Sept. 13, 2022

Donovan Lewis Becomes Yet Another Unarmed Black Man Killed by Police
By Chrisleen Herard

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - On August 30th, 20-year-old Donovan Lewis woke up to a bright weapon light searing into his room, the sounds of a barking K-9 outside his bedroom door and the burning sensation of a bullet entering his chest as he was getting up to greet the three Ohio police officers that stood inside his apartment complex at 2:30 in the morning.

“Hands! Hands! Hands! Crawl out here, crawl out!” An officer is heard screaming at Lewis on police body cam footage while a pool of his blood stained the mattress. But it was too late. Donovan Lewis had just become yet another unarmed Black man shot by the police – a national scourge.

As reported by the Columbus Division of Police, authorities were sent to an apartment building on Sullivan Avenue, in the Hilltop neighborhood of Ohio, to serve multiple active warrants against Lewis.

Lewis was wanted on a felony charge of improper handling of a firearm, and two misdemeanor charges for a probation violation and a domestic violence and assault case in connection to his pregnant girlfriend last month.

Columbus Police Chief Elaine Bryant stated that officers knocked outside of Lewis’ apartment for up to 10 minutes in an attempt to gain access inside the home.

“The officers knocked on the door for several minutes...acknowledging themselves as Columbus Police officers” said Bryant in a news conference.

Once the door was opened, two people were detained before police went inside to look for Lewis. Twelve hours later, Columbus police released haunting footage that showed the fatal moment that led to the end of Lewis’ life — Officer Ricky Anderson, a 30-year police veteran, was seen handling a K-9 when he opened Lewis’ door, letting off a single round within seconds.

"Donovan was in the back room of the apartment,” said Rex Elliot, the family’s attorney, in a news conference last Thursday, “There's no indication he was aware of what was happening outside…There was no justification…for Officer Anderson to shoot an unarmed man trying to get out of bed, as police officers were instructing him to do.”

Shortly after Officer Anderson shot Lewis, another officer can be heard in the footage saying that Lewis looked like he had something in his hand — A vape pen was later identified on the scene, however no weapon was found. Nonetheless, police moved on with the arrest procedure.

“Hands behind your back! Get your hand back, stop resisting!” Lewis’ body laid lifeless as two officers held him down to handcuff him, their flashlights continuing to explore the room.

Officers carried Lewis’ body out of the apartment after handcuffing him, searching him and telling him that he was “alright” as he continued to suffer from the gunshot wound. Just an hour later, Lewis was transported to the Grant Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

“It’s pretty clear that some members of the Columbus Police Department have no idea what these individuals and kids go through in these underserved communities,” Elliot said, “They are not from these communities, they don’t get it…Whatever they’re doing is not working because we’ve had three shootings in Columbus Police involved shooting in the last three days. It’s not working and they need to do more.”

From August 22nd to the 30th, Donovan Lewis’ death was the first fatal, but third shooting incident involving Ohio police. One of these incidents, which occurred just four days before Lewis’ death, involved a police officer who reportedly shot a 17-year-old during a traffic stop after claiming the teen, and another unidentified male, exited the vehicle displaying a firearm.

According to Mapping Police Violence, six people have been shot by police in Ohio this year, and over 20 have been killed by Ohio police every year since 2013, 35 being the most in 2018. The site also states that Black people in Ohio are 4.9 times more likely to be killed by police in the state than white people.

In addition, a study in a Columbus Dispatch article written last year showed that Franklin County ranked “one of the highest rates of fatal law enforcement shootings in Ohio and among the highest in the nation”, and while only 20 percent of Ohio’s Black population inhabits the county, it still accounts for “33% of deaths of African Americans shot by law enforcement in the whole state”.

President Joe Biden signed the Police Reform Executive Order just short of three months ago as an attempt to build a connection of trust and safety between authorities and the public in light of George Floyd’s 2020 passing. Nevertheless, more than 100 Ohio residents gathered this past weekend to express their anger surrounding the circumstances of another police-involved death.

