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Uhuru Boss: Witnesses To Police Killing Won't Talk Without Lawyers

News Channel 8 photo by WALLY PATANOW

Omali Yeshitela, leader of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, speaking at a press conference. Yeshitela says there are witnesses who were traumatized by the shooting death of 17-year-old Javon Dawson and will only speak to the authorities with a lawyer present.

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 12, 2008

Updated: 06/12/2008 03:59 pm

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  Javon Dawson

ST. PETERSBURG — One day after police complained of no civilian witnesses in the police shooting of 17-year-old Javon Dawson, a black activist group typically opposed to police says it knows of some, but the witnesses will talk to authorities only with a lawyer present.

At a press conference today , Omali Yeshitela, leader of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, said the witnesses, who he described as children, were traumatized by the event and are afraid of police.

"We have a responsibility legally to protect our children," Yeshitela said. They will be working with lawyer Maura Kiefer, and psychiatrists and psychologists will be enlisted to help them describe what they saw, the activist said.

Kiefer was out of town, but her paralegal confirmed that Kiefer's law firm is conducting a probe into the shooting that is separate from the one conducted by police and prosecutors.

"We have been retained by Mr. Dawson's parents to investigate the shooting and his death," said Faith Armstrong, the paralegal.

Dawson, a Gibbs High School student, was shot in the back Saturday night by St. Petersburg police officer Terrence Nemeth, authorities say. At the time, Dawson was running from Nemeth but pointing a gun at the officer, authorities have said, and a gun has been recovered.

Dawson's family has contended he had no gun. Yeshitela said everyone he has spoken to said Dawson did not have a gun.

Dawson was shot outside the Shining Light Masonic Lodge, in the 3100 block of Freemont Terrace South, where a high school graduation party had spilled into the street. More than 200 people were present, but none of them as of Wednesday had come forward to say what happened, St. Petersburg police spokesman Bill Proffitt said.

Increasingly, St. Petersburg police have had trouble mustering witnesses to serious incidents, whether a police officer is involved or not, said Maj. Mike Puetz, who is in charge of the criminal investigation unit for the St. Petersburg Police Department.

"Is there a mentality amongst youth that it's not fashionable or desirable to talk to police?" Puetz said. "That seems to be the conventional wisdom."

"We have had situations where shootings and murders have taken place in crowds, that didn't involve police shootings, where the same thing has taken place," Puetz said. "Everyone runs for the four winds."

To encourage witnesses to come forward, the campus police officers at Gibbs and Lakewood High School – the two schools celebrating graduation that night – are using their schools' automated telephone systems to make a plea to each student at the schools, Proffitt said.

In addition, the department is putting fliers in recreation centers and asking ministers to circulate them among their faith-based groups. The flier is also being e-mailed to those in the community, he said.

Among those who have not made statements to police since the night of the shooting is Dawson's younger teenage brother, Proffitt said. Dawson has had interviews with at least two local news organizations, claiming he was with his brother and that he had no gun.

The brother is expected to be among the group of witnesses whom Kiefer, the lawyer, is expected to assist. Yeshitela said he did not know how many other teenage witnesses there were.

Dawson's death has become a rallying cry for the Uhurus, who have begun a campaign similar to that launched in 1996 after another white police officer, James Knight, fatally shot a black teenager, TyRon Lewis. Lewis had repeatedly nudged a stolen car at Knight, who was standing in front of the vehicle; two nights of rioting followed.

As they did then, the Uhurus say they intend to hold a tribunal on the police shooting, are asking that the officer in question be charged criminally, and that the family of the victim be made whole through monetary compensation.

And, as they did before, they cite the shooting as an example of "police containment," where officers work to cordon off the predominantly poor black community from the city's more wealthy white residents and tourists.

Yeshitela also said there are not enough economic opportunities for the city's poor black youth, as he did in 1996. Over the past 22 years, however, the city has worked to bring new businesses to the city's south side, including a shopping mall that is home to a new Sweetbay Supermarket.

This time, Yeshitela is citing the Tampa Bay Rays' proposed waterfront stadium as an example of a development that will only benefit the city's privileged few, without lifting up any of its poor black residents.

And, he said, the public can expect the Uhurus to continue bringing up Dawson's death.

"We do not intend for there to be any peace until justice has been rendered in this case," Yeshitela said. Asked by one reporter at the press conference what that meant, Yeshitela replied, "No. I am not planning to throw any bricks."

Reporter Stephen Thompson can be reached at (727) 451-2336 or spthompson@tampatrib.com.

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