller, Emily Good, & Hubert Wilkerson.

The family and friends of Benny Warr demand:

The DA drop the charges against Benny Warr
RPD fire the officers involved in the attack and bring them up on criminal charges including assault
RPD publicly apologize to Benny Warr & his family
RPD clarify policies and procedures and retrain officers when interacting with people with disabilities
RPD end racial profiling & the criminalization of neighborhoods of color

Meet at Jefferson Ave. & Bartlett. When the march starts, head south on Jefferson Ave. to Columbia Ave., then turn west-bound on Columbia Ave. to Epworth St.; north on Epworth St. to Bartlett St. and then east on Bartlett St. back to Jefferson Ave. and Bartlett St.