SCLC Protest Planned
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/24/05
A national civil rights group says it has not backed down from its vow to "shut Gwinnett County down."
On Friday, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which has been critical about the handling of a Taser-related death, is scheduled to formally announce plans for a protest march.
At a morning news conference, SCLC leaders will announce the date of the protest march and economic boycott they promised after a June meeting with District Attorney Danny Porter. After the heated two-hour meeting, SCLC President Charles Steele said he would organize a protest that would shut the county down.
The SCLC is one of two civil rights organizations that had urged Porter to pursue criminal charges against the Gwinnett sheriff's deputies involved in the May 2004 death of Frederick Williams. The Lawrenceville man died after he was repeatedly shocked with a Taser stun gun as deputies at the Gwinnett jail worked to restrain him.
"It is inconceivable how a district attorney can fail to bring charges in a case where it is clear that excessive force was used and that this excessive force led to the death of an individual," Steele said in an e-mailed statement. "A grand jury should decide whether there is probable cause to prosecute these officers, rather than relying upon the sole judgment of one man.
"In light of this, SCLC is calling for a nonviolent protest in the form of a national march to take place in Gwinnett County," Steele continued.
The SCLC and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said they were concerned with how Porter presented the case to a grand jury in April and had urged the district attorney to reopen the investigation.
Porter presented the investigation to a grand jury but did not show jurors a videotape of a deputy stunning Williams — who was handcuffed and manacled — with the Taser. Porter has said he offered to show jurors the tape, but they declined.
The grand jury was not asked to consider criminal charges against any specific deputies. Instead, the jurors were asked to use the Williams' case to consider whether to investigate the county's policies on Taser use.
Porter has said he considers the case closed. He said he did not see any evidence that deputies "intended to kill or criminally assault" Williams.
"I am not going to respond to a press release written by an organization that did not even bother to look at the file," Porter said in an an interview Tuesday.
He was referring to the file of the extensive 11-month investigation into Williams' death that includes interviews of all the deputies involved and the videotape of the jail altercation.
The SCLC will also announce Friday that it plans to meet with executives at Taser International, the Arizona-based stun gun manufacturer, Steele said. The organization has a meeting with Taser International CEO Tom Smith scheduled for Aug. 30, Steele said.
"We are receiving reports from all across the country concerning people dying at the hands of officers [using] Taser guns," said Steele. "Immediate action must be taken to address the rising tide of deaths associated with Taser guns, and SCLC feels that we must start at the root of the problem — with the manufacturer, Taser International."
SCLC Protest Planned
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 08/24/05
A national civil rights group says it has not backed down from its vow to "shut Gwinnett County down."
On Friday, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which has been critical about the handling of a Taser-related death, is scheduled to formally announce plans for a protest march.
At a morning news conference, SCLC leaders will announce the date of the protest march and economic boycott they promised after a June meeting with District Attorney Danny Porter. After the heated two-hour meeting, SCLC President Charles Steele said he would organize a protest that would shut the county down.
The SCLC is one of two civil rights organizations that had urged Porter to pursue criminal charges against the Gwinnett sheriff's deputies involved in the May 2004 death of Frederick Williams. The Lawrenceville man died after he was repeatedly shocked with a Taser stun gun as deputies at the Gwinnett jail worked to restrain him.
"It is inconceivable how a district attorney can fail to bring charges in a case where it is clear that excessive force was used and that this excessive force led to the death of an individual," Steele said in an e-mailed statement. "A grand jury should decide whether there is probable cause to prosecute these officers, rather than relying upon the sole judgment of one man.
"In light of this, SCLC is calling for a nonviolent protest in the form of a national march to take place in Gwinnett County," Steele continued.
The SCLC and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said they were concerned with how Porter presented the case to a grand jury in April and had urged the district attorney to reopen the investigation.
Porter presented the investigation to a grand jury but did not show jurors a videotape of a deputy stunning Williams — who was handcuffed and manacled — with the Taser. Porter has said he offered to show jurors the tape, but they declined.
The grand jury was not asked to consider criminal charges against any specific deputies. Instead, the jurors were asked to use the Williams' case to consider whether to investigate the county's policies on Taser use.
Porter has said he considers the case closed. He said he did not see any evidence that deputies "intended to kill or criminally assault" Williams.
"I am not going to respond to a press release written by an organization that did not even bother to look at the file," Porter said in an an interview Tuesday.
He was referring to the file of the extensive 11-month investigation into Williams' death that includes interviews of all the deputies involved and the videotape of the jail altercation.
The SCLC will also announce Friday that it plans to meet with executives at Taser International, the Arizona-based stun gun manufacturer, Steele said. The organization has a meeting with Taser International CEO Tom Smith scheduled for Aug. 30, Steele said.
"We are receiving reports from all across the country concerning people dying at the hands of officers [using] Taser guns," said Steele. "Immediate action must be taken to address the rising tide of deaths associated with Taser guns, and SCLC feels that we must start at the root of the problem — with the manufacturer, Taser International."