According to a Columbus Dispatch article, event planner Ramon Obey II said to the crowd at the protest, "We've given them chance, after chance, after chance, how many more chances are we going to give them? Y'all want to reform (the Columbus police)? We've always been reforming (the Columbus police)."

While the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation conducts an investigation on the fatal shooting, Officer Anderson is currently on paid leave.

Mark Collins, the attorney representing both Anderson and former Columbus police officer Adam Coy, who shot and killed Andre Hill , told ABC6, “The human eye captures things differently than a body camera. There are different angles and stuff like that. But tactically everything that was done prior is sound. Everything that was done was by his training. Sometimes they are in a situation where they have to make a split-second decision. And in this situation, Anderson believed what he saw was a gun, and so that is why he fired because he believed his life was in danger,”

“Of course, he was mistaken, that it was not a gun. But was that mistake reasonable and the Supreme Court cases and the jury instructions give deference to police officers in these types of situations because all across America everyday officers are in those situations."

In part of Elliott asking Chief Bryant to take action in reforming Columbus police, Elliot questioned why police officers were serving the warrant after 2 a.m., “First of all, I’d like to know why in the world they’re executing warrants at 2 o'clock in the morning?” He said, “The reality is that felony warrants are executed every day in daylight hours. There was absolutely no reason for this to have been served in the middle of the night like it was.”

In addition to saying this, Elliot touches upon officers not understanding why serving a warrant in this manner in an “underserved neighborhood” is not ideal. Officers are still being prosecuted in connection with the death of Breonna Taylor, who died two years ago after police were able to obtain a “no-knock” warrant that permitted them to access Breonna’s home after midnight, when she was asleep with her boyfriend. Unaware of who was in the apartment, Breonna’s boyfriend let off the first shot and police responded, resulting in Breonna’s death, which began in a manner similar to Lewis’.

“Donovan Lewis was 20 years old at the time of his utterly, senseless death,” said Elliot, “How many more lives are gonna be lost to this type of reckless activity? How many more Black lives will be lost…before our leaders do enough to put a stop to these barbaric killings?"

 Jan. 12, 2021

It's Not Over: As Video Champions New Attacks, Biden-Harris Inauguration to Be Held Outside
By Hazel Trice Edney

The Confederate flag, the symbol of racial hatred and White supremacy, was among the insurrectionist paraphernalia carried into the U. S. Capitol on Jan. 6. PHOTO: Hamil Harris/Trice Edney News Wire

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - A futuristic video circulating on social media early this week features the voice of President Donald Trump calling for a “Day of Reawakening” on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, 2021.

The three-minute video, which features images of people dressed in Trump t-shirts, hats and other paraphernalia concludes with the apparent voice of Donald Trump encouraging them to not be afraid and saying that “God will protect you.”

This kind of rhetoric has heated up since the Jan. 6 violent insurrection in which thousands of vastly White Trump supporters showed up at the U. S. Capitol where thousands rioted, vandalized and assaulted police officers. Five people died as a result of the riot; including a Capitol Police officer, Brian Sicknick, who died from injuries he received while fighting off insurgents. Another officer, Howard Liebengood, died by suicide three days after the riot.

Widespread reports, including from NBC and CNN, say the FBI has warned of more likely terrorist attacks, insurrections and riots leading up to the presidential inauguration and on that day, Jan. 20. These riots are being planned for all 50 capital cities as well as the U. S. Capitol.

President Biden says he will still hold the inauguration outside of the Capital despite continued threats. A possible 15,000 National Guard troops are expected to guard the Capitol during the ceremony. People are being encouraged to watch the swearing in on television.

Meanwhile, Congressional Democrats and some Republicans are moving ahead with the impeachment of Trump for the charge, “Incitement of insurrection” for his verbal encouragement that resulted in the rioters storming the Capitol. He would be the first U. S. president to be impeached twice. Trump has repeatedly told his supporters the lie that his election “was stolen” from them.

Members of Congress may also face punishment for their words that day, namely Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who doubled down on Trumps lie, claiming the election was stolen and led the vote against the certification of the Biden-Harris election. Some members of Congress insist that to also have been insurrection, which the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, Section 3, cites as a reason for expulsion from the seats they hold.

