People's Tribunal on Police Brutality video part 4
Moderator Alice Ragland completes her introduction. Rev. Pinkney Butts begins testimony with singing.
~ Puncture the Silence, “People's Tribunal on Police Brutality video part 4,” A People's Archive of Police Violence in Cleveland, accessed March 29, 2024, https://www.archivingpoliceviolence.org/items/show/62.
Show Archival Record
Dublin Core
Title
People's Tribunal on Police Brutality video part 4
Description
Moderator Alice Ragland completes her introduction. Rev. Pinkney Butts begins testimony with singing.
Creator
Puncture the Silence
Date
2015-04-11
Identifier
CLE.001.008
Format
.mp4
Language
English
Coverage
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Video Item Type Metadata
Duration
9 minutes, 3 seconds
Transcriber
Puncture the Silence
Transcription
Speaking here: Alice Ragland, Rev. Pinkney Butts
Alice Ragland: So, you know, that was kind of what we expected, but I guess my point in all this is there are still people who don't think that race matters in this. Um, and like I said in the introduction, um, people try to come up with a justification all the time for murder and for systemic racism and oppression and they don't even wanna acknowledge that it exists. So, um, in all this I'm extremely frustrated that this continues to happen. But the fact that there are people who still deny it and even outwardly support it; the amount of support that George Zimmerman has gotten financially and that other people who have committed murders like this have gotten? It was one cop; he ended up thinking that he was going to have to go to trial, so people raised millions of dollars for him after he murdered somebody. And then he got to pocket the money, ‘cause he didn't even get indicted. So, these things are just, they really hit me hard. Um, especially, you know, growing up in an area of education where it's supposed to be post-racial. I never believed that, of course, but, you know, I guess just the disbelief and the outward racism that remains unacknowledged, um, and not talked about, is what really what affects me very deeply. So, that's why I think this event is so important today. The stories that are shared are gonna counter the dominant narrative. The stories that are told today are going to provide a voice for the people who are silenced all of the time. So, I just want to thank everybody who came today. Before I make my final little statement, I want to let you know how this is gonna work. Raise your hand if you're testifying. Okay, so we have a lot of people testifying. So, basically, I'm gonna call your name in a specific order. Some people have to leave early so I will call your name. If you need to leave early, just let Hope and Molly over there know. When I call your name, you can come up here. You have about five minutes to share your story. Laurie, over here, will be giving you a one-minute warning when the time is up. So, please pay attention to Laurie. This is just in the interest of time. If there's time at the end we might be able to have you speak again or something like that. But we just wanna make sure that everybody is able to tell their story today. Um, so, please just be conscious of time. Remember to say important details and stuff like that. So, after you're done, I'm gonna ask the panelists if they have any responses, if they have any questions for you; and that's just gonna be a couple of minutes. Not every panelist is going to speak after every person. We need to once again act in the interests of time. That's basically it. Then we'll have the break. We'll have Q and A. We'll have more testimony after the break. Alright, so, as she comes down I just want to say, one of my favorite sayings is that, ‘if you are not part of the problem you are part of the solution’[sic], and I think that all of your presence here shows that you are one step in the direction of becoming part of the solution. I know a lot of you guys are part of the solution, so, I want to thank everybody who has been involved in this movement and everybody who's in the room. I 10 hope that this tribunal will push everybody to be a part of the solution. Alright, with that being said, um, I would like to introduce our first testifier, and it's gonna be Reverend Pamela Pinkney Butts. (Applause)
Rev. Pinkney Butts—“Please forgive me. Um, I would apologize but I really cannot apologize if I'm not bubbly and smiley and giggly. But I want to acknowledge my Savior, Jesus Christ, because it's because of Jesus Christ that I'm alive. And I, too, Reverend Leah K. Lewis, represent not only religion, but law, because I've had to represent myself legally through this process. (Sings: ‘Breathe on me, Holy Spirit, won't you breath on me.’) I would talk about the past in my five minutes. The past is still relevant. But I wanna talk about the present because I'm still victimized by the Cleveland Police, Cuyahoga County Sherriff’s Department, United States Department of Justice, as well as other law enforcement officers and the courts. I still do not have a safe place to live. And I took a very great risk coming here today, because my home where I live is broken into every day, if I don't have someone monitoring it. What I have here is documentation that's still relevant today. I did a police report because a Baptist preacher, who is the father of two of my children, sodomized and raped my children, and did some things to me as well, raped me, locked me in his Christian bookstore, did some other things to me. And I ended up with four children; two by two different Baptist preachers, both who have raped me, both who have disrespected me. And the police have gotten behind in this process, and so has the legal system to justify it, condone it, and to try to make me disappear. I've also been silenced because of a Muslim person stated that it's the will of Allah that we be poor and broken down, and, therefore, the media and other people decided to silence me. Well, the Cleveland Police have not only altered my police reports, but I have, as you see, this stack of police reports. Some of 'em are police reports in here. And then I also have a list of police reports that have never been responded to. I stand here now because when my son's father kicked my body parts out of my body, the prosecutor refused to do anything for me. And I stand here because I'm blessed to be able to stand here. I don't even know why I'm standing here, because on October 10th, 2002, after I reported our being abused and I fled from Cleveland, Ohio, which is my hometown, to Indianapolis, Indiana, to be safe, the police went into a school, with the social workers, stole my children, told them I gave them away, put 'em up for adoption, and knew they were being taken, told lies about me, submitted it in the court, made me homeless. Ultimately I got shipped back here to Cleveland, Ohio. My parents had to come to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2006 to get me because they had locked me up in Methodist Hospital against my will and my rights. I signed an interstate compact to get out of Indiana alive, to come back here to Cleveland, Ohio, my hometown. October of 2008, October 7th, I went to the Justice Center to see about a neighbor's child, was beat up, tortured, thrown in the county jail, given a suicide blanket, and told to kill myself-- 11 where I have the documentation here in this pile of papers to show where they not only altered my birthday to make me disappear, but put on here, “race unknown.” October of 2012, when I was also a presidential candidate for this country, one week before the presidential election I was forced to sign a document by law enforcement officers, Cuyahoga County, with the aid ...
