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PORTLAND OBSERVER
tmdbtnierz 3
Volume XV, Number 26
April 24, 1986
25C Copy
Two Sections
US'S ■« w «
Witnesses,participants
dispute 7-11 death facts
by Lamta Duke
Tuesday, at a joint press conference/community
forum, an overflow crowd of community members
vocalized their outrage over the death of Lloyd Stev
enson With what can oniy be looked on as 'respon
sible leadership.” Ron Herndon and Rev John
Jackson, co-chairs of the Black United Front, and
Herb Cawthorne. executive director of Portland's
Urban League, assured the community that every
thing possible will be done to get to the bottom of
this tragedy
IPhoto Richard J Brown!
'Peace, Justice/ chant4,000
by Robert Lothian
An estimated 4,000 people marched
through the sunlit streets o f down
town Seattle Saturday, waving ban
ners and chanting slogans in protest
o f the Reagan Adm inistration’ s p o li
cies on South A frica, Central Am er
ica and the economy.
"Peace,
Jobs
and
Justice,”
"Smash the Racist Apartheid Re
gim e," “ Sandino Vive — No Aid to
the C ontras," and "O n Strike
Against Alaska A irlines," read some
o f the banners.
Led by a blue banner with a white
dove, and with 15' high puppets bob
bing above the crowd, the march
stretched for about 10 blocks as it
moved from the Seattle federal Build
ing to the Federal Courthouse.
Marches in Los Angeles, San Fran
cisco, Washington, D.C ., Seattle,
and other cities drew thousands for
the largest protest o f Reagan’ s admin
istration policies in Reagan’s second
term. Jesse Jackson gave the key
note speech in Washington.
" I haven’ t s«n a demonstration
this big in Seattle in years and years,"
said a shopowner along Saturday’s
parade route Nearby, a man in a
gold-colored Mercedes waiting for the
march to pass apparently became
irate and got into an altercation with
march security people
A, the Courthouse, those who
may have become tired were picked
up on their f « t again by the Total
Experience Gospel C hoir's soullul
renditions o f " A in ’t Gonna Study
War No M o re ," and "W e Shall Over
come.” Children in aprons moved
through the crowd selling "Free
South A fric a " buttons A Nicaraguan
singer, Oscar de la Rocha, also en
tertained.
Noticeable among the speakers
and protest leaders were people o f
color, women and labor activists.
They emphasized the connections
between problems in South A frica,
Central America, the Middle East and
domestic budget cuts.
" I come to you as a Black woman
on behalf o f my sisters and brothers
o f c o lo r," said Linda Taylor, acting
director o f the Seattle Office o f W o
men's Rights. Taylor decried Rea
gan’ s social welfare policies which she
said have “ 13 m illion women locked
in poverty," which have caused re
duced wages and medicaid benefits,
cuts in aid to dependent children,
Marchers gathered Saturday at Seattle s Courthouse 4.000 strong to
protest Reagan Administration policies on foreign affairs and the aeon
omy Here they are singing. "We Shall Overcome."
(Photo: Bill Collins)
and cuts in low income housing
funds.
fayez Mohammed, representing
the Palestine Solidarity Committee o f
Portland, said U S. support o f Israel
includes underwriting 51 percent ol
Israel's military budget That made
possible the Israeli invasion o f I eba
non in 1982, he said, and continues to
make possible the Israeli occupation
o f Palestinian lands. " I t is also mak
ing possible the apartheid regime in
South A fric a ," he said
Gerald Lenoir o f the Seattle C oali
tion Against Apartheid spoke o f “ the
new era o f resistance unparalleled in
South African histo ry." The United
Democratic Front has drawn together
3 m illion people and many South
African Black organizations in the
resistance, said Lenoir, who spoke in
front o f a green, yellow and red ban
net that said, "Divest Now!, Free
South A fric a ."
Referring to violence in which hun
dreds have died, Lenoir said that
"Events in South A frica have un
covered for all the world to s « that
all the talk o f reform is just that. . .
ta lk ." As long as representation in
government is denied Blacks, the re
sistance and violence w ill continue,
said Lenoir.
