{"id":14847,"date":"2012-08-14T18:47:42","date_gmt":"2012-08-14T17:47:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=14847"},"modified":"2012-08-14T18:47:42","modified_gmt":"2012-08-14T17:47:42","slug":"thousands-expected-to-march-for-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/latest-news\/thousands-expected-to-march-for-justice\/","title":{"rendered":"Thousands expected to march for justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Si\u00c3\u00a2n Ruddick<\/a> |<\/p>\n

<\/em>Thousands of people are expected to join a march demanding justice for Kingsley Burrell Brown in Birmingham on Saturday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kingsley died after being arrested by police in Birmingham on 27 March last year. His family have organised the demonstration, supported by others whose loved ones have died in police custody.<\/p>\n

Kingsley\u2019s sister Kedisha has set up street stalls and brought together different organisations and campaigns.<\/p>\n

She told Socialist Worker, \u201cWe\u2019re marching because we need change, and we need justice. Too many people have died and not a single police officer has been convicted since 1969.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want an independent inquiry into how these cases are dealt with and why they happen in the first place. We\u2019re looking at the Crown Prosecution Service, the coroners, the so-called Independent Police Complaints Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re all in it together\u2013families face a wall of silence in terms of the investigation. At the end of 18 months we\u2019re still waiting for answers. Why has everything taken so long?\u201d<\/p>\n

Police took Kingsley to a police station and he was then sectioned in a mental health ward, despite having no history of mental health problems.<\/p>\n

Kedisha and her family have still not been able to bury Kingsley. Endless investigations cause delays, but so far have delivered nothing for them.<\/p>\n

She said, \u201cThe IPCC is dragging its feet. It\u2019s not fit for purpose as far as I can see. The head investigator in Kingsley\u2019s case resigned from the IPCC in April and we still don\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still waiting for answers to questions we asked them last year. They are supposed to be independent but I don\u2019t think they are. There are ex-police working for them. How do they expect us to believe they\u2019re neutral? It\u2019s the police investigating the police.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unity<\/p>\n

But Kadisha and her family have refused to give up fighting for justice, alongside other families who have suffered a similar loss. \u201cOur unity is our strength,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re marching for Kingsley, but we\u2019re also marching for Sean Rigg, Mark Duggan, Smiley Culture and all the other people who have died. This should never have happened. The police used their powers against Kingsley, not for him. That\u2019s where it went wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many other families from across Britain will be joining Kedisha in Birmingham. The family of Mikey Powell, who died on 7 September 2003 at the age of 38, will be there.<\/p>\n

Mikey\u2019s mother called the police for help as he was experiencing an episode of mental illness. She thought they would take her son to hospital. Instead an inquest into the father-of-three\u2019s death heard how the police drove their car at Mikey, injuring him.<\/p>\n

They then discharged more than four times the recommended amount of CS spray on both Mikey and his friend, and hit Mikey with a police baton.<\/p>\n

Up to eight officers held him down on the ground for at least 16 minutes. Mikey was covered in blood but no ambulance was called. Instead they put him in the back of a police van and took him to the station.<\/p>\n

Tippa Naphtali is Mikey\u2019s nephew. He now runs the4wardeveruk.org<\/a>\u00a0website which supports campaigns for justice. He told Socialist Worker about how the system is stacked against families.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could name case after case where this has been the pattern,\u201d he said. \u201cWe believe it is a deliberate tactic to wear families down. I\u2019m sceptical about the whole process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very rare that juries find police guilty in court. But our resolve is strengthened by the families and campaigners who support us.\u201d<\/p>\n

On 7 September it will be nine years since Mikey died. Tippa added, \u201cHe\u2019s not coming back, so all we can do is get justice for him and the other families who have suffered.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough Kingsley and Mikey died in Birmingham, this is a national issue. That\u2019s why people are coming with United Families and Friends Campaign from across the country to march for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Join the march for Kingsley: Saturday 18 August, 12 noon, Summerfield Park, Dudley Rd, Birmingham B18 4HN<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Si\u00c3\u00a2n Ruddick | Thousands of people are expected to join a march demanding justice for Kingsley Burrell Brown in Birmingham on Saturday. Kingsley died after being arrested by police in Birmingham on 27 March last year. His family have organised the demonstration, supported by others whose loved ones have died in police custody. Kingsley\u2019s sister […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[85],"class_list":{"0":"post-14847","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-latest-news","7":"tag-demos"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14847"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14847\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}