THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994 TAG: 9406090519
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Marc Tibbs
DATELINE: 940609 LENGTH: Medium
He and two of his friends got off the school bus and spotted a realistic-looking pellet gun lying in the grass. One of them scooped up the ``toy weapon'' and ran while the other two gave chase.
{REST} In jest, the boy with the pellet gun turned and pointed it at the two classmates chasing him. An alert neighbor witnessed all or part of this scene and rightfully dialed 911.
When police got there, my son tells me, the officer spread-eagled all three of them, listened to their pellet gun story and sent them all home with stern warnings.
I nearly fainted as he retold the tale.
Recent events in Hampton Roads involving black males reminded me of how scary my son's story really is. When a black male brushes up against the criminal justice system, sometimes the scales teeter on a delicate balance.
Consider the following:
Ronald Duck, 37, had the grave misfortune of being outside his apartment building about 10 p.m. last Thursday when police were frantically searching for a gunman at large.
Unfortunately, Duck fit the description: He is a black male.
Norfolk police officer M.L. Warren spotted Duck and another neighbor who also happened to be there and got out of his squad car to question them. Warren had his gun drawn, but before he could fire off a single question, the gun discharged and Duck fell to the ground in a heap. He was shot in the shoulder.
Warren was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, which ruled the shooting an accident.
But Warren couldn't have picked a worse time to have such a mishap. Duck's injury came just weeks after Norfolk officer David White shot and killed another black man - Anthony Brown. Brown was a mental patient who had cut White with a knife during their scuffle.
And the Brown shooting, which also was ruled justifiable, followed an incident six months earlier when yet another black man, Vernon Hicks, died in the custody of police and employees of the Tidewater Psychiatric Institute.
Both deaths, and the Duck shooting, very easily could be tragic coincidences. But even the most casual observer can't help but wonder when you add to these scenarios the cases of other black males in the justice systems of Hampton Roads:
John Tingle Jr. is convicted of abduction and serves five months in jail before his accuser recants her identification of him as her attacker and he regains his freedom.
Brian McCray is acquitted of murder after it is discovered that Norfolk prosecutors withheld evidence favorable to his defense. McCray suffered through two trials and had been given a 43-year prison sentence before he was exonerated of the slaying.
And Raymond Holder walked out of a Portsmouth jail cell only after DNA tests proved he couldn't possibly have been the man who raped and sodomized a 12-year-old girl. He spent eight months in jail before he was freed.
Coincidences all? Maybe. Deliberately racist? Maybe not.
No matter, it's not hard to understand why some people have the perception that it's ``open season,'' on African-American men.
And it's not hard to understand why some others are keeping their sons close underfoot.
by CNB