Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 3 July 2003 — Page 16

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Page 16 • The Muncie Times • July 3, 2003

TO BE EQUAL

NY police killings of two blacks arouse community concerns

By Marc H. Morial One can say, with nearly absolute certainty, that Alberta Spruill and Ousmane Zongo, despite both being residents of Harlem in New York City, were two people whose paths would probably never have crossed. It was not the differences in their ages: Ms. Spruill was 57, Mr. Zongo was 35. Nor their nationalities: Ms. Spruill was bom in the United States of America, while Mr. Zongo had come to the United States several years ago from his native Burkina Faso, in West Africa. No. Their paths would not likely have crossed because, according to those who knew each of them, they had similar personalities. They were individuals who, while friendly toward those they ‘ • knew, they tended to keep to themselves. Ms. Spcuill’s sister told •-U. The New York Times that, "She was a churchgoing person who went to work everyday and minded her own business." Friends of Mr. Zongo said ■* he was a quiet, gentle man who worked tirelessly to send money back to his wife, two young children and mother in Burkina Faso. Now, tragically, Alberta Spruill and Ousmane Zongo

also have something else in common. Although they lived all their lives decently, quietly and within the boundaries of the law, both of them died recently because of the actions of New York City police officers. As a result, for some, their deaths have rekindled memories of the troubled period in New York City in the late 1990s, when incidents involving the brutal police assault on Abner Louima and police killings of Armadou Diallo and Patrick Dorismond underscored a chasm of mistrust that African Americans in New York and elsewhere had towards police. Ms. Spruill died on the morning of May 16, after a small task force of heavily armed New York City police officers, with a no-knock search warrant, used a battering ram and a concussion grenade, smashed their way into her apartment. Police officials were acting on a drug informant’s tip that a drug supplier was keeping a stash of drugs and guns, protected by attac v dogs, in there. Ms. Spruill, who was about to leave for her city government job, was briefly handcuffed, before police realized their error. Once she told them she had a

heart condition, police called for an ambulance, although she initially declined medical attention. In the ambulance, she went into cardiac arrest. She was pronounced dead at nearby Harlem Hospital Center. How Mr. Zongo came to die at the hands of the police is also equally baffling. On May 22, Mr. Zongo had gone to the huge, personal items storage facility hard by the Hudson River, in Manhattan, where numerous African immigrants operated, on the first floor, an open bazaar. The bazaar specializes in carved masks, stools and other pieces of African art. Mr. Zongo’s specialty was repairing damaged items. That morning, a small New York City police task force, hunting for traffickers in counterfeit CDs, burst into the facility and raided two storage lockers on the warehouse's upper floors. One was on the sixth floor. Another was on the third floor, where Mr. Zongo's storage compartment, which he used as a workshop, was. The police collared the two men they had sought and left the third floor, leaving one of their members to guard the storage locker containing counterfeit CDs. The police officer, as usual, was armed. Mr. Zongo was, as always,

unarmed. For the moment, the police account is that, according to the officer who shot Mr. Zongo, the two men encountered each other. In circumstances that remain unclear, the officer fired five times at Mr. Zongo, with four bullets striking the victim. He died that evening at a nearby hospital. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and New York City Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly were quick to offer their condolences to the two bereaved families. The two men also said both incidences will be fully investigated. In the case of Ms. Spruil's death, city officials have clearly said the raid resulted from mistakes that should never have happened. Bloomberg also-went to Ms. Spruill's church pulpit in Harlem and said, "At least in this case, existing (police) practices failed. As mayor, I failed to protect someone." In the case of Mr. Zongo's

Hugh B. Price President National , Urban League

death, city officials said they will conduct a thorough investigation to determine exactly what happened. But some activists, including the Rev. A1 Sharpton, are calling for a special prosecutor to investigate both tragedies. This seems unlikely. But there's no question that these stunning incidents, in which two innocent people died at the hands of police officers, deserve the most concentrated attention of city officials--and of the citizenry. A question that the Rev. Sharpton posed in the aftermath of both deaths needs to be calmly and fully answered: "Can mistakes happen?" he said. "Yes. Why have mistakes only happened on one side of town?" Marc H. Morial is president and CEO of the National Urban League. You can write to him at To Be Equal, 120 Wall St., New York City, NY 10005.