"T e ll me, what is so constructive
about constructive engagement?,"
he said.
Lenoir informed the crowd o f ef
forts to remove Seattle’s honorary
South African consul, Joseph Swing
Over 200 people have been arrested
since weekly protests began in De
cember, he said "W e ’ll be out there
'til he’s gone,” said Lenoir.
A woman from the Machinists U n
ion in Seattle described her union’s
strike against Alaska Airlines. "W e
are mad as hell, and we are here to
tell you that we’ re going to fight back”
against what she described as a union-
busting drive led by multi-national
corporations.
Nita Burggerman, a leader o f the
Amalgamated Clothing and Textile
Workers in Portland, called for con
version from m ilitary spending (in
cluding an estimated $1 trillio n for
Star Wars) to create jobs. "W e want
more o f what we have a right to for
ourselves and our children We want
jobs, not war,” she said.
(iR A S S R (X )T NEW S, N W —
Tony Stevenson left home Saturday
night to play video games and buy
icecream lor his fam ily. But he never
returned because he volunteered his
skills to detain a shoplifter at 7 1 1.
Either the police misunderstood or
couldn't see beyond their stereotypes
and administered a sleeper hold on
Stevenson, which resulted in his
death.
fro m eyewitness accounts and
collaboration from the police, various
members o f the comm unity have
disputed the police version o f what
occurred
“ At II :(X) I went into the 7 -11 and I
saw a Black guy hemmed up by two
clerks," said one o f our witnesses. " I l
was a citizen’s arrest and I was trip
ping because the clerk at the door
was letting people enter the store
one at a time. When I was getting
ready to leave the shoplifter ran out
Another witness confirmed what
the first witness saw Both added that
a large Black man, whom they be
lieved was Stevenson, was in the store
playing video games "T h e shoplifter
(Joseph Nelson! came out when we
did. The store clerk followed and
another one came out with a billy
club ” Our witness said the clerk
had the shoplifter up against the wall.
Stevenson, who was now outside,
told them to leave. "H e said he had
everything under control because he
had dealt with situations like this
before I got the feeling that the store
clerks knew him .”
On Sunday the 7-11 manager said a
citizen's arrest was underway, but
denied that a billy club was inside the
store "7-11 might have what hap
pened inside the store on film , be
cause the shoplilfer questioned their
authority to hold him without evi
dence The clerk told him that they
had everything on film ."
Once outside the store, events be
come less clear.
The shoplifter had been subdued
when the p o li« said they noticed an
altercation in the parking lot and
said they observed Stevenson hitting
the gas station attendant. The police
said they told Stevenson to calm down
and this is when the p o li« version
promoted by Harrington and the
macs media becomes illogical. The
police said officer Pantley positioned
himself between Stevenson and the
gas attendant.
"T h e attendant told us that Steven
son was preventing him from inter
vening in the shoplifting arrest,”
explained Jay Decker, the police bu
reau's public inform ation officer.
But that explanation makes no
sense. The shoplifter was already un
der arrest. The police said at this point
Stevenson hit O fficer Pantley. “ I
don't believe th a t," cautioned Billy
Maxey, one o f Stevenson's co
workers. " L .D . was a law and order
man from the word go. He worked
with the Portland Police all the time.
He would not hit a police o ffice r.”
Interestingly enough, Chief H ar
rington has been conspicuously silent
on the physical condition o f the o ff i
cer Stevenson supposedly hit. " I f
L.D . wanted to take someone out,
he could and you would feel it,”
Maxey added. One witness said d u r
ing the confrontation with the police,
Stevenson repeatedly stated, "Y o u
tkm ’t have to do th is !" The Black
United Front said they have reports
where bystanders told the p o li« that
they had the wrong man. "T hey saw a
Black man and a white man in an
altercation. W ithout finding out what
happened, the police jumped the
Black man. Stevenson was a trained
security officer. The police subdued
him because he wanted to be sub
dued," Maxey added.
