Demonstration being planned to protest death of man who died while in police handcuffs
24th March 2014 · 0 Comments
As the family of 22-year-old Victor White III prepared to say goodbye to the man who died while in police custody recently, an effort is clearly underway to organize a major protest to raise awareness about the incident.
Led by local and regional civil rights and grassroots community organization, the growing movement took a decided leap forward last week with talk about plans to hold a major protest in New Iberia, La. to raise public consciousness about the incident.
Victor White, 22, died from a gunshot wound he suffered while sitting handcuffed in the back of an Iberia Parish sheriff’s deputy car. While police say the wound was self-inflicted, family members and supporters have asked how a man arrested and frisked by police would have access to a firearm and how Victor White would have managed to shoot himself after being handcuffed by sheriff’s deputies.
According to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office report, at 11:22 p.m. on March 2, IPSO deputies responded to a report of a fight in the 300 block of Lewis Street. Deputies said they located Victor White and discovered he was in possession of illegal narcotics.
White was reportedly taken into custody, placed in handcuffs behind his back and taken to the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office for processing, the report said.
State Trooper Stephen Hammons told The Advocate in early March that Victor White III was reportedly fighting with others when deputies responded to a call in New Iberia.
Hammons says deputies who searched White said they found illegal drugs, cuffed his hands behind his back, and then placed him in a squad car for transport to the sheriff’s office for processing.
“Once at the Sheriff’s Office, White became uncooperative and refused to exit the deputy’s patrol vehicle,” Hammons said.
As the deputy requested assistance, White produced a handgun and fired one round, striking himself in the back, the report said.
Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Lt. Anthony Green told Lafayette’s KATC News that basic police training teaches officers that “if you put someone in your unit, you do check for weapons.” Green said the suspect was checked, because the deputy found narcotics on White’s person.
One of the questions to be asked by state police investigating the incident is how thoroughly Victor White was checked by Iberia Parish sheriff’s deputies after he was arrested.
“We’re investigating how he got the gun,” Hammons told The Advocate on March 3. “It’s too early in our investigation to comment further.”
The shooting victim’s family refutes police claims that Victor White shot himself while in handcuffs and demanded answers last week.
“They have issued a statement that he shot himself but we know that is not true,” White’s sister, Keisha Davis, told MadameNoire.com. “We will not stop until justice is served.”
A press conference was held Tuesday in New Iberia during which the Rev. Raymond Brown, a New Orleans-based community activist who often marched with the late Rev. Avery C. Alexander and and serves as president of National Action Now, talked about the case3 and how the death of Victor White has impacted the family.
“We’re in the process of planning our next step which is a mass march, mobilization and major civil rights demonstration in New Iberia, La.,” Brown said.” In addition to getting another autopsy of Victor White’s remains, a lot of different groups are coming together to plan this rally and a long-term strategy for securing justice for Victor White.
A date for the march has not yet been set, Brown said.
“This is where we are right now because the sheriff’s is not saying anything and the state police are not telling the family or community anything,” Brown said. “We’re at a standstill right now.
“We expect the state police to drag their investigation on for about nine or 10 months — until they think the outrage about what happened to Victor White has died down — and then come back and pass the buck to another law enforcement agency or say they haven’t found evidence of any wrongdoing,” Brown added. “We don’t expect the state police to do anything — we have no confidence in them at all.”
Brown told The Advocate that video surveillance equipment utilized by the IPSO could shed light on what happened.
“These videos should show what took place,” Brown said. “A video camera would solve the problem.”
Lt. Green, however, told The Advocate that there are no cameras located in the area where White was shot.
Brown told The Louisiana Weekly Thursday that a number of groups have taken on an active role in working to secure justice for Victor White and his family, including the Lafayette Branch of the NAACP, the NAACP Louisiana State Conference and a host of other civil rights and grassroots community organizations.
“The Lafayette Branch of the NAACP and Louisiana State NAACP Conference are working to raise funds for an independent autopsy,” Brown told The Louisiana Weekly.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Margie Broussard, president of the Lafayette Branch of the NAACP, told The Advocate that police descriptions of how White died “were far-fetched.”
Broussard explained that the NAACP is collecting money for a second autopsy to be conducted after the Iberia Parish Coroner’s Office completes its official examination.
Brown told The Advocate that he has been in contact with Victor White’s father, who lives in Alexandria, and the NAACP will release its autopsy findings well before State Police releases the Iberia coroner’s findings in the final report.
Kelly Reed, an Opelousas resident who attended the press conference, told The Advocate that the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office’s official explanation of how White died “seems to be, at best, astounding, and at worst, very difficult to believe.”
Brown thanked local media outlets, members of the Black Press and individuals who have used social media websites to spread the word about the Victor White incident and encouraged those involved in this struggle to continue to support the family in its quest for justice. “Their fight is our fight,” Brown said.
Brown said the family was “dealing with the grief that comes with putting a loved one to rest” last week and was focused on Saturday’s memorial. He said he expects the family to play an active role in the upcoming mass demonstration and ongoing efforts to get answers about what really happened and justice for Victor White.
Brown said that anyone with questions about the upcoming mass demonstration should contact him via email at brownfightback@gmail.com.
The phone number for the Lafayette Branch of the NAACP is (337) 240-6336 and its website is naacplafayette.weebly.com.
The website for the NAACP Louisiana State Conference is www.lanaacp.org.
This article originally published in the March 17, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
