Rally Turns Ugly, A surprise from the Northeast

[JAT]

What started out as a peaceful celebration of the recent Malik Jones verdict turned into an ugly display of racial tension Saturday afternoon in East Haven that ultimately ended with disgust on both sides.

"I was hoping for something very different, I was hoping for the possibility that there had been some change, but I saw that it was worse. I was very disappointed," said Emma Jones, Malik’s mother.

Family, friends and supporters of Emma Jones gathered on Grand Avenue to celebrate a federal civil jury’s ruling East Haven police Sgt. Robert Flodquist used excessive force when he shot and killed Jones on April 14, 1997. The jury ordered the town of East Haven to pay Jones’ family $2.5 million in damages.

Flodquist, who was not held personally liable for the fatal shooting, said Jones was trying to run him over with his car and that he used his weapon because he thought his life was in danger.

The Greater New Haven branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People helped organized the 50-vehicle motorcade and led the procession into East Haven.

Dressed in her trademark all-white outfit, Jones joined family, friends and supporters in a prayer before the procession to the East Haven green.

"This is so overwhelming, beautiful, powerful," she said smiling shortly before leaving.

"It’s reassuring that these people have been with me. It’s a people’s verdict. It’s for them the guys that are incarcerated, killed, all those that have had their rights violated at the hands of law enforcement."

The cars crept down Grand Avenue to the supportive shouts and cheers from onlookers and other cars. People in New Haven stood in front of their homes waving the two-fingered peace and victory symbol — just as Jones did on Thursday when she left U.S. District Court in Hartford.

A diverse mix of residents from New Haven and surrounding communities had gathered in front of Grand Audio Motorsport on Grand Avenue for words of welcome and prayer before getting in their cars.

"We’re here to celebrate, it’s long overdue, " said Paula Panzarella of New Haven, a close friend of Jones, who drove along with her husband Frank. "East Haven can be glad that it’s resolved and finally they can go forward without having the stigma (of being a racist town)."

But the motorcade’s support vanished once the motorcade crossed into East Haven.

Shouts of "negro go home," and obscene hand gestures greeted the motorcade in full force as it made its way down Main Street towards the Green.

Adults and children stood silently outside of homes, business and cars.

Several East Haven motorists, upset that the motorcade slowed traffic, honked their horns in protest. East Haven police had stopped traffic at major intersections to let motorcade through.

"This is ridiculous," yelled one woman who got out of her car as the intersection of Townsend and Main Streets. "It’s not even an authorized march anyway. It’s against the law."

As the van carrying Jones and members of the NAACP approached East Haven City Hall, a few young men tried to rush the van but were stopped by East Haven Police Chief Leonard Gallo.

When the motorcade approached Town Hall at High Street and Main Street, an angry crowd of about 80 people was waiting.

"GO HOME! GO HOME! GO HOME!" the all-white crowd chanted, flipping their middle fingers at the motorcade.

East Haven resident Andrea O’Brien walked into the middle of the intersection of High and Main streets, holding a cardboard sign above her head that said, "It’s not over yet. Police don’t kill the innocent."

O’Brien brought the sign close to Emma Jones’ vehicle, which bore a large "Justice for Malik" sign on the grill. Jones stared wide-eyed, her mouth slightly open, as she saw the sign and heard the screaming crowd about 12 yards away.

O’Brien said she was standing up for her "hardworking tax dollars."

"This (motorcade) is a slap in the face to this town," she said.

"I’m sick of hearing we’re racist.

We hate criminals — period.

"Where was (Emma Jones) while her son was growing up, becoming a criminal?"

Keith Springfield of Armed Security Services joined the motorcade as bodyguards for Jones and her family. He expected tempers in East Haven would run high, but he didn’t think Jones would need a lot of physical protection.

He later said he was wrong.

The crowd continued to shout as the motorcade circled the Green and headed back to New Haven.

"They called me a (expletive) negro and told me to go back to Africa," said Scot X. Esdaile, president of the NAACP. "The mayor (of East Haven) said there was no racism in East Haven, I said that if we go there we can expose it."

As the crowd grew louder and more agitated, Gallo stepped in and told those in the street to stay on the sidewalk.

"It ain’t about nothin’ but money!" a tanned man in a yellow tank top yelled.

"Stop, stop, stop," Gallo said.

"Please stop. You’re not helping me."

The chief’s actions sparked even more anger and frustration from the crowd.

