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Uhurus To Protest St. Pete Ordinances At World Series

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By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 21, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - The black activist group, International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, announced today that it plans to conduct an act of civil disobedience Wednesday at the World Series opener at Tropicana Field.

Kobina Bantushango, one of the organizers, said the Uhurus plan to "defy'' city ordinances that the group says infringes on its First Amendment rights. One of those ordinances creates a so-called clean zone outside the stadium that bans unapproved signs.

At a news conference today at the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Bantushango would not say how the group plans to defy the ordinances. Its objections to the ordinances have drawn the support of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida; its director, Rebecca Harrison Steele, was at the news conference.

Steele said, however, that the ACLU had adopted a "wait and see'' attitude, opting for now not to file a lawsuit intended to overturn the ordinances. There is also no promise to represent any Uhuru who might get arrested as a result of the group's activities Wednesday, Steele said.

Recently, the group has been handing out fliers trying to enlist support for their stance on Javon Dawson, who was fatally shot by a St. Petersburg police officer in June. The group wants reparations for Dawson's family, as well as for three other black people fatally shot by St. Petersburg police or Pinellas sheriff's deputies during the past 12 years.

One of those shot was TyRon Lewis, who was killed Oct. 24, 1996, sparking two nights of rioting. Partly to commemorate Lewis' death, the Uhurus plan to conduct a free speech protest Friday at 18th Avenue South and 16th Street, where Lewis was shot. A march planned for Saturday will begin at the same location and end at city hall, organizers said.

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