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Denver Post
200 march in police protest
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 - More than 200 demonstrators marched on Denver police headquarters Monday, demanding that an officer be fired for fatally shooting a 15- year-old mentally disabled boy.
Some in the crowd hurled insults at police officers, and four protest leaders were issued summonses for blocking the entrance to the police building. Demonstrators called for the badge of Officer James Turney, who remains on paid administrative leave while an internal police investigation into the July 5 shooting of Paul Childs continues. The march was prompted by last week's decision by District Attorney Bill Ritter not to charge Turney. Mayor John Hickenlooper talked with protesters for a short time outside the Denver City and County Building before they continued to the police building a block away. Hickenlooper said he was walking a "very fine line," but it was "important" to talk with the protesters. "There are people here who are very concerned" about Childs' shooting death and other recent police shootings, Hickenlooper said. "I want people to see I'm concerned." It is crucial that the city, its Police Department and the community work together to "focus on preventing" as many police shootings as possible, the mayor said. "One is too many, but I'm not saying we can avoid them all," Hickenlooper said. So far this year, Denver police have shot and killed eight people. Monday's march, which remained peaceful, marked one of the biggest demonstrations on police issues seen in the city in years. Police were called to Childs' home by a family member and found the teenager holding a knife with an 8 1/2-inch blade. Turney ordered Childs to drop the knife and shot the boy when he didn't comply, according to a report by the Denver district attorney's office. Childs was legally blind, suffered grand mal seizures and had developmental and learning disabilities. He was not on his medication and was recovering from a recent seizure. Those facts were never given to police at the scene, according to the district attorney's report. Turney had contact with the boy before the day of the shooting. Helen Childs, the boy's mother, was among the protesters Monday. She wore blue shorts and a white T-shirt with a photographic image of her son and the words: "Paul Childs III - In loving memory." "I just want justice," she said. Childs said she was angry about the district attorney's decision not to file criminal charges. But on Monday, she was "happy because of all the people that are down here for my support." Many protesters carried signs, including some that read, "The police are not judges and jury. We the people are," and "The DA equals K.K.K." Childs was African-American. Turney is of white and Asian heritage. Some of the protesters claimed that the shooting was racially motivated. The group that marched on the Police Department was racially diverse. As protesters marched, they chanted, "They say get back, we say fight back," and "No justice, no peace." The protest was a way for the public to voice its anger without breaking the law, said Alvertis Simmons, a community activist and march organizer. "It kept the city from being burnt up," Simmons said. Simmons was among four people who received a summons and were briefly detained for loitering and failure to obey a police order. Police Chief Gerry Whitman said he expects the internal investigation into Childs' shooting to wrap up shortly. The police could decide to discipline Turney. |