Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 13, 1990 TAG: 9004130430
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TEANECK, N.J. LENGTH: Medium
Teen-agers, mostly blacks, roamed city streets after a night of smashing windows and overturning cars. The Wednesday night violence broke out after a peaceful candlelight protest over Tuesday's death of 15-year-old Phillip Pannell of River Edge.
The crowd of about 1,000 protesters called for a special prosecutor to investigate the shooting.
Gov. Jim Florio called for calm, but said he saw no reason to appoint a special prosecutor because the county prosecutor is a deputy attorney general. Florio also said he would not put the National Guard on alert.
Police Chief Bryan Burke promised a large contingent of local, county and state police would remain in the New York City suburb for about a week.
He declined to estimate property damage from Wednesday night's violence but said six police cars were destroyed. Many store windows were shattered.
Witnesses said police pushed the protesters into the parking lot of police headquarters and some women and children were trampled. The crowd retaliated by turning over cars and throwing rocks and other debris through the windows of the municipal building.
Four police officers and at least three civilians were injured. None of the injuries appeared serious.
On Thursday, both blacks and whites readily spoke about the predominantly positive racial relations in this town of 37,000 people eight miles from New York.
State Sen. Matthew Feldman, a former mayor, said this community has prided itself on its ability for people of all races to live in harmony.
"This is the first town in America to integrate, and we did it ourselves, not by order of the Supreme Court," Feldman said, referring to the city's voluntary integration of its schools in the 1960s.
"Things won't go back to normal, not until the cop goes on trial for murder," said Maurice Jones, 17, a black Teaneck High School student.
On April 1, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and the B'nai B'rith honored Feldman, who is white, and Municipal Judge Isaac McNatt, who is black, for their efforts in achieving racial harmony between Jews and blacks in Teaneck.
Officer Gary Spath, 29, who fired the fatal shot, reported to the prosecutor's office to answer questions on the shooting of Pannell, who died from a single gunshot in the back. Spath was suspended with pay, and his gun was impounded as evidence, officials said.
Spath last month received his fifth commendation from the Teaneck Policeman's Benevolent Association since he joined the department in 1982.
Mayor Frank Hall, a white who has been on borough council for 24 years and said he was involved in the 1960s integration of the schools, said the violence may have been caused by "outside agitators" who wore red hats or scarves and broke away from Wednesday's vigil.
"There were many cars with New York plates. You could say they came to help their brothers. And that's fine, but they don't have a stake in Teaneck like we do," Hall said.
by CNB