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Police Propaganda And Hype?

By Starla Muhammad -Managing Editor- | Last updated: Aug 19, 2016 - 12:12:20 PM

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Chicago activists refute allegations street gangs conspiring to shoot cops

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Community leaders address media outside Chicago Police Department about reports three Chicago gangs were plotting to retaliate against cops for the shooting death of Paul O’Neal. Activists including, left to right: Tio Hardiman of Violence Interrupters, Inc., Clifton McFowler, street intervention specialist, Student Minister Caleb Muhammad (rear middle) of the Nation of Islam and Eric Russell of the Tree of Life Justice League of Illinois. Jesse Muhammad (far right) of the Nation of Islam holds a DVD by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan titled, “Justifiable Homicide: Black Youth in Peril.”

CHICAGO— In the aftermath of the fatal police shooting of Paul O’Neal, reports surfaced that three West Side street organizations or “gangs” were planning to exact revenge for the teen’s death by plotting to target and attack Chicago police officers. The accusations were immediately met with strong denials and skepticism from local activists, gang interventionists and everyday residents.

“We feel as a community, those statements are incorrect. There’s no history and no data that backs up the fact that young men in Chicago are in a position to attack the police. The young men in Chicago are not a threat to the police department. The young men in Chicago are too busy fighting one another, they don’t have time to think about attacking no police,” said Tio Hardiman, president of the non-profit group, Violence Interrupters. Mr. Hardiman was joined by several activists at a press conference in front of the 11th District Chicago Police facility to address the allegations.

According to local media reports, leaders from the Four Corner Hustlers, Vice Lords and Black Disciples allegedly took part in a meeting Aug. 4 triggering an alert issued by Chicago police that one gang would supply automatic weapons to the other two with an agreement to use them against police.

Paul O’Neal, 18, was unarmed and attempting to run from police when he was shot in the back and killed July 28 after crashing a car that was reported stolen. Much of what transpired before and after the incident was caught on police dashboard cams and body cams worn by officers at the scene. But the body cam of the officer that fired the fatal shot was not recording. Although police officials stated it appears officers’ violated department policy and have been relieved of their duties pending an investigation, O’Neal’s death touched off protests.

For a community already distrustful of a police department with a sordid history and mired in the very real crisis of street violence, the announcement of possible gang retaliation against cops was met with doubt. The gangs mentioned are from the West Side of the city and the shooting of Mr. O’Neal took place on the South Side. There were also reports of possible gang retaliation in response to the shooting of Laquan McDonald, another unarmed, Black teen shot and killed by Chicago police in 2014. According to chicagocop.com and the website for the Officer Down Memorial Page the last Chicago cop killed in the line of duty by gunfire was an officer responding to a store robbery in 2011.

There are reportedly over 100,000 gang members in Chicago. But activists argued there is no gang leadership or hierarchy like there was decades ago. What police classify as “gangs” are really unorganized, disunited youth and many activists charge that any young, Black male that lives on the predominately South or West Sides of the city are ofttimes lumped into that category even if they have no documented ties to street organizations.

“First of all there’s no such thing as street gangs in Chicago. The police department and Justice Department eliminated them. There’s no one person here that can call together and tell them (gangs) to do anything. If that was the case we wouldn’t have all these killings in our community ... there’s no structure and you all made sure of that,” said Clifton “Booney” McFowler, a street intervention specialist, former gang member, founder of the Cicero Undertaker Vice Lords and who spent almost 28 years in prison. After his release from prison in 2009 Mr. McFowler saw the destruction in his neighborhood that he was once a part of and is now working to repair the damage. He is from the Austin community on the city’s West Side where he now works with at risk youth. There is no talk about retaliation against police from the young men he works with, said Mr. McFowler.

Student Minister Caleb Muhammad of the Nation of Islam’s West Side Study Group said various strategies implemented by Chicago police have failed and officers’ reactions, comments and “confusion and chaos” heard on video in the aftermath of the O’Neal shooting is cause for concern.

“So now if you instill this fear in officers who are already confused, if you instill in them already that somebody’s ready to attack them and they’re already stressed out, they’re already in the mindset of killing our youth as they’ve been doing all over the country, then now you are setting up something that could be catastrophic in our neighborhood.” said Student Minister Muhammad.

The police are using a lot of propaganda because of their inability to reduce homicides and shootings in the city, said Mr. Hardiman. “This entire story is about waging a war against African American youth and our community is already under a lot of stress ... Chicago definitely has some issues but the young men in Chicago are not a threat to nobody but themselves,” he added.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel who has remained quiet during the O’Neal case released a statement Aug. 9 urging support for police who place their lives on the line. “We can have a reasonable conversation about the need for police accountability reform, but the idea that a bunch of gang members would threaten violence against the men and women every Chicagoan relies on for their own safety is absolutely unacceptable,” the statement read in part. The controversial allegations were made just as CHP Superintendent Eddie Johnson and police chiefs of 12 major cities along with FBI and Justice Department reps were meeting in the city to discuss making communities safer.

The Final Call contacted the Chicago Police Department and received the following response via email: “It is routine practice for officer safety alerts to be disseminated by Districts and CPIC concerning any potential threats to police but to safeguard the integrity of operations, the department does not comment on any specific security measures that may be implemented.”

Denise Ross is a Chicago resident and a mother. She said it hurts her when she hears people state that “our children are always the problem.” The community is being stripped of jobs, programs and fathers, she said. “The system itself is a failure,” added Ms. Ross.

Father Michael Pfleger of The Faith Community of St. Sabina expressed his concern about the retaliation claims via Facebook. “I am very concerned by the Front page of the Sun Times Claiming 3 Gangs have come together to declare War on Chicago Police. ...This is the same Police Department that says the problem with the Gangs in Chicago is there is NO STRUCTURE and 15 Year olds are running rogue … now all of a sudden they are organized. ...This kind of statement will make officers more aggressive and impulsive ... and sets the stage to even more stereotype all Black youth as a Threat,” wrote the activist priest.

“We’re saying to Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and others that this is not happening. Nobody as we know is out here plotting and planning on killing the police. We are working together as a community now to stop this crime among ourselves, let alone going out and trying to kill the police,” said Student Minister Muhammad.

“So we’re saying right now please don’t fall for the hype and don’t believe in the propaganda that’s being spread about our youth right now being under attack, trying to kill the police.”