Richard Lyons Interview · Poem and songs · Related Sites · Brutality Across the Nation · Tow-truck driver's testimony · Fact Sheet.


LAST CHANCE FOR JUSTICE!

* CALL: Bill Lan Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General
* NUMBER: 202-514-2151
* DEMAND: Federal criminal civil-rights charges against
* ALL of the officers who brutally beat and killed
Jonny Gammage

For a sample letter to the Justice Department demanding justice, click here. Click here for more info.

Sponsored by: Pittsburgh NAACP, CCPJ, Citizens for Police Accountability, UCCAW and the Urban League
*************************************

Open Letter to Judge Mccloskey and District Attorney Zappala

A Message from Mrs. Gammage
Check the women of the CCPJ.






Infinite race.
"Killer Cops: Out of Control Around the Country" , an article by Manning Marable.

A must-see: Police riot in San Francisco

1,000's protested the Klan on Grant st. on April 5!
Reactions to Promotion of John Vojtas
Report-back from March in Washington

Coroner's Transcripts reveal 2 City Cops at the scene while Gammage was still being beat.
Reactions to the Acquital of John Vojtas
CCPJ Reports from the Vojtas Trial






Open Letter to The People of Allegheny County

From the CCPJ (Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice)


Jonny Gammage, an African-American man and cousin of Pittsburgh Steelers Ray Seals, was murdered at the hands of five police officers on Highway 51 on October 12, 1995. He was brutally beaten and his breath was crushed out of his body.

The prosecutors called as their star witness, Whitehall Police Sgt. Keith Henderson, one of the cops who participated in the murder. This cop clearly represents the defense. In testimony, he defended his actions and those of his fellow officers. Henderson painted Gammage as the aggressor, and said he would have shot him if he had had a clear view. He said his fellow officers did nothing wrong. Why is he a star witness for the prosecution?

Henderson's testimony contradicts the testimony of Frank Belajac, a tow truck driver, who testified that he saw the attack that led to Jonny Gammage's death, and that he fears retaliation by the police.

But many of us are not surprised that the DA's office would not prosecute Henderson for his crimes, nor seek felonies charges against the other four. After all, as a former Pittsburgh police officer and homicide detective, Colville has a conflictof interest in this case and his office should not be the prosecution!

What the D.A. Has Done

  • Disregarded the findings of the coroner's jury who unanimously recommended that all five cops be charged with criminal homicide.

  • Continued to use Henderson as a witness in spite of the fact that he defended the cops' actions in the pre-trial hearings.

  • Failed to charge the two city police, Lattner and Cenci, who were on the scene before Gammage died.

  • Failed to file charges against Keith Henderson and Shawn Patterson, two cops who participated.

  • Allowed for the defense to badger another of his witnesses, County coroner Cyril Wecht, without objection. This led to Judge Cashman declaring a mistrial when Wecht demanded that the cop, Milton Mulholland, tell the jury what he had done.

  • See the Open Letter To D.A. Colville for more info.

What You Can Do!

Write a letter to the editor of the Post-Gazette to complain about their pro-defense and anti-Gammage bias in covering this case. See some sample letters.

Call Mike Pintak and Fred Honsberger's shows on KDKA radio between 9:00 am to noon and 3:00 to 4:30 pm at 333-9393 and tell them the same thing.

Call the D.A. office (412-350-4400) and express your concern at his handling of the case. Question his ability to be objective since he was a former police officer. Demand that all five officers be charged with criminal homicide and that the jury be selected from Allegheny Country or one with similar demographics

Call the disciplinary board of the PA Supreme Court (565-3173) and file a complaint.

Call U.S. Attorney Frederick Phieman's office (644-3500) to express concern that Jonny Gammage's civil rights were violated because he was black and all officers who killed him are white.

Circulate the petition demanding that a special prosecutor be appointed in the case since the DA is not seriously pursuing criminal charges against the cops.

Invite a member of the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice to speak to your organization about the killing of Jonny Gammage.

Join the Campus Coalition for Peace and Justice. For More Information Contact pshell (Pete Shell) at cmu.edu.



For deeper information -
Richard Lyons Interview Poem and songs about Jonny Gammage Related Sites Police Brutality Across the Nation Tow-truck driver's testimony Fact Sheet on the Jonny Gammage case June 29 March Against Police Brutality Back to PShell's home page



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