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Tips to get through
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Vol. XXVII No. 6
he Choice for African American News
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2
Demotion still haunts former police officer
Photos by Cheris Hodges
; Sgt, Steve Hairston displays some of the many awards
he received during his 20 years on the force.
BY CHERIS HODGES
THE CHRONICLE
Former police Sgt. Stephen Hairston
spent 20 years on the police force. He was
honored by national, state and local officials
for his work in the community. But the one
thing that most people in the city know
about this former Employee of the Year is
that he was demoted after an out-of-control
rap concert at the Lawrence Joel Veterans
Memorial Coliseum.
“This one thing comes along and they
chop you off at the knees,” Hairston said.
“It was very painful; it was very emotional.”
The one thing was at the August 1999
concert at the LJVM featuring Luther
Campbell. A report by City Manager Bryce
Stuart alleged that police supervision at the
concert was lax, which led to an atmosphere
of violence.
Of the nine Winston-Salem police offi
cers that were hired that night, only three
officers were demoted ~ Hairston, Sgts.
Chuck Byrom and Victor Johnson.
Although the men were later given their
ranks back, Hairston said things were not
the same.
When he was reinstated, Hairston said
that he was placed back on the street. His
previous position was heading the Criminal
Investigations Division.
“(Chief Linda Davis) said there wasn’t an
opening in CID and she put me where there
was an opening,” Hairston said.
Even though the issue of the demotions
was resolved months ago, Hairston felt that
there were a lot of things left out of the dis
cussion. One of the reasons he is coming for
ward now is to thank all of the people who
supported him during the months after he
was demoted.
“I just want to thank the community and
all of the organizations that came out and
spoke in support. I feel if they hadn’t come
forward, this whole thing would have went
unnoticed or whatever,” he said.
The state NAACP, several aldermen and
many community groups supported Hair
ston and the other officers. George Allison,
executive director of the N.C. NAACP, said
in February that Stuