By Erick Johnson, Chicago Crusader
Some happened years ago, while other police shootings occurred recently. For a handful of grieving mothers, the pain won’t go away for many of them.
On Wednesday, March 2 at the Thompson Center downtown, mothers across the Midwest gave tearful testimonies about their children and the day police killed them.
They spoke in the center of the center’s busy food court, where large crowds were having lunch. A swarm of Chicago and state police officers stood nearby.
Poems were read. Chants were shouted as activists called for justice in for Laquan McDonald, the 17-year old who was killed after being shot 16 times in by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in 2014.
One of the mothers at the rally, Janet Cooksey, lost her son, Antonio LeGrier December 26 in one of the high profile cases involving a Chicago police officer. During that incident, Bettie Jones, a 55-year old mother, was killed in a shooting that police say was an accident. Many Blacks, including Cooksey, believe the shooting was intentional.
LeGrier’s father and Jones’ family have filed wrongful death lawsuits as a result of the shooting.
The Chicago police officer who shot LeGrier, Robert Rialmo has sued the family for $10 million, claiming the 19-year-old assaulted him with a baseball bat and caused him to suffer trauma.
At the rally, Cooksey blasted Rialmo for suing her family and killing her son. Her voice cracked as she pleaded for justice.
“My son called three times and they say my son threatened them, but how do you explain the four shots in the back,” Cooksey said. “You killed my son and you want to be compensated for it? There is no respect for this family. “
Another mother who spoke, Chantel Brooks, shared how she felt when her son, Michael Wesley was killed on June 13, 2013.
“It was the worst day of my life,” Brooks said. “Not only did it tear me apart, it made me angry. The police expects us not to be angry, but we are.”
In another high profile shooting, Alice Howell, questioned the killing of her the 17-year old grandson Justus Howell who was shot in the back by police in Zion last April.
The shooting was ruled as justified.
“Stop killing our kids,” Howell said at the rally. “Let’s fight this.”
Andrea Owens, a mother from Madison, Wisconsin, is still hurting after her 20-year old son, Tony Robinson Jr. died last year when police shot him seven times in the face.
The officer, Matt Kenny was investigating a call about someone jumping in and out of traffic. After arriving at the apartment, Kenny and Robinson, who was on hallucinogenic drugs at the time, struggled. Kenny told investigators Robinson hit him in the head, knocking him off balance in a stairway.
Kenny was cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting, but many remain angry and upset over it. For activists with the Black Lives Matter movement, the killing was yet another example of how Blacks are victimized by law enforcement.
“This is wrong and it has to stop,” Owens said.
