îl’f ^lortlanh CObscrUer HOUSING special edition
Page 4
A p r il 6. 2011
Direct from Defense of Labor in Wisconsin
Union leader to
rally for justice
in Portland
Mahlon Mitchell, a young Afri­
can American fire fighter union
leader from Madison, Wise., will
be the featured speaker at a Jobs
with Justice and Campaign for
Workers Rights march and rally,
Saturday, April 16 at noon at
Pioneer C ourthouse Square,
downtown.
Mitchell, president of the Pro­
fessional Fire Fighters of Wis­
consin, has been the public face
of the protest against Gov. Scott
Walker's attack on Wisconsin
public employees.
The Portland march and rally
will be in the spirit of Wisconsin
- family friendly and strong in
spirit with excellent visuals, orga­
nizers said.
Mitchell, when talking about
why he led the firefighters into
the Wisconsin capitol to protest
Walker’s proposal to outlaw col­
lective bargaining rights for state
em ployees,
said
“W hen
firefighters see an emergency,
we respond.”
In Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana
and across the country, working
people are fighting back. Here in
Oregon many local unions are
facing attacks in their efforts to
Mahlon Mitchell
bargain a fair contract. Those
unions and the community are
rising up together for Saturday’s
rally to tell their elected represen­
tatives that they will not stand
silent.
The March and Rally for Good
Jobs, Not Cuts is sponsored by
over 60organizations ranging from
Portland Jobs with Justice, the
Oregon AFL-CIO to the Rural Or­
ganizing Project and the Ainsworth
United Church of Christ.
Excessive
Force
Review
Seattle police
face questions
over tactics
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The U.S. Justice Department
is investigating allegations that
Seattle's police officers routinely
use excessive force on suspects
after a string of violent incidents
mostly involving minorities in the
Pacific Northwest city.
Seattle police have been cap­
tured on camera in several vio­
lent confrontations with black
and Hispanic residents over the
past few years. The shooting
and killing of native American
woodcarver John Williams by a
Seattle police officer last Au­
gust brought local concern about
police tactics to a head.
A Seattle Police report said the
officer who shot Williams, who
was carrying a knife, acted out­
side the department's "policy, tac­
tics and training," but the officer is
not facing criminal charges.
The Justice Department said
on Thursday it has opened "a
pattern or practice investigation"
into the allegations that Seattle
police have been using excessive
force and discriminatory policing
practices, which are outlawed
under several statutes, including
the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Justice Department said
it will "seek to determine whether
there are systemic violations of
the Constitution or federal law
by officers of the Seattle Police
Department."
The departm ent has taken
similar steps in jurisdictions such
as New York, Ohio, New Jer­
sey, Pennsylvania, the District
of Columbia and California.