People's Tribunal on Police Brutality video part 22
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Carol Steiner, Uncle Bobby, and Leah Lewis respond to Clarence Jones' testimony. Brenda Bickerstaff, Private Investigator, testifies.
~ Puncture the Silence, “People's Tribunal on Police Brutality video part 22,” A People's Archive of Police Violence in Cleveland, accessed June 8, 2023, https://www.archivingpoliceviolence.org/items/show/80.
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Title
People's Tribunal on Police Brutality video part 22
Description
Carol Steiner, Uncle Bobby, and Leah Lewis respond to Clarence Jones' testimony. Brenda Bickerstaff, Private Investigator, testifies.
Creator
Puncture the Silence
Date
2015-04-11
Identifier
CLE.001.026
Format
.mp4
Language
English
Coverage
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Video Item Type Metadata
Duration
7 minutes, 58 seconds
Transcriber
Puncture the Silence-Stop Mass Incarceration
Transcription
Carol Steiner--“I’d just like to thank Mr. Jones (Breaking down), because it’s been such a recent time since Brandon was killed.”
Uncle Bobby--“Right before, I do want to share this. This is for Brandon senior. Brandon, you know, I’m Oscar Grant’s Uncle Bobby and one of the things I’ve been doin’ is building this community of men that have suffered this harm. So, Brandon, to you, I want you to know, Brandon? (Carol Steiner: “It’s Clarence.”) Oh, I’m sorry, Clarence, your son’s name is Brandon; I was just callin’ you Brandon senior, but I meant Clarence. I’m definitely goin’ to share this with Tracy Martin, Ron Davis, is the father of Jordan Davis with loud music, Kendrick Johnson, father of Kenneth Johnson, who is the father of the young man who was rolled up in the wrestling mat. My point is this, is that I’ve made contact with all the fathers, possibly all the fathers that I could make contact with. And you bein’ a new father to this, we want to be able to support you, and speak with you, and help guide you with some of the stuff that you’re gonna go through. And also, be host to, to bring clarity and understanding of what it’s gonna take on your part to not only just to stand and speak on behalf of your other sons that are still living, but for Brandon himself whose life was taken. So, I definitely would like to speak to you after this tribunal, and get your information, and bring you into this fatherhood. You’re not alone. I just want you to know that. You’re not alone in this. We’ve been through this; we understand the pain and the anger, and how easy it is for us to become real reckless with that anger. You understand what I’m sayin’? (Clarence Jones: “I understand.”) OK? So, definitely let me speak to you before you leave.”
Leah Lewis—“Because this is being videotaped, I want to say something that is very obvious to virtually all of us who are here. If Brandon had been white, he'd be alive right now. (Applause and hollering) Only because he was committing an economic crime, right? Technically, even if he had killed somebody, he would still be alive. (Audience: “Right.”) We had the mass murderer that took place in Colorado. I know that man injured 127 people, but he is a live today. (Audience: “That's right.”) And soon, we guess, he will stand trial. But they are killing black and brown and poor people, male and female, young and old (Panelist: “Amen, sister.”) with impunity, as everyone is sayin'. But if you're a white person, and you commit a crime in a particular community, you will have the benefit of being arrested, you will have the benefit of all of your rights being honored, and if you are convicted, you might have the blessing of a diversion program. (Audience and panelists: “Yes, unh-huh.”) Right? You might not even have to go to jail, you might not even have to pay a fine. (Audience: “That's right.”) But if you are black, brown, poor, you don't even get the benefit of a trial. It's a horrific dynamic. (Audience: “A bullet in you.”) This is a country that wants to take other nations to task for human rights violations? But the United States of America is supporting domestic terrorism against its own people. (Audience/others: “That’s right.”) And we are hypocrites. We are hypocrites. We, are, hypocrites. So, America, until you begin to deal with your own vile actions (Audience: “That's right!”) You need to keep your nose out of other nations' business.” (Applause and commenting).
Rev.Pinkney Butts—“I've heard you all talk of helping these men, and I have not heard one of you at that table say you gonna help me when I leave this room. And I talk and I don't have a safe place to live. I jeopardized my safety comin' here. And I've heard a male agenda since I've been here. And I'm concerned about that, because ...
Carol Steiner—“Reverend Butts, please...”
