Page A2
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April 09, 2003
P olice
Race Riot Murder
Defendant Enters Plea
by M arc C
L evy
A ssociated P ress W riter
YORK, Pa. (A P) — A w hite
man charged in the 1969 m urder
o f a young black w om an during
the c ity ’s convulsive race riots
pleaded no contest W ednesday
to attem pted m urder and con­
spiracy.
Ezra T. Slick, 53, en­
tered the plea over his
role in the slaying o f
Lillie Belle A llen, o f
Aiken, S.C., at the hands
o f a w hite mob girded
for war w ith blacks. His
case was the only one
pending in A lle n 's slay­
ing.
Speaking with the aid o f an
artificial voice box. Slick told York
C ounty C om m on Pleas Judge
John C. Uhler he thought he would
be convicted if he w ent to trial.
Slick’s lawyer, Rick Robinson,
said Slick entered a no-contest
plea because he was too intoxi­
cated to rem em ber clearly what
happened the night Allen was
gunned down.
Uhler accepted Slick’sp lea and
scheduled sentencing for May
28. Slick faces up to nine years in
prison.
In a 2002 interview with police.
Slick said he tired a handgun four
tim es in the direction o f the car in
which Allen and four family mem-
ficer in 1969, was acquitted by the
sam e jury. He had been accused
o f inciting w hites to violence
ag ain st blacks and supplying
am m unition to w hite gang m em ­
bers.
The riots raged for 10 days,
le a v in g tw o d e a d , d o z e n s
---------
w ounded and w hole
blocks burned before
400 state troopers and
national guards with
tanks arrived to quell
the violence.
A lle n , 2 7, w as
gunned down on the
fifth day o f rioting.
— prosecutorThomas Kelley
Three days before,
a rookie w hite police­
bers were riding, according to po­ man, Henry Schaad. was fatally
lice affidavits.
shot during the riots w hile he was
( )f the 10 white men charged with patrolling a black neighborhood
m urder in the case, six others in an a rm o re d p o lic e tru ck .
pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Schaad, 22, died two weeks later.
Two men, Robert Messersmithand
Tw o black men, Leon W right
Gregory Neff, were convicted in and Stephen Freeland, were co n ­
October o f second-degree murder victed last m onth o f second-de­
and sentenced in December.
gree m urder in that slaying and
F o rm e r
M a y o r C h a rlie w ere scheduled to be sentenced
Robertson, who was a police of­ this month.
The primary
culprits in this
have brought to
justice.
I
'
CRIME STOPPEBS
(5 0 3 ) 8 23 HELP 111S.W . 2nd Avenue, Portland, Oregon 9 7 2 0 4
Clackam as Cat Burglar A lludes Capture
D etectives are seeking the
p u b lic’s help in apprehending a
cat burglar who is believed re­
sponsible for at least 20 night­
tim e burglaries in a southeast
Portland apartm ent com m unity
w h ich in c lu d e s W ate rm a rk
Square, Clackamas Village, Over­
look and Easton Ridge between
Dec. 20 and M arch 24.
This suspect is targeting both
first and second level apartments.
He enters unlocked, sliding glass
doors or unlocked, front doors
between midnight and 5 a.in. He
steals purses, removes cash and
d isp o s e s th e p u rse in are a
dumpsters.
C la c k a m a s
S heriff's Office
warns that resi­
dents should be
sure to lock all
doors and win­
dows, even to up­
per level apart­
ments. An inte­
rior light should
be kept on to de­
ter potential bur­
glars.
A victim who interrupted one
burglary was able to give enough
information for a forensic sketch.
The suspect is described as a white
male, 15-20 years ofage, 5 foot-7 to
A forensic sketch shows
what the Clackamas cat
burglar may look like. A
witness described his as
a white male, 15-20
years ofage, 5 0 7 0 9 ",
with a slender build, no
facial hair, pale complex-
ibn with a youthful
appearance.
9 inches tall, slender build, no
facial hair, pale complexion and
with a youthful appearance.
Police said he was wearing a
dark hooded sweatshirt pulled up
over his head.
Man Wanted for Multiple Robberies
Suspect targets
businesses that
cater to women
or have women
working alone
The suspect appears to be re­
sponsible for more than a dozen
robberies over the past year. The
Beaverton Police, Gresham Police
and theClackamasC'ounty Sheriff's
Office have also taken similar rob­
bery reports.
The suspect usually enters a
b u sin ess eith er ju s t b efo re it
Portland Police, in cooperation closes or ju st after it opens. In all
with Crime Stoppers, are asking robberies the suspect displays or
for help in identifying and appre­ sim ulates a handgun.
