Linda McConnell © News In a protest Monday against the handling of the Paul Childs case, marchers John McBride, Alvertis Simmons, the Rev. Willie Simmons and Al Smith, left to right, link arms as they head to Denver Police headquarters. Demonstrators called for the badge of the officer who shot the 15-year-old in July.

No arrests made; four organizers get low-level tickets

By Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News
October 21, 2003

A crowd that grew to about 250 gathered outside Denver Police headquarters Monday to demand the badge of the officer who killed a developmentally disabled 15-year-old boy when he wouldn't drop a knife.

Several protesters - who yelled "No justice, no peace - who's watching the police?" and "baby killers" - taunted officers who watched over the demonstration, which remained peaceful.

No one was arrested, but organizers Alvertis Simmons, the Rev. Willie Simmons, Shareef Aleem and John McBride were ticketed after they sat in front of the headquarters' doors and refused to leave.

Officers took the four inside - to boos, cackles and hisses of protesters - where they were cited with misdemeanor counts of disobedience and loitering. They were released within 20 minutes.

The demonstration was prompted by Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter's announcement last week there wasn't enough evidence to file criminal charges against Officer James Turney, who killed Paul Childs at his Thrill Place home on July 5.

Childs' sister had called 911 to tell police that her brother had threatened their mother with a knife. A few minutes later, Turney entered the house, and when the boy wouldn't drop the knife, he fired his gun.

Turney is on paid administrative leave while police continue an internal investigation. The demonstrators, calling themselves the All Peoples' Party, want Turney to be fired, said Alvertis Simmons, a longtime community activist.

"People in this community are extremely upset," Simmons said. "They want something done and they want it done now."

Mayor John Hickenlooper greeted the demonstrators, who gathered outside the Denver City and County Building on Bannock Street before marching around the corner to police headquarters on Cherokee Street. Hickenlooper said he wants community input into shaping police procedures, a process he hopes will happen quickly but not hastily.

Paul Childs' mother, Helen Childs, attended the demonstration, wearing a white T-shirt that read "Paul Nash Childs III" above a school picture of the boy smiling. She stood next to her daughter, Ashley, who rested her head on her mother's shoulder as speakers talked about Paul Childs and the man who killed him.

"I feel sad about the decision," said Childs, of Ritter's finding. "I just want justice. What would that be? For officer Turney (to be) fired. He took my son."

Leona Shabazz, a Denver mother of four children ages 6 to 15, attended the demonstration to support a mother who lost a son.

The day Paul Childs died, Shabazz heard news reports of a young, black male who had been shot by police and thought it might have been her oldest.

"I felt her pain," she said. "I thought it was my son and I started to pray. That's the reason I wanted to offer my condolences. I felt a connection to her."

Not everyone at the rally wanted Turney stripped of his badge.

Retired police officers Debbie Claire and Denise Montgomery stood nearby holding signs that read: "We support the brave men and women of the Denver Police Department."

Sisters Claire of Denver and Montgomery of Ohio were heckled by rally participants.

Attorney Timothy Rastello, who represents the Childs family, has said their legal team will soon review information related to the case and hopes to file a civil rights lawsuit in federal court against Turney by the end of the year.

Additionally, the legal team - including attorney Johnnie Cochran, who gained fame when he represented O.J. Simpson during his murder trial - will consider a similar suit against the police department and the city.

In the wake of the boy's death, several community activists and black leaders have urged a long list of policy and procedural changes at the Denver Police Department, specifically in how officers are trained.

Among other things, Rastello said, the family wants directives telling officers to use the "least lethal" means to subdue people.

In addition, City Council President Elbra Wedgeworth has asked U.S. Attorney John Suthers for a federal investigation into the shooting and may find out later this week whether that will happen, she said.

Olveraj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5113.

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