Alice Ragland—“We're going to have a discussion at the end...”
Genevieve Mitchell—“Minister Pamela Butts, this gentleman right here, Mr. Little, responded to you. Maybe you did not hear him, but when you talked about lawyers, he said that he would help you.”
Rev. Pinkney Butts—“Ok, I want somebody to make sure that I get home safely when I leave here today, too.”
Alice Ragland—“Thank you, Genevieve. Ok, so, is Brenda Bickerstaff here? (Brenda Bickerstaff: “I'm right here.”) And followed by Art Blakey? There are a couple more after that; we are runnin' low on time; we are going to try to continue with a discussion with the panelists. Technically, we gonna have to leave the room at 4:30, but we may stay until somebody comes to kick us out. I'm sure that the testimony won't last that long, 'cause there are only 3 or 4 more people. So, but if you want guys want to continue the discussion and we happen to have to leave this room, we can continue it in the lounge with the panel. You can stay with in the lounge out in the hall. (Audience: “Thank you, sister.” Carol Steiner: “We'll stay here as long as we can.”)
Brenda Bickerstaff—“My name is Brenda Bickerstaff; I'm a private investigator; I have an investigation business. But before then, I have 2 stories; I'm goin' make it brief. My brother Craig Lamont Bickerstaff, was murdered by police back in 2002. So when I saw the incident that happened in North [sic] Carolina, when the boy was runnin', pow, pow, pow, and they shot him 8 times in the back, it brought back memories, because my younger brother was shot 5 times in the back. And what was amazing when I saw North [sic] Carolina, he took his taser and brought it over and dropped it down by the guy's body, but he didn't know that the gentleman, somebody, was video-recording it, and I was just so happy about that. And, I'm goin' say this, my dad was a cop; my sister's a commander in Pittsburgh; and I have another brother took... here in Cleveland, and I'm goin' to tell you this. My father was on the force for 33 years and he never murdered nobody. I'm just keepin’ it real. He never murdered nobody. And this is my legacy that my father, even though he's deceased, would like to have left for the community and the citizens in Cleveland and anywhere across the country. Because my father was the type of officer, if you had a problem, you could come up and talk to him. He did not have an arrogant attitude like these officers today. I just want to say that. And I'm not just sayin' it because it's my dad. There are some good ones out there; but the ones that are horrible, they need to go. Now, my second story, is, I was out workin' on a case to try to get a young man out of jail. Now this particular detective, Vincent Lucarelli, was sleepin' with the victim. So, what he did, he put a false indictment on me back in 2012. We pulled his text messages and found out he was sleepin' with the victim, not only in this case, but he had been sleepin' with the victims since 2009. We had 30,000 text messages..."
Uncle Bobby--“Right before, I do want to share this. This is for Brandon senior. Brandon, you know, I’m Oscar Grant’s Uncle Bobby and one of the things I’ve been doin’ is building this community of men that have suffered this harm. So, Brandon, to you, I want you to know, Brandon? (Carol Steiner: “It’s Clarence.”) Oh, I’m sorry, Clarence, your son’s name is Brandon; I was just callin’ you Brandon senior, but I meant Clarence. I’m definitely goin’ to share this with Tracy Martin, Ron Davis, is the father of Jordan Davis with loud music, Kendrick Johnson, father of Kenneth Johnson, who is the father of the young man who was rolled up in the wrestling mat. My point is this, is that I’ve made contact with all the fathers, possibly all the fathers that I could make contact with. And you bein’ a new father to this, we want to be able to support you, and speak with you, and help guide you with some of the stuff that you’re gonna go through. And also, be host to, to bring clarity and understanding of what it’s gonna take on your part to not only just to stand and speak on behalf of your other sons that are still living, but for Brandon himself whose life was taken. So, I definitely would like to speak to you after this tribunal, and get your information, and bring you into this fatherhood. You’re not alone. I just want you to know that. You’re not alone in this. We’ve been through this; we understand the pain and the anger, and how easy it is for us to become real reckless with that anger. You understand what I’m sayin’? (Clarence Jones: “I understand.”) OK? So, definitely let me speak to you before you leave.”
