Activists, Webb rip flier advocating violence toward cops

By Lynn Bartels And Sarah Huntley, Rocky Mountain News
July 11, 2003

Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, community activists, a councilwoman and a group of black ministers on Thursday denounced an anonymous flier that encourages shooting cops, apparently in retaliation for police killing a black teenager last week.

"This is not what Denver is about. This is not what Denver does. We will not be distracted by those who try to separate the community and make Denver different than it is," Webb said. "There's a right way to do things and a wrong way. We're not going to let anyone destroy the city or try to take the law into their own hands."

The flier comes on the heels of what Police Chief Gerry Whitman called a "rumor" that someone was going to make a bogus 911 call and the responding officer would be gunned down in revenge.

Whitman said police have no idea whether the flier or the 911 tip are credible, but they did inform officers.

"The message is to stay calm, do your job and stay safe. It's really the same message we always have," the chief said.

The Greater Metro Denver Ministerial Alliance has been critical of Denver police since an officer last Saturday shot and killed 15-year- old Paul Childs, a developmentally disabled high school student.

But ministers also were upset with the flier, which used words cut from newspaper headlines to say "shoot cops in streets."

The flier, which began circulating Thursday, features a cutout of an officer in riot gear and two young black men.

It also says "all out against the racist Denver police!" and provides information on Thursday night's vigil in memory of Childs.

Officials briefly discussed canceling the vigil because of possible violence, but it went on as scheduled.

Alvertis Simmons, a local organizer of the Million Man March who coordinated the vigil, called the flier "some kind of foolishness."

"We're asking for calm. We're asking for peace. We're asking for justice," Simmons said.

The flier contains a published quote from the Rev. Paul Martin, pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church, who had said after Childs' death that the community needs to "go on the offense instead of always being on the defense."

He was talking about the number of fatal police shootings involving young black men.

Martin was outraged by the flier, saying his comments were misused and that he was not referring to violence against police.

"We are at the point in our community where we are tired of reacting. That's all I meant by that statement," Martin said Thursday. "We need to work it out not by violence, as this flier indicates, but by constructive dialogue."

Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth, who represents the neighborhood where the shooting occurred, said Childs' death is a "very tragic occurrence."

But Wedgeworth tore up the flier. "This will not be tolerated," she said. "This is not what we are about. We are a community."

Residents of Childs' neighborhood were also critical. Phillip Joseph, a mortgage broker, called the fliers counterproductive to the demands that the black community is seeking from the police department.

"Violence with violence is not going to solve anything," Joseph, 43, said outside the Hiawatha Davis Recreation Center where Childs sometimes played basketball.

Nonetheless, Joseph said it is important to alleviate the pain, fear and frustration that young black men carry with them. The way to ease that tension, he said, is to fire James Turney, the police officer who shot Childs.

"That kid should be alive today," said Joseph, who has four grandchildren.

"They need to sit these officers down and get them some counseling," Joseph said. "They're human just like we are. That officer had to have something else on his mind for him to shoot that kid. That's frustration, that's anger that's boiled up inside him to shoot that kid."

Toks Olagbegi, 25, who was in northeast Denver passing out fliers demanding change in police policies, echoed the frustration and anger felt by teenagers. But Olagbegi also criticized the fliers advocating violence.

"Two wrongs don't make a right," he said.

However, Olagbegi said teenagers who are arrested, but then see that Turney still is receiving pay after the shooting are frustrated.

"Changes need to be made (in the police department). They have too much power," he said.

Several officers, including Detective Dave Neil and Sgt. Ron Thomas, president of an organization of black Denver police officers, were upset about the flier.

"It's unfortunate someone feels the need to enrage the community when it's already hurting," Neil said. "They (the flier's authors) want to try to make it bleed some more."

It's unclear how many fliers were distributed, but after police received one they began copying it and showing it to their bosses and colleagues. By late afternoon, even officers in other metro agencies had received copies.

The mayor, at an earlier news conference, repeated his pledge for a thorough investigation of Childs' death and appropriate action.

"You can't bring somebody back," Webb said. "But you can make sure that it doesn't happen again. . . . We want to see justice done. We want to know what happened, and why did the officer fire?

"The community has to know the investigation was impartial." And if "the city is at fault, the city has an obligation" to admit it, he said.

Copyright 2003, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.