Jan

30

New York Times Covers Lima Shooting

January 30, 2008 |

New York Times: Pic and Content

Just the publicity the Dem Mayor wants and he says people are starting to carry weapons to defend themselves. What a brilliant statement to make on the national stage. Does he mean:

1. People are arming themselves to defend against the police?

2. People are arming themselves in case another raid happens?

3. Law abiding citizens are getting their CCW license in case a riot starts?

Yes the answer was a bit unclear. Yes it’s tense but it has been peaceful so far. People are just waiting for the report to come out on the shooting by the FBI. If any problems surface it will be after the report.

LIMA, Ohio — The air of Southside is foul-smelling and thick, filled with fumes from an oil refinery and diesel smoke from a train yard, with talk of riot and recrimination, and with angry questions: Why is Tarika Wilson dead? Why did the police shoot her baby?

“This thing just stinks to high heaven, and the police know it,” said Jason Upthegrove, president of the Lima chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. “We’re not asking for answers anymore. We’re demanding them.”

Some facts are known. A SWAT team arrived at Ms. Wilson’s rented house in the Southside neighborhood early in the evening of Jan. 4 to arrest her companion, Anthony Terry, on suspicion of drug dealing, said Greg Garlock, Lima’s police chief. Officers bashed in the front door and entered with guns drawn, said neighbors who saw the raid.

Moments later, the police opened fire, killing Ms. Wilson, 26, and wounding her 14-month-old son, Sincere, Chief Garlock said. One officer involved in the raid, Sgt. Joseph Chavalia, a 31-year veteran, has been placed on paid administrative leave.

Beyond these scant certainties, there is mostly rumor and rage. The police refuse to give any account of the raid, pending an investigation by the Ohio attorney general.

Black people in Lima, from the poorest citizens to religious and business leaders, complain that rogue police officers regularly stop them without cause, point guns in their faces, curse them and physically abuse them. They say the shooting of Ms. Wilson is only the latest example of a long-running pattern of a few white police officers treating African-Americans as people to be feared.

“There is an evil in this town,” said C. M. Manley, 68, pastor of New Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church. “The police harass me. They harass my family. But they know that if something happens to me, people will burn down this town.”

Internal investigations have uncovered no evidence of police misconduct, Chief Garlock said. Still, local officials recognize that the perception of systemic racism has opened a wide chasm.

“The situation is very tense,” Mayor David J. Berger said. “Serious threats have been made. People are starting to carry weapons to protect themselves.”


Comments

5 Comments so far

  1. Preston on January 30, 2008 1:16 pm

    What about the fact that this woman has been arrested for, and has served time for drug dealing in the last couple years? She also had a warrant for her arrest in Indiana for domestic violence charges. There is a lot more to this story than meets the eye. There are a lot of problems in Lima. Most of them are brought on by the people who are crying about them.

  2. LisaRenee on February 8, 2008 10:18 pm

    I think the point of discussion should be about SWAT teams going in with children in a home. While it’s been said it can’t be avoided because there have been cases in other cities where children are used as shields in drug dealing behavior in this case it does not appear that drugs were sold from that home. Nor were the drugs bought by undercover agents in large enough amounts to warrant that type of a focus on the arrest to necessitate SWAT.

  3. SgtBalla on February 8, 2008 10:51 pm

    LisaRenee, which law enforcement agency were you with, again? I didn’t catch it. Or was it that you’ve studied SWAT tactics, as well as the criminal justice system, in order to make the call that the amounts of drugs weren’t enough to warrant SWAT involvement? Really, i’d like to know where your knowledge comes from.

  4. Paul-Michael Bauer on February 16, 2008 8:07 pm

    SgtBalla, such a condescending tone does not endear police officers to we “common, uneducated” masses. Having said that, I agree with your general point. It is poor judgment to play armchair SWAT leader with no real knowledge of the dangers LEOs face (especially not knowing the details of this particular situation).

    Personally, I have always had favorable encounters with LEOs and they have my respect and gratitude.

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