by Nisa Islam Muhammad
Staff Writer

(FinalCall.com)—Black federal workers at a Huntsville, Ala., military installation who have been terrorized by tire slashings and punctures for the past two years have asked the FBI to investigate this case. The workers fear the repeated attacks of vandalism are reprisal for their complaints of racial discrimination.

"This is a serious situation that needs to be addressed," Matthew Fogg, executive director of the Redstone Area Minority Employees Association, told The Final Call. "This vandalism could have led to someone’s injury or death.

"You can’t play around with this. These people reported discrimination and now one by one their tires have been slashed. The command has acted like they don’t want to deal with this but something must be done," he said.

Racial tensions at the Redstone Army Aviation and Missile Command were already heightened by the continuing reports of Black employees being denied promotions, pay raises, blacklisted by supervisors and having to endure racial slurs. The employees association officially represents them in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) administrative redress process.

These federal workers joined the numerous other Black government employees across the country including members of the Secret Service, FBI and U.S. Marshals who’ve filed suit against their employers for a variety of EEOC violations.

"Black workers at Redstone have had to endure hostile work environments while their cases are being investigated and now they have to deal with this terrorism," said Mr. Fogg, who also sued the government for racial discrimination while a U.S. Marshal and won his case. The Redstone workers contacted Mr. Fogg for help as they tried to resolve their continuing complaints of denial and discrimination.

In a letter dated September 5 to the FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, Mr. Fogg wrote, "This is a serious breach of security and pure terrorism. I am requesting that you investigate these matters as soon as possible. The culprits are still at large and the U.S. Army command has not launched a full-scale investigation nor shown an interest to protect these employees who’se lives are now in grave danger.

"Based on my extensive background in federal law enforcement as a U.S. Marshal criminal investigator, it is my opinion that these incidents display an obvious pattern and ‘modus operandi’ to ‘hate crimes,’ " he said.

The demand for federal help came after Dr. Clara D. West became the fourth victim last July that had to replace tires after discovering nail and tack punctures due to vandalism on the base. In 2001, Dr. West filed two civil rights complaints in Federal Court in the Northern District of Alabama after Army managers admitted she had been "blacklisted" and allegedly called her a "Tar-Baby" in an official e-mail.

She joins Priscilla Caraway-Vinson, who reported to the base provost marshal on October 6, 2000 that her vehicle tire was vandalized. Photographs of her tire indicated that it was slashed on a radius from the hub to the tread on the inside wall of the tire, according to Mr. Fogg. An auto repair expert reported the damage as "deliberate." Recently, Ms. Caraway-Vinson reported that her tires were damaged again with screws.

Carolyn Lucas, a supervisor for AMCOM, and Steve Tiwari, a former Space and Missile Defense Command, are among other federal workers who have had tires punctured and have complaints before the EEOC and actions in Federal Court.

Pam Rogers, spokeswoman for the military installation, responded to the news that the workers’ groups were asking for FBI assistance by saying that only one complaint of tire sabotage was made to the Redstone military police in October 2000.

"The investigation was dropped due to lack of evidence that would allow it to proceed," she said.

But Mr. Fogg disagrees. "I know that each person that was terrorized reported the incident. That’s just not true that only one was reported."

On July 7, Mr. Fogg wrote Major General Larry Dodgen, the installation commander, apprising him of the tire slashing concerns that the workers viewed as very dangerous hate crimes.

"RAMEA is not going to sit back any longer and wait for someone to get maimed or killed in an orchestrated car accident because the U.S. Army commanders here do not take these matters serious," wrote Mr. Fogg.

Major Dodgen responded by letter, July 22, saying all complaints concerning discrimination would be investigated and discrimination would not be allowed at Redstone Arsenal.