Louima in Hospital, Police Still on Street
Keith Mitchell, News Editor
Abner Loumia, a Haitian immigrant from Brooklyn, was allegedly beaten and sodomized with a toilet plunger in the basement of the 70th precinct in Brooklyn. The case has sparked world attention and stands as a reflection of the rise of police brutality in New York City under the term of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Loumia was exiting a club in Flatbush when he was accosted by several police officers. Taken by squad car to the 70th precinct, he was thrown into the precinct basement, beaten and sodomized. When he pleaded for his life, one officer allegedly stated “Dinkins isn’t in power. It’s Giuliani time!”
The statement universalized the general rise in brutality. In 1995, Amnesty International condemned the NYPD for it’s systemic attacks on the people of color, noting a 61.9% increase in brutality cases since 1993. Despite the posturing of Giuliani and Police Commissioner Safir’s new task force on police brutality and their criticisms of the station house leadership at the 70th, the blue wall of silence has extended around City Hall. Giuliani has defended killer cops, including Francis Livoti, who killed Anthony Baez, and was acquitted. 4 years earlier, Giuliani, in a election against David Dinkins, led an explicitly racist, expletive filled cop riot outside City Hall.
Community reaction to these attacks has been swift and persistent. There have been daily protests around the 70th precinct, and a week after the incident, a march of thousands across the Brooklyn Bridge demanded justice for Louima.
Democratic and Republican politicians continue to point fingers and
use this incident as a means of boosting their bids for reelection in the
fall. Only the pressure from the people can insure true justice.