"The East Haven police chief is a disgrace," said New Haven resident Roberta Curcio, whose children live in East Haven. "He’s yelling at people in East Haven to get back. Who’s paying for all these extra cops? We are, the taxpayers."

East Havener Ed Vecello Sr., who joined the protest, said the motorcade was "rubbing salt on a wound."

"Any respect I had for them is gone now," he said. "She got the verdict. What more does she want?"

Several men in the crowd wore white T-shirts that said, "I support Officer Flodquist – Justice for ‘all.’" One of them, East Haven resident Richard Kennedy, held a small sign that read, "Criminals, stay out of East Haven. Everybody else welcomed!"

Kennedy said he had more inflammatory signs but did not show them at the request of East Haven police.

"It’s a shame what happened, but he got what he deserved," Kennedy said, referring to Malik Jones. "He was trying to run over a police officer."

Several people in the crowd yelled, "Obstructing traffic! Give him a ticket!" when a motorcyclist stopped in the middle of the intersection as the motorcade rolled along.

Those in the motorcade had different reactions to the furious crowd. A black woman in pink leaned out of one of the vehicles in the motorcade and flashed the victory sign with both hands, sparking more chants of "GO HOME!"

Another man in the motorcade riding in a green SUV popped out of the sunroof and gave the crowd two middle fingers, which the crowd immediately returned en mass.

"Get out!" East Haven resident Nancy Massaro yelled at the man. Massaro said she knew the caravan would "provoke things."

"I’m sorry, but I don’t consider this a victory," she said.

"Our taxes will go up, and we’re going to get creamed."

Massaro defended Flodquist’s actions, saying the officer could easily have been hurt or killed during the chase.

"You know how fast he could’ve hit the accelerator?" she said, referring to Jones. "The cop did his job as far as I’m concerned."

As the motorcade continued, East Haven resident Jeff Lendroth got the crowd to replace the "Go home" chant with "Bull----! Bull----! Bull----!"

Lendroth was on his way to pick up Chinese food when he stopped to talk with the small group of protesters in front of town hall at 4 p.m. He joined them after getting his food.

"I want a piece of cardboard (to write) ‘If you would’ve stopped, you’d still be alive,’" he said. "They’re trying the same thing as O.J. — racism."

As the motorcade neared the end, an unidentified man in a green T-shirt and sunglasses shot his middle fingers in the air and screamed "F--- you! F--- you!" A school-aged boy in black hair and a blue T-shirt also flipped his middle finger with the crowd.

Mark Lipka, a lifelong East Haven resident, said the motorcade was nothing more than a chance for Jones to "gloat." "All she wants to do is cause more trouble," said Lipka. "She didn’t raise her kid right, and that’s the bottom line."

Most of the supporters in New Haven said they did not expect the rally to become hostile.

"There might be some that feel negative," Frank Panzarella said. "East Haven has a chance to do the right thing with respect to the people."

Supporters were deflated and disappointed upon their return to Grand Auto Motorsports.

Members of the NAACP thanked the somber crowd for going through "the madness" peacefully.

"When I did the circle in East Haven a white woman (in another car) looked me directly in the face and said, ‘I’m glad he’s dead,’" said Ronelle Williams, a New Haven resident and friend of Jones. "After all we’ve been through, six years of injustice and pain — to hear her evil comments stunned me." At first Jones said she had to leave early because she was concerned about Malik’s 9-year daughter who was riding along in the motorcade. Jones said her granddaughter wasn’t taking it very well and "saw too much today." But as other supporters took the microphone to express their outrage at the day’s events Jones returned to ask the crowd if they believed East Haven was safe for people of color.

"We were riding in cars in groups," she said. "What do you think happened to my baby? We were escorted by police."

Kimberly Johnson can be reached at kjohnson@nhregister.com or 789-5748.

Rebecca Baker Erwin can be reached at rbakererwin@nhregister.com or 789-5716.

http://www.newhavenregister.com

[302Riz]

What a mess.

[86Dude]

Sounds like some frustrated white people finally getting an opportunity to express their frustration in an insignificant way.

[Snouter]

At first I thought this was about that retarded black guy who resisted arrest and pointed a cell phone at cops as if it was a gun. That criminal got euthanized with several lead projectiles per the video on TV.

Resisting arrest is turning out to be big business in black America and especially profiable for white hating, race hustlers like Johnny Cochrane.

[Kyle Gridley]

Good news!

Every time a few more Whites find the courage to stand up to these people, a few more will realize "hey, I feel that way too" and start to speak out themselves.

[Nick]

I wasn't in any of the videos. That sucks.