Leah Lewis—“Because this is being videotaped, I want to say something that is very obvious to virtually all of us who are here. If Brandon had been white, he'd be alive right now. (Applause and hollering) Only because he was committing an economic crime, right? Technically, even if he had killed somebody, he would still be alive. (Audience: “Right.”) We had the mass murderer that took place in Colorado. I know that man injured 127 people, but he is a live today. (Audience: “That's right.”) And soon, we guess, he will stand trial. But they are killing black and brown and poor people, male and female, young and old (Panelist: “Amen, sister.”) with impunity, as everyone is sayin'. But if you're a white person, and you commit a crime in a particular community, you will have the benefit of being arrested, you will have the benefit of all of your rights being honored, and if you are convicted, you might have the blessing of a diversion program. (Audience and panelists: “Yes, unh-huh.”) Right? You might not even have to go to jail, you might not even have to pay a fine. (Audience: “That's right.”) But if you are black, brown, poor, you don't even get the benefit of a trial. It's a horrific dynamic. (Audience: “A bullet in you.”) This is a country that wants to take other nations to task for human rights violations? But the United States of America is supporting domestic terrorism against its own people. (Audience/others: “That’s right.”) And we are hypocrites. We are hypocrites. We, are, hypocrites. So, America, until you begin to deal with your own vile actions (Audience: “That's right!”) You need to keep your nose out of other nations' business.” (Applause and commenting).
Rev.Pinkney Butts—“I've heard you all talk of helping these men, and I have not heard one of you at that table say you gonna help me when I leave this room. And I talk and I don't have a safe place to live. I jeopardized my safety comin' here. And I've heard a male agenda since I've been here. And I'm concerned about that, because ...
Carol Steiner—“Reverend Butts, please...”
Alice Ragland—“We're going to have a discussion at the end...”
Genevieve Mitchell—“Minister Pamela Butts, this gentleman right here, Mr. Little, responded to you. Maybe you did not hear him, but when you talked about lawyers, he said that he would help you.”
Rev. Pinkney Butts—“Ok, I want somebody to make sure that I get home safely when I leave here today, too.”
Alice Ragland—“Thank you, Genevieve. Ok, so, is Brenda Bickerstaff here? (Brenda Bickerstaff: “I'm right here.”) And followed by Art Blakey? There are a couple more after that; we are runnin' low on time; we are going to try to continue with a discussion with the panelists. Technically, we gonna have to leave the room at 4:30, but we may stay until somebody comes to kick us out. I'm sure that the testimony won't last that long, 'cause there are only 3 or 4 more people. So, but if you want guys want to continue the discussion and we happen to have to leave this room, we can continue it in the lounge with the panel. You can stay with in the lounge out in the hall. (Audience: “Thank you, sister.” Carol Steiner: “We'll stay here as long as we can.”)
Brenda Bickerstaff—“My name is Brenda Bickerstaff; I'm a private investigator; I have an investigation business. But before then, I have 2 stories; I'm goin' make it brief. My brother Craig Lamont Bickerstaff, was murdered by police back in 2002. So when I saw the incident that happened in North [sic] Carolina, when the boy was runnin', pow, pow, pow, and they shot him 8 times in the back, it brought back memories, because my younger brother was shot 5 times in the back. And what was amazing when I saw North [sic] Carolina, he took his taser and brought it over and dropped it down by the guy's body, but he didn't know that the gentleman, somebody, was video-recording it, and I was just so happy about that. And, I'm goin' say this, my dad was a cop; my sister's a commander in Pittsburgh; and I have another brother took... here in Cleveland, and I'm goin' to tell you this. My father was on the force for 33 years and he never murdered nobody. I'm just keepin’ it real. He never murdered nobody. And this is my legacy that my father, even though he's deceased, would like to have left for the community and the citizens in Cleveland and anywhere across the country. Because my father was the type of officer, if you had a problem, you could come up and talk to him. He did not have an arrogant attitude like these officers today. I just want to say that. And I'm not just sayin' it because it's my dad. There are some good ones out there; but the ones that are horrible, they need to go. Now, my second story, is, I was out workin' on a case to try to get a young man out of jail. Now this particular detective, Vincent Lucarelli, was sleepin' with the victim. So, what he did, he put a false indictment on me back in 2012. We pulled his text messages and found out he was sleepin' with the victim, not only in this case, but he had been sleepin' with the victims since 2009. We had 30,000 text messages..."