The latest robbery occurred
hending an armed robbery sus­
pect targets small businesses on W ednesday, March 12 at ap ­
such as tanning parlors, beauty proximately 8:35 p.m. at a tanning
salons, clothing boutiques and salon in the 200 block o f N orth­
others that traditionally cater to w est 21st Avenue. In this case
female clientele and often have a there were two female em ployees
female employee working alone. and the suspect disabled their
telephone.
The suspect, w ho appears to
be in his m id to late 20s, is d e­
scribed as being either Hispanic,
with a very light com plexion, or
possibly o f H ispanic/Caucasian
mix. He is roughly 5 foot 4 inches
to 5 foot 8 inches tall with a
“stocky” build and a noticeable
“ beer b elly.”
Police say he has “almond-
sh ap ed ” eyes and extrem ely
smooth looking skin that has been
described as almost “baby like.”
At the time o f the latest rob­
bery, he had scratches on the right
side o f his face that the victims
described as so fresh they ap­
peared to still be bleeding.
( rime stoppers is offering a cash reward o f up to $1,000fo r information, reported to Crime Stoppers,
which leads to an arrest in this case, or any unsolved felony crime. Call Crime Stoppers at 5(13-823-
HEEP.
Springfield Man Charged for H ate C rim e
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OREGON
CAN
Woman of Sikh
faith felt she was
targeted because
of her appearance
dex fingers at her,
p re te n d in g
to
shoot, said Pam
Olshanski, police
spokeswoman.
Cohen said he
- Springfield Police Chief Thad Buchanan In
was merely giving
the case of a man who allegedly approached
(AP)
A man in Springfield a “w h at'su p ” ges-
the car of a woman in a turban, pointed his
near Eugene was charged with a ture. Police Chief fingers and pretended to shoot
hate crime for gesturing at a woman Thad B uchanan
said, but the woman felt her appear­ months.
1
wearing a turban.
"As soon as the Eugene police
Jeffrey Marc Cohen, ance precipitated the attack.
“Obviously, she was terrified," department provides us with the ,
28, was charged last week
he
said.
details o f the investigation, w e’re
with harassment after he
Kent Mortimore, chief deputy g o in g to see w h eth er th e re 's
pulled up next to the
woman o f Sikh faith on district attorney, said bias crimes enough evidence to support a pros­
Monday, approached her are typically prosecuted as intimi­ ecution,” Mortimore said. “ If there
car and pointed both in- dation, with sentences o f up to 30 is, w e’ll go for it.”
“ Obviously,
she was terrified
Drivers Ticketed for Honking at Protesters
Honking for anything other
than an emergency is illegal
(AP)
Four motorists who honked in sup­
port o f an anti-war vigil across from City Hall
were ticketed at least $77 apiece, police said.
UnderOregon law, honking for anything other
than an emergency is illegal. Honkingat thecamp
is considered “excessive noise,” said traffic Cmdr.
MikeGarvey.
Outraged residents o f the peace camp, a 14-
day-old vigil o f lawn chairs, sleeping bags and
signs, said they see the ticketing as selective
enforcement o f a law that almost everyone breaks.
Police haven’t ticketed motorists honking at
“support the troops" and pro-war rallies, but that
doesn't mean officers are taking sides, Garvey
said.
Shortly after the media began inquiries about
the tickets, police ended the practice.
Court Upholds Cross Burning Ban
(AP)
The Supreme Court ruled Monday
The ruling seemed at odds with past Supreme
that states can punish Ku Klux Klansmen and Court decisions that protected the constitutional
others who set crosses afire, finding that a burn­ speech rights o f unsavory or unpopular groups
ing cross is an instrument o f racial terror so and causes, including flag burners, pomogra-
threatening that it overshadows free speech phers and strippers, and people who use swasti­
concerns.
kas or crosses in demonstrations.
The court voted 6-3 to uphold a 50-year-old
"This is an emotional topic for everyone," said
Virginia law making it a crime to bum a cross as New York free speech lawyer Floyd Abrams,
an act o f intimidation. A lowercourt had ruled the noting the cross-burning ties to racist violence.
law muzzled free speech.
"The ruling is nonetheless a defeat for First
Justice Sandra Day O 'Connor, writing for the Amendment principles.”
majority, said the protections afforded by the
Virginia Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore
First Amendment “are not absolute" and do not predicted the decision would prompt more states
necessarily shield cross burners.
to outlaw cross burning.
Justice Clarence Thomas, the court’s only
“A burning cross is a symbol like no other. It
black m emberand a law-and-order conservative doesn’t just say we don't like you. The message
who frequently departs from civil rights ortho­ is we are going to do you harm," Kilgore said.
doxy, wrote separately that “those who hate
Thomas grew up in then-segregated Georgia.
cannot terrorize and intimidate to make their During arguments in the case, he spoke of a century
point."
of violence and terror at the hands of the Kian.
I
r