The campaign to end the city police policy of stopping and frisking young men of color went to its ground zero tonight -- Brownsville.
That's where, according to figures compiled by lawyers, there are 93 police stops for every 100 residents, a truly astounding number that some say has left young men in that community feeling numb.
Nick Malinowski, who participated in the demonstration tonight outside the 73d police precinct in Brownsville, was arrested and charged with obstructing governmental administration and disorderly conduct, he said.
He was among 27 who were arrested, 17 of whom were still in custody as Malinowski spoke with BrooklynRon just before midnight.
All are scheduled to appear in Court at 120 Schermerhorn St., downtown Brooklyn, on Monday, Dec. 5th at 9.30 a.m., Malinowski said.
Among those arrested was Carl Dix, one of the principal organizers of the protest march and demonstration. Also detained and charged was Margaret Ratner Kunstler, Malinowski said.
It seems that no elected officials were among the arrestees.
"There were people from the community who were speaking out for the first time," said Malinowski, maintaining that Brownsville residents may be slowly losing a fear of speaking out forcefully against the tactic of stopping, questioning and frisking hundreds of thousands of people a year around the city.
It is expected that the total number of police stops will approach 700,000 this year, with most of the stops in Black and Latino neighborhoods. [Note: above photo is from Channel 12, Cablevision.]
Below, see a video of organizer Carl Dix speaking at an Oct. 23 mass meeting on the Stop and Frisk issue.
Comments