The Chron _
Vol. XXXV No. 50 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, August 13,2009
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Did Cops Go Too Far?
Questions being asked after police shoot pepper spray, Taser at crowded NBTF event ^ j
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE . *
"Nightmare on Cherry Street," that's how local
business owner Yusef Suggs describes the events
that occurred on Aug. 8 - the last night of the
National Black Theatre Festival.
The Winston-Salem Police Department con
firms that at least one of its officers used pepper
spray in a large crowd of people gathered on both
sides of Cherry Street soon after midnight to
watch the NBTF Closing Parade. A laser was also
used, the department says. It is unclear, though, if
the same officer that used the pepper spray also
used the taser, which police officers just recently
began using after they were purchased with feder
al stimulus dollars.' -
Captain Bill Cobb - commander of the
Winston-Salem Police Department's' Special
Pat to n
Rauntree
Burke
Operations division, which coordinated the offn
cers.for the event - said the pepper spray and taser
were used to because some in the large crowd
were unruly.
"We had a series of fights. . . arid two incidents
of significant groups fighting." he said. "At the
point that we. had multiple fights (Saturday night),
the event was over and folks were surging, caus
ing a crowd control and safety issue on the street ."
Those in the Crowd paint a different picture.
The Chronicle received calls and an email soon
after the incident. Those who contacted the paper
said they did nothing wrong but came into the con
tact with the pepper spray and left what was sup
posed to be a festive event with red, itchy eyes and
a coughing fit. ?
Suggs is one of the owners of the North.
Carolma Artists Market, which sits near the corner
of Cherry and Fifth Street, just a stone's throw
away from where the incident took place.
He and other witnesses say that more than one
officer used their spray and that the fumes were so
See Police on A12
Interfaith,
multi-racial
effort to build
Habitat home
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Congregations of various
faiths and ethnicities will
come together this Labor Day
weekend to build a Habitat
r ii
ior numanuy
house for a local
family.
Nine congrega
tions from black,
white and
Hispanic churches
Dellabrook,
Grace. Highland,
Llyod, Trinity and
Parkway
Pre s b y t e r i a n
cnurcnes ana ti
Buen Pastor - along with the
Masjid AI-Mu'Minum and
Temple Emanuel are partici
pating in the Fourth Unity
Build. Members from the
congregations gathered
Sunday to celebrate their
partnership with a picnic at
Salem Lake.
"It's a nice way to get so
many people involved in one
project," said Sue Kent, a
Kent
member of Highland and the
build's co-chair.
The build will be jump
started over the four-day
Labor Day Weekend (Sept. 2
-5), but won't be completed.
Volunteers will
then continue to
work on the home
for two days a week
until it is finished,
which will likely be
in December. By
the end of the build,
well over 400 vol
unteers will have
worked on the
house.
Kent said the
benefits ot the
build are two fold. Like all
Habitat houses - which are
built with volunteer labor - it
will be sold, with an interest
free mortgage, to a low
income family. And volun
teers who build it will gain
the experience of fellowship.
The first Unity Build was
held in 2000 among the six
churches in the Presbyterian
See lnterfaith on A12
Photo* by Todd Luck
Congregants break bread together Sunday at Salem Lake .
? i ~
Photo by Kevin Walker
Chef Barry
Moody poses
with his latest
creation and
product. He
has just added
a speciality
BHQ sauce to
his Spice
Delight line.
Womble
Racial
justice bill
is finally
state law
Rep. Womble fought
for bill for several
years
BY LAYLA FARMER
THE CHRONICLE
Gov. Bev Purdue signed
the Racial Justice Act into
law Tuesday, completing
i what has been a more than
| three year journey for many
of the bill's initial support
ers.
In a nutshell, the new law
allows defendants who feel
that race played a significant
role in the prosecutor's deci
sion to seek the death penal
ty in their cases to have their
cases reviewed in a court of
law.
The defendant will be
allowed to present statistics
and other ev idence to bolster
his or her claim that race
played a role. If the cou t
finds race was indeed a fac
tor, the defendant's death
penalty sentencing will be
amended to life in prison
without the possibility of
parole.
"I'm elated; I'm happy."
State Rep. Larry Womble.
who has sponsored the Act
since its inception, said of its
passage. "It's been a long,
hard journey, but the reward
is seeing something that's
going to benefit the state of
North Carolina."
Sec Bill on A12
Finger Liddn'
Good Success
Story
In a few short years, chef went from
working for others to working to
promote his own products
BY T KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Want to know Chef Barry Moody's recipe for suc
cess? ?
It starts with a cup of self-confidence; a pound of
determination; a dash of creativity; and a liberal
amount of God-given talent.
Less than five years ago Moody made his living
working in the kitchens of popular local eateries. The
jobs paid the bills, but did not allow Moody - who
considers the culinary arts a true form of creative
expression - to put his signature on traditional dishes.
The Hawthorne Inn and Conference Center gave him
Sec Mood) on A 1 1
Ready for his close-up
Photo by Kevin Walker
A fan takes a close-up photo of actor l.amman
Rucker during last week's National Hlack Theatre
Festival. Rucker is best known for the film "Why
Did I Get Married?" and the series "Meet the
Browns."
BUY LOCAL