The Fourteenth Amendment states: “No Person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”

The “Day of Reawakening” video went dead shortly after the social media website, Parler, was taken offline on Monday. Twitter and Facebook also shut down President Donald Trump’s accounts, blocking tens of millions of his followers. But tech experts believe these actions will simply drive Trump supporters and possible rioters to other more obscure platforms where law enforcement investigators can not easily track and monitor their organizational activities.

A string of arrests has taken place since Monday, mainly of people involved in the Capitol break in and the threats on the lives of members of Congress, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who they threatened to shoot, and also threats against the life of Vice President Mike Pence, who they threatened to hang for certifying the Electoral College confirmation of the Biden-Harris election. At least two Capitol police officers have been suspended and about 10 others are under investigation for their apparent involvement in the insurrection.

Black leaders around the country, are calling for Trump’s immediate removal. They are also raising questions about why the Capitol Police and other law enforcement agencies were not better prepared and more aggressive against the perpetrators as they have been against Black Lives Matter protestors.

“What we are witnessing at this moment is the manifestation and culmination of reckless leadership, a pervasive misuse of power, and anarchy. This is not protesting or activism; this is an insurrection, an assault on our democracy, and a coup incited by President Trump,” said NAACP President Derrick Johnson during the insurrection Jan. 6. “We must not allow President Trump to continue to place our nation in peril. The NAACP calls for President Trump’s impeachment so that he will never again be able to harm our beloved country, and more importantly, its people.”

Jan. 11, 2021

White Terrorism - The Enemy Within Must be Dismantled
By Dr. Barbara Reynolds

(TriceEdneyWire.com) - The mob in the streets, the Republican mob in the Senate, and assorted police are partners in the coup at the Capitol.

The glue holding this band of brothers together is black disenfranchisement and a pledge to white Supremacy. Remember Tulsa, the Black Wall Street massacre of 1921. Police deputized white thugs to destroy this black town, burn and lynch hundreds of black people because they were gaining economic and political security. The courts never punished them for their crimes. In the 1960s, civil rights activists knew they were fighting the Klan, who often took their sheets off and donned police uniforms.

In like manner, the white terrorists who took part in the insurrection at the Capitol were almost treated like they had been invited to a tea party. Thousands of angry Trumpers were gathering and marching toward the Capitol. No large platoons of police were present, but when much smaller groups of Black Lives Matter protested peacefully well-armed police were everywhere. Moreover, there were scores of detailed plans on the Internet flaunting the mobs’ anger at those who would not go along with the Big Lie of Trump winning the presidency.

Inside the Capitol with the terrorists chanting slogans about murdering Vice President Pence and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and with scores of legislators cornered, massive numbers of police were missing in action. The protestors showed no fear of the police during or after the assault, even though no similar assault on the Capitol had occurred since the British burned it in 1812. While some overpowered Capitol police fought valiantly, there were also reports of some taking selfies with the rioters.

So, we are supposed to believe that Washington, the home of the world’s most powerful governmental body and the most powerful military presence could not have prevented the assault nor arrested the rioters on the spot. . One FBI official said his hands were tied in monitoring the mobs’ actions because legislatively they were not considered “terrorists.” Yet reports show the FBI had no problems playing a role in neutralizing and killing scores of Black Panthers, as well as playing a role in the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,

When the smoke of this disgrace clears, the same old demons will be found. Trump, the mob and the GOP Trumpers are fighting to maintain white privilege and supremacy. They understand that in the recent elections black voters rescued America from a corrupt, evil empire, where black and brown people are rising in influence and representation. So, the bloody war is on, where five people, including a capitol police officer were murdered, joining the hundreds of black people who have been killed by white cops and protected by white legislators.

Unless this band of brotherhood is broken, much more bloodshed will follow. Security, no doubt will be efficiently organized to protect President Biden and Vice President Harris. But will the police be there if the white terrorists, who the President called “patriots,” turn their attention to black voters, churches, and their communities. It is time white America look in the mirror and see what is rising in their backgrounds.

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