Video Catches Police Beatings of Mexicans id PAA26815; Sat, 4 Oct 1997 15:07:26 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the October 9, 1997 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- CHICAGO: POLICE BEATING OF MEXICANS CAUGHT ON VIDEOTAPE By L. Paulsen Chicago They've done it before. But now it's been caught on videotape. On Sept. 20, an African American videographer recorded shocking images of Chicago police beating Esteban Montao and Ricardo Ruiz with their heavy flashlights. The assault took place after the Mexican Independence Day parade here. This new exposure of police racism and violence will strengthen expressions of resistance, including a day of protest against police brutality scheduled for Oct. 22. Witnesses to the Sept. 20 police violence say Montao and Ruiz had been holding small Mexican flags. A cop provoked the incident, they say, by taking the flags away and breaking the staffs. The police saw they were being taped and taunted the videographer, saying, "You want a fucking violent videotape? Here's a fucking violent videotape!" POLICE GET AWAY WITH MURDER Why were they so unconcerned? Because they know that on- duty Chicago police are never punished for brutalizing or even killing Black, Latino and other poor and working people. In fact, as another incident has demon strated, the police commanders completely share this attitude of racist contempt. On Sept. 17, Thomas Kuroski, commander of a police district that includes the largely Mexican Pilsen neighborhood, was reassigned after it was revealed that he had ordered a racist "guide to Mexican culture" distributed to officers in his district. This document contained the most offensive stereotypes. It claimed Mexican culture supports drinking and urinating in public. It characterized Latino men as violent and abusive toward their families. Young men in Pilsen believe "they should behave in a macho fashion," the guide continued, and this--not the racism and violence of the police--is what causes them to display "resentment of authority." Officers were advised to behave in a "macho" way in order to get the respect of young Latino men. So Kuroski was reassigned by the administration of Chicago's Mayor Rich ard Daley--but not because he is a racist cop. He was reassigned because he had embarrassed the department by putting their racist attitudes into writing. Police spokespeople say they can't consider "disciplinary action" against any of the police involved in the beating of Montao and Ruiz until the victims file complaints with the Office of Professional Standards. However, everyone in the Latino community knows the OPS is a farce. For example, it recommended slaps on the wrist for police officers who killed Jorge Guillen, a Honduran man, in full view of his family. The Police Board then overruled the OPS, letting the cops off completely. Guillen was killed on Oct. 2, 1995. As the second anniversary of his death approaches, organizers plan new actions to force prosecutors to bring charges against his killers. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to: info@workers.org. Web: http://workers.org) ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytrc-10.04.97-15:07:25-17210