The same cop who killed Husien Shehada was involved in another fatal shooting the very next day that shut down the MacArthur Causeway for hours.

Here is the message and press release from protest organizers sent out to publicize tonight’s demonstration:

—South Florida Emergency Protest—

Justice for Husien Shehada! Jail Killer Cops!

For Immediate Release June 19, 2009

Press Contact
Muhammed Malik(305)761-6843

Emmanuel Lopez (305) 710-3189

Miami, FL—A number of South Florida community organizations will mobilize for an emergency protest in Miami Beach today, June 19th, to demand justice for Husien Shehada, a 29 year old Palestinian American whose life was cut short at the hands of another racist, killer cop on June 15th. The demonstration will be held from 6pm to 9pm in from of the police station on 1100 Washington Avenue, the site of Shehada’s murder.

The participating organizations include: South Florida Palestine Solidarity Network, Jewish Voice for Peace-South Florida, Palestinian American Organization, A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Florida, and many others.

Husein’s death is another brutal example of how an epidemic of racist police killings is plaguing communities of color throughout the United States. Violent police harassment is a routine part of life for Black, Latino, Arab, and other minority youth because of the countrywide institutionalization of racial profiling, stop and frisk, anti-gang injunctions, racist checkpoints—and of course, out right murder.

Brother Shehada’s death was no different: police questioned Husien’s partner, Karlia Karpel, and brother, Samir Shehada, as to whether he was “Arabic” or if he “spoke Arabic” as Husein lay dying at their feet.

Not surprisingly, the Miami Police Department is refusing to release any information on the shooting. The MPD even requested that the owners of Twist, a nearby nightclub, to not release surveillance video that would clearly show the cold blooded murder of Husien. The Miami PD knows that they stand to have demonstrations that will echo the outcries heard after the murders of Sean Bell in New York, Oscar Grant in Oakland, and the countless victims of criminal police aggression.

The organizations mobilizing for the demonstration today will also take note that on the day following the shooting, the Miami Herald reported that city commissioners where conspiring to hand themselves more power over the Civilian Investigation Panel (CIP), a community oversight board that investigates complaints on officers and makes recommendations on police policy.

The murder of Husien Shehada shows how the commissioners attempt to hand pick the members of this panel is a step in the wrong direction. Community members will make the following demands to ensure that Miami residents have more, not less, control over the CIP: the panel should be 1) popularly elected, not handpicked by politicians; 2) should control its own budget, not be subjected to the strings attached by the commission; and 3) have the power to not only make recommendations on police policy, but demand that officers who break a standard code of conduct be fired and brought up on charges if justice requires.

The need for community control to make these demands are clear: the officer who killed the unarmed Husien in cold blood is not awaiting his arraignment in a jail cell, but continues to collect a pay check as he sits behind a comfortable desk. The South Florida community stands with the Shehada family in this time of tragedy. We will carry the message of Samir Shehada, who could only muster up the following words at his younger brother’s funeral on Wednesday: “I hope justice is served, because it wasn’t right and that’s all I’ve got to say about it.”

STATEMENTS FROM FAMILY: “He wasn’t armed, how can you shoot someone for no reason? I need to know the reason, we all need to know what happened and we don’t know,” said Husien’s cousin Najwa Ghannam. “He did not deserve to die at 29-years-old,” said Samir Shehada, Husien’s brother who was with during shooting. “He doesn’t even own a gun! We were vacationing, we were vacationing.” “There was no hating him, there’s no disliking Husien, you loved Husein (chokes up) that’s how it is!” “It’s just crazy what it came to how an innocent person had to die. It shouldn’t have been him. I just can’t understand why it’s happening like this. It just doesn’t make sense to us,” Yasmean Shehada, sister, said from the family’s home, where relatives gathered in mourning. Samer’s girlfriend, Karlia Karpel, who was with them, called it the worst day of her life. “All I heard was people say they killed him for no reason,” she said. The family has hired criminal defense attorney John Contini to sort out what they allege is police wrongdoing. ”I think it’s clear the police are desperately trying to cover up a police killing of an unsuspecting, innocent citizen,” Contini said.

NEWS COVERAGE:

Video Shows SOBE Police Shooting Aftermath: http://cbs4.com/local/South.Beach.Police.2.1049315.html
TV Coverage: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/local/061609_va_man_shot_on_florida_vacation
Sun Sentinel (Broward) : http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-tourist-miami-bn091509,0,4626895.story
Miami Herald: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/sfl-tourist-miami-bn091509,0,4626895.story