The sleeper hold, del ended by
Chief Harrington, takes six seconds
to become effective Wby did the po
lice use it for 15 seconds? According
to Dr Ronald T. Reay, chiel medical
examiner in Seattle, Washington.
"Neckholds must be considered po
tentially lethal under any circum
stances . .it’s totally unpredictable
It must be viewed as a potentially fatal
tactic and reserved to situations which
merit its ris k ."
Did the Stevenson confrontation
deserve this hold? W'hy did the o ff i
cers keep it on for 1$ seconds when
only six were needed Were the o ff i
cers so involved in tackling Stevenson
that they refused to listen to him plea
for balance?
These questions are not being asked
by the police. However, in a public
inquest they w ill be addressed. Ronnie
Herndon and family members appeal
to the community for inform ation.
If you have any inform ation, call
221 1792.
“ His reputation for cool-headed
ness in stressful situations is impec
cable. Those who worked with him
never knew him to mistreat people,
not even individuals who struck him
while he arrested them, in contrast,
we have received various allegations
from various sources that officers
Panties and Barbour have reputa
tions for using excessive force,"
Herndon said
Stevenson's father said, " M y son
has been murdered by the police and
the people who did it arc free.”
Decker said since March, I9H4, the
steeper hold had been used 56 limes,
56 on whites and 25 on Blacks.
Penny Harrington, Portland’s Chief of Police, describes at a press
conference Monday the police version of the incident in which Lloyd
Stevenson was killed
»Photo: Richard J Brown!
Blacks ask bi-racial inquest
by Lamia Duke
GRASS R (X )T NEWS. N W —
Portland’ s Afro-Am erican commun
ity has called fo r a bi-racial inquest,
the suspension o f officers involved in
the death o f Tony Stevenson and a
permanent ban on the use o f the
carotid steeper hold.
"T o n y Stevenson did not endanger
the lives o f those involved in appre
hending the shoplifter or the lives o f
any police officer. He had no weapon.
There was absolutely no justification
for using a potentially deadly hold on
h im ," said Ronnie Herndon, co-
chair o f the Black United Front.
A poorly briefed Police Chief Pen
ny Harrington fended o ff questions
at a Monday afternoon press con
ference with a parade o f ‘ I don’ t
know s" as she stated that Officers
Gary Barbour and Bruce Pantley act
ed within bureau guidelines. However,
when pressed for details, Harrington
admitted that the p o ll« had not inter
viewed all the witnesses
" I 'm sorry she made conclusive
statements when all the evidence was
not in ,” added Herb Cawihorne,
newly designated chief executive d i
rector o f Portland’ s Urban 1 eaguc.
In his first public statement as Urban
league director, Cawthorne added
his v o i« to a choir o f concerned citi-
zens demanding the elimination o l the
sleeper hold and a bi-racial inquest.
" I t 's a horrible mistake to base
a decision upon incomplete inform a
tio n ," Herndon said criticizing H ar
rington's defense o f the officers
"T h is is a test case for Chief H a r
rington and Mayor Clark I d o n t
see this administration doing any
thing more than any other adminis
tration,” noted Rev. John Jackson,
co-chair o f the Black United Front.
Cawthorne said he, Jackson and
Herndon, met with Mayor ( lark in
the summer o f 1984 when a series
o f concerns were presented. "O n the
top o f the list was the p o li« use o f the
dum dum bullet and excessive fo rce ."
Cawihorne said now the issue before
the city is "th e use o f excessive force
which resulted in the death o f a hu
man being ”
On Tuesday morning, in a joint
press conference and community
forum , Herndon, Cawthorne, Jack-
son and John Harvey, Stevenson’s
father, arrested comm unity outrage,
bitterness and confusion over Steven
son’s death. As we went to press, a
demonstration was being held down
town at the Justice Center to protest
Stevenson’s death and to demand an
inquest. H arrington has issued a tem
porary ban on the use o f the sleeper
hold.