PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY EDITION
Volume 123 No. 31
Don’t forget!
Move Clocks Forward Sunday
MARCH 7, 2015 - MARCH 13, 2015
Maryland Random Shootings Evoked D.C. Sniper Memories
Ferguson, Missouri
Scathing U.S. Report Brings Pressure for Change
The Associated Press
In this Nov. 25, 2014 file photo, police watch the street as protesters gather outside the Ferguson Police Department. By Eric Tucker Associated Press A Justice Department report says Blacks in Ferguson, Missouri, are disproportionately subject to excessive police force, baseless traffic stops and citations for infractions as petty as walking down the middle of street. City officials said Tuesday they were reviewing the report, which they expect to be released Wednesday. With scathing findings of a months-long investigation being released, attention now turns to Ferguson as the city confronts how to fix racial biases that the federal government says are
AP Photo
rooted in the police department, court and jail. The full report could serve as a roadmap for significant changes by the department, which commanded national attention after one of its officers shot and killed an unarmed Black man, 18-year-old Michael Brown, last summer. Similar federal investigations of troubled police departments have led to the appointment of independent monitors and mandated overhauls in the most fundamental of police practices. The Justice Department maintains the right to sue a police department if officials balk at making changes, though many investigations resolve the issue with both sides Continued on A5
A man accused of firing at five public places in Maryland, including a building at the headquarters of the National Security Agency, chose his targets at random, police said Wednesday. Anne Arundel County Chief Timothy Altomare said the shootings over the past week evoked memories for officers of two snipers who killed 10 people in 2002 in the Washington area. Despite the fear created by the latest shootings, Altomare said everyone is “alive and well.” “I’m struck by the fact most of us here probably in some way, shape or form, are aware of the events 15 years ago with the D.C. sniper case,” Altomare said at a news conference while flanked by officers from the FBI and Howard and Prince George’s counties. “As soon as we started to hear about the possibility of this stuff being linked, we kicked every effort we had into overdrive.” The multi-jurisdiction manhunt resulted in the charging of Hong Young, 35, of Beltsville, with attempted murder and assault in the first shooting Feb. 24 near Arundel Mills mall. Police linked the other shootings by ballistic evidence or surveillance video. Anne Arundel police spokesman T.J. Smith said Young was being monitored at a local hospital and was under police guard. Authorities didn’t know if he had an attorney. Two Anne Arundel officers took him into custody Tuesday night after spotting a 1999 Lincoln Town Car near the site of the first shooting. One person was hurt by broken glass from a vehicle window in that case. Another person was similarly injured Tuesday in a shooting along a busy highway in Prince George’s. Continued on A3
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By James Wright Special to the AFRO
(Standing) Congresswomen Donna M. Chrietensen, Congressman Robert C. Scott and Congresswomen Sheila Jackson Lee. (Seated)A. Shuanise Washington- President and CEO, CBCF, Congressman G. K. Butterfield, Jim Colon VP of Toyota African-American Business Strategy, Congressman Charles B. Rangel, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. and Congressman Chaka Fattah Photo by Rob Roberts
On Feb. 24, the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation held its Sixth Annual A Voice Heritage Celebration at The Hamilton Hotel in downtown Washington. Reps. John Conyers (D-Mich.) and Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) were honored for their long service in Congress. Toyota was the recipient of the Distinguished Corporation Award.
U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), a former chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, said that she was happy to attend the event. “I came here to help honor two of my colleagues,” Johnson said. “These men were among the founders of the Congressional Black Caucus and I have solicited and followed the advice of both. They are my mentors.” The CBC was founded in 1971 and Conyers and Rangel
Continued on A4
D.C. Honors Trailblazer Edward Brooke By James Wright Special to the AFRO The late Edward Brooke, who served as the first popularly-elected Black in the U.S. Senate, will be remembered in the District this month. Brooke, a D.C. native representing Massachusetts in the Senate from 1967-1979, will be honored by his fraternity Alpha Phi Alpha in an Omega Service at 4 p.m. March 9 in the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel, Howard University. Brooke pledged Alpha at Howard and served as an undergraduate leader of the fraternity while a student. In later years, Brooke served the fraternity as the founding chair of the Alpha Phi Alpha World Policy Council. After the service, there will be a reception at the Armour J. Blackburn University Center. Ralph Neas,
who worked for Brooke from 19731979 and was a close friend to the late senator, said his widow, Anne Brooke, is expected to attend the events. “Brother Brooke was a national treasurer and Alpha Phi Alpha will recognize his tremendous contributions to our country,” Alpha Phi Alpha General President Mark S. Tillman said. “It is because of
Washington National Cathedral. At 3 p.m., Brooke will be interred at the Arlington National Cemetery. Brooke was the first Black to serve as a state attorney general, elected in 1962 by the voters of Massachusetts. During Brooke’s terms in the Senate, there was speculation in the media and among some Republicans of his being a vice presidential running mate or an associate justice on the U.S. Supreme Court. Brooke sponsored legislation that housing for –U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) supported people of all races and incomes, and fought against White racist brothers like him advocating for our governments in Africa. He took on fellow Republican, President Richard communities that we [Alpha] are the Nixon, by refusing to vote for three College of Friendship, the University of Brotherly Love, and the School for of his nominees to the Supreme Court Courtesy Photo and calling for the president to resign The late Edward Brooke was the first the Better Making of Men.” when the Watergate scandal became a Black elected U.S. senator and state Brooke’s funeral services will be held 11 a.m. March 10 at the Continued on A4 attorney general.
“Ed Brooke was a real statesman.”
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