A Roundhouse Punch



	Mother of MOAPT: Temple professor Dr. Ella Forbes seeks healing through protest.

Mothers Organized Against Police Terror are marching to say enough is enough.

by Daryl Gale

Professor Ella Forbes has been searching for answers. And healing very slowly since her son Erin was killed this past January in a controversial shooting by Lower Merion police. She’s helped form an organization, Mothers Organized Against Police Terror (MOAPT), to speak out against police abuses, and put together a downtown march and rally scheduled for this Saturday.

The date of the rally, May 13, was not picked at random. It’s the 15th anniversary of the MOVE bombing on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia and the International Day of Support for Mumia Abu-Jamal. Organizers say this is a way of tying MOAPT to larger anti-brutality movements and catapulting their organization into the national spotlight.

The MOAPT coalition says they’ll start at police headquarters, Eighth and Race, at 11 a.m. and march through the streets to City Hall, where they’ll have speakers, information tables, and something they’re calling a "Hall of Brutality," a collection of photos, fact sheets and firsthand accounts of "police terror."

When contacted for this article, the Lower Merion Police Department referred calls to Stephen Gary, public information officer for Lower Merion Township.

"Because Mrs. Forbes has filed a lawsuit, we simply cannot comment on any aspect of the case," Gary says. "It’s in active litigation, and that precludes us from talking about it or anyone involved."

After Erin’s death, Ella Forbes, a professor of African-American Studies at Temple, was contacted by members of the activist group Uhuru, who introduced her to other families in similar situations. They also introduced Forbes to MOVE leader Pam Africa.

"It was through Pam and MOVE that we got the idea to form a coalition," Forbes says. "They helped us come up with a plan of action. We contact victims of police brutality, help them understand their rights or secure legal aid, write letters, make phone calls, whatever we can do. For me at least, its been an important step in the healing process."

Forbes then called Cheryl Wright, a local activist involved in the Mumia Abu-Jamal movement. Together they started meeting every Monday evening with mothers and family members of people claiming to be victims of police abuse, and soon the meetings grew to include 30 or more people. So they called themselves the Mothers Organized Against Police Terror coalition and started making plans for Saturday’s rally to call attention to their cause.

"Mothers just started coming forward with their stories," Wright says, "more and more of them every week. They came for assistance and moral support, or sometimes just to talk and share their pain. It was their stories of red tape and uncaring authorities that spurred us to form the coalition. There is such a thing as terror and intimidation by police officers who abuse the public trust by using their badge as a means to strike fear into some communities. And we aim to rid the community of bad cops, since it’s obvious they can’t or won’t police themselves. And although the march and rally Saturday will be the first official action by MOAPT, it definitely will not be the last."

According to Philadelphia Police public affairs spokesman Cpl. Jim Pauley, the Civil Affairs Unit is working with MOAPT to help the group obtain the proper permits, and uniformed officers will be on hand to protect life and property and make sure everything goes smoothly. But Wright remains distrustful.

"Protesting police brutality is hard and unpopular work," says Wright. "If you speak out, you’ll find yourself in for some unfriendly treatment. Once, I was walking down the street in Philadelphia wearing my ‘Free Mumia’ T-shirt and a cop called me a ‘black bitch.’ What’s worse, the black elected officials won’t touch police brutality cases. They’ve basically abandoned us."

Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Ken Rocks says he respects the group’s right to protest, he just wishes they’d do it differently.

"Listen, if somebody wants to call for better training of police officers, or better community understanding and sensitivity training, we’re all for that. Nobody wants to improve the level of police professionalism more than we do. But to paint all officers as brutes and thugs doesn’t help, and won’t produce positive results," Rocks says. He also questions whether "police terror" isn’t just a few isolated incidents blown out of proportion by vocal groups with an ax to grind.

"Most of these folks don’t realize, or won’t admit, that police are not happy to take someone’s life," he says. "A police shooting, even a justified shooting, is a devastating, devastating thing for the officer as well. Most of the time, that officer is never the same again. In my 29 years in law enforcement, I’ve seen officers turn in their badge, seek psychological counseling, even attempt suicide after being haunted by the memory of killing someone. It’s not a pleasant situation for anybody involved. I really wish these groups would participate in positive-type protests calling for better training of police. We can all point fingers all day, but that won’t get us anywhere."

For Forbes, MOAPT is a way to heal and understand her personal pain, while calling attention to what she sees as a national epidemic of police brutality.

"I wasn’t aware of just how widespread the problem of police abuse is, until it came to my family," she says. "That’s why we’re calling for a federal investigation into police terror, because this thing is much bigger than most people can imagine. MOAPT is committed to helping victims and enacting meaningful legislation to get bad cops off the streets. Eventually, we’d like to become a national clearinghouse for information and assistance to victims of police abuse, intimidation and terror," Forbes says, "and we’ll keep at it as long as we have to. Our pain and devastation is our motivation."