Alice Ragland: So, you know, that was kind of what we expected, but I guess my point in all this is there are still people who don't think that race matters in this. Um, and like I said in the introduction, um, people try to come up with a justification all the time for murder and for systemic racism and oppression and they don't even wanna acknowledge that it exists. So, um, in all this I'm extremely frustrated that this continues to happen. But the fact that there are people who still deny it and even outwardly support it; the amount of support that George Zimmerman has gotten financially and that other people who have committed murders like this have gotten? It was one cop; he ended up thinking that he was going to have to go to trial, so people raised millions of dollars for him after he murdered somebody. And then he got to pocket the money, ‘cause he didn't even get indicted. So, these things are just, they really hit me hard. Um, especially, you know, growing up in an area of education where it's supposed to be post-racial. I never believed that, of course, but, you know, I guess just the disbelief and the outward racism that remains unacknowledged, um, and not talked about, is what really what affects me very deeply. So, that's why I think this event is so important today. The stories that are shared are gonna counter the dominant narrative. The stories that are told today are going to provide a voice for the people who are silenced all of the time. So, I just want to thank everybody who came today. Before I make my final little statement, I want to let you know how this is gonna work. Raise your hand if you're testifying. Okay, so we have a lot of people testifying. So, basically, I'm gonna call your name in a specific order. Some people have to leave early so I will call your name. If you need to leave early, just let Hope and Molly over there know. When I call your name, you can come up here. You have about five minutes to share your story. Laurie, over here, will be giving you a one-minute warning when the time is up. So, please pay attention to Laurie. This is just in the interest of time. If there's time at the end we might be able to have you speak again or something like that. But we just wanna make sure that everybody is able to tell their story today. Um, so, please just be conscious of time. Remember to say important details and stuff like that. So, after you're done, I'm gonna ask the panelists if they have any responses, if they have any questions for you; and that's just gonna be a couple of minutes. Not every panelist is going to speak after every person. We need to once again act in the interests of time. That's basically it. Then we'll have the break. We'll have Q and A. We'll have more testimony after the break. Alright, so, as she comes down I just want to say, one of my favorite sayings is that, ‘if you are not part of the problem you are part of the solution’[sic], and I think that all of your presence here shows that you are one step in the direction of becoming part of the solution. I know a lot of you guys are part of the solution, so, I want to thank everybody who has been involved in this movement and everybody who's in the room. I 10 hope that this tribunal will push everybody to be a part of the solution. Alright, with that being said, um, I would like to introduce our first testifier, and it's gonna be Reverend Pamela Pinkney Butts. (Applause)
Rev. Pinkney Butts—“Please forgive me. Um, I would apologize but I really cannot apologize if I'm not bubbly and smiley and giggly. But I want to acknowledge my Savior, Jesus Christ, because it's because of Jesus Christ that I'm alive. And I, too, Reverend Leah K. Lewis, represent not only religion, but law, because I've had to represent myself legally through this process. (Sings: ‘Breathe on me, Holy Spirit, won't you breath on me.’) I would talk about the past in my five minutes. The past is still relevant. But I wanna talk about the present because I'm still victimized by the Cleveland Police, Cuyahoga County Sherriff’s Department, United States Department of Justice, as well as other law enforcement officers and the courts. I still do not have a safe place to live. And I took a very great risk coming here today, because my home where I live is broken into every day, if I don't have someone monitoring it. What I have here is documentation that's still relevant today. I did a police report because a Baptist preacher, who is the father of two of my children, sodomized and raped my children, and did some things to me as well, raped me, locked me in his Christian bookstore, did some other things to me. And I ended up with four children; two by two different Baptist preachers, both who have raped me, both who have disrespected me. And the police have gotten behind in this process, and so has the legal system to justify it, condone it, and to try to make me disappear. I've also been silenced because of a Muslim person stated that it's the will of Allah that we be poor and broken down, and, therefore, the media and other people decided to silence me. Well, the Cleveland Police have not only altered my police reports, but I have, as you see, this stack of police reports. Some of 'em are police reports in here. And then I also have a list of police reports that have never been responded to. I stand here now because when my son's father kicked my body parts out of my body, the prosecutor refused to do anything for me. And I stand here because I'm blessed to be able to stand here. I don't even know why I'm standing here, because on October 10th, 2002, after I reported our being abused and I fled from Cleveland, Ohio, which is my hometown, to Indianapolis, Indiana, to be safe, the police went into a school, with the social workers, stole my children, told them I gave them away, put 'em up for adoption, and knew they were being taken, told lies about me, submitted it in the court, made me homeless. Ultimately I got shipped back here to Cleveland, Ohio. My parents had to come to Indianapolis, Indiana, in 2006 to get me because they had locked me up in Methodist Hospital against my will and my rights. I signed an interstate compact to get out of Indiana alive, to come back here to Cleveland, Ohio, my hometown. October of 2008, October 7th, I went to the Justice Center to see about a neighbor's child, was beat up, tortured, thrown in the county jail, given a suicide blanket, and told to kill myself-- 11 where I have the documentation here in this pile of papers to show where they not only altered my birthday to make me disappear, but put on here, “race unknown.” October of 2012, when I was also a presidential candidate for this country, one week before the presidential election I was forced to sign a document by law enforcement officers, Cuyahoga County, with the aid ...