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St. Louis American Insert
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CAC Audited JUNE 3 – 9, 2021
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Honoring those slain in 1921 Tulsa massacre
Vol. 93 No. 10 COMPLIMENTARY
City faces lawsuit alleging brutal treatment at CJC
Suit seeks damages, policy changes By Dana Rieck Of The St. Louis American
Photo courtesy of the AP
A woman walks by a mural depicting the Tulsa Race Massacre during its centennial on Monday, May 31. Up to 300 people were killed when a white mob attacked the affluent Greenwood neighborhood, home to about 10,000 people and a flourishing business district known as “Black Wall Street.”
President Biden: ‘Hell was unleashed’
The Defender News Service An emotional President Joe Biden marked the 100th anniversary of the massacre that destroyed a thriving Black community in Tulsa, declaring Tuesday that he had “come to fill the silence” about one of the nation’s darkest — and long suppressed — moments of racial violence. “Some injustices are so heinous, so horrific, so grievous, they cannot be buried, no matter how hard people try,” Biden said. “Only with truth can come healing.” “Just because history is silent, it does not mean that it did not take place,” Biden said. He said “hell was unleashed, literal hell was unleashed.” And now, he said, the nation must come to grips with the subsequent sin of denial. “We can’t just choose what we want to know, and not what we should know,” said Biden. “I come here to help fill the silence, because in silence wounds deepen.” After Biden left, some audience members spontaneous-
More Tulsa massacre coverage See Editorial on page A4 and historic Black Tulsa church on Religion page B2
ly sang a famous civil rights march song, “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around.” In 1921 — on May 31 and June 1 — a white mob, including some people hastily deputized by authorities, looted and burned Tulsa’s Greenwood district, which was referred to as Black Wall Street. As many as 300 Black Tulsans were killed, and thousands of survivors were forced for a time into internment camps overseen by the National Guard. Burned bricks and a fragment of a church basement are about all that survive today of the more than 30-block historically Black district. On Tuesday, the president, joined by top Black advisers, met privately with three surviving members of the Greenwood community who lived through the violence, the White House said. Viola “Mother” Fletcher, Hughes “Uncle Red” Van Ellis and Lessie “Mother Randle” See TULSA, A7
Capt. David Dorn hailed as role model, dedicated public servant He remained ‘an officer at heart’
By Alvin A. Reid Of the St. Louis American A protector. A fine man. A great partner. These words and more were used in tribute to the late retired St. Louis Metropolitan Police Capt. David Dorn, who was slain by gun fire during a pawn shop burglary early on June 2, 2020. Dorn, who was 77, worked security for the business. He left home to protect it in response to an alarm as rioting and looting broke out in the city following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. “He was a protector,” said interim Public Safety Director Dan Isom at an Ethical Society of Police (ESOP) memorial service for Dorn in Forest Park on See DORN, A6
Photo by Wiley Price / St. Louis American
State Rep. Shamed Dogan announced that portions of Martin Luther King Drive and I-70 will be named after slain retired SLMPD Capt. David Dorn during an Ethical Society of Police memorial service Wednesday in Forest Park.
The stories of abuse at City Justice Center detailed in a newly filed lawsuit seem endless — but there’s a common thread through them all: correctional officers are allegedly excessively macing inmates and withholding access to clean water as punishments. The lawsuit was filed May 24 on behalf of Derrick Jones, n “I wouldn’t want Darnell Rusan Jerome Jones another mother to and (no relation) hang close to her by attorneys with ArchCity phone and worry day in and day out Defenders, the Roderick about the safety & Solange of their loved ones MacArthur that are inside that Justice Center, place because you Rights Behind Bars and the just don’t know Saint Louis what may hapUniversity pen.” School of Law Clinics. – Catrese Howard Derrick Jones has been in custody at CJC since November 3, 2020, Jerome Jones spent over two years in custody there awaiting trial before he was ultimately acquitted and Darnell Rusan has been in custody since around Thanksgiving 2020. Maureen Hanlon, a staff attorney with ArchCity Defenders, said they’re not only seeking monetary damages, but a commitment from the city to change the jail’s poliSee CJC, A7
Activists decry probation for white bomber Guilty of three felonies, gets slap on wrist
By Dana Rieck Of The St. Louis American Local leaders and activists last week condemned a judge’s decision to sentence a 26-year-old white man to probation for possessing explosive devices and planning a targeted attack on minorities and people involved with the Black Lives Matter movement. Cameron Swoboda was arrested in June 2020 after charges were filed alleging that he constructed “homemade explosives” and targeted BLM protesters that same month, during the time that local activists were protesting after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis. The court eventually reduced his $50,000 bond to $5,000 and he was released from custody in August, under the mandate that he undergo alcohol abuse treatment in addition to psychological treatment. In mid-May, Swoboda pleaded guilty to those charges — three felony counts of
See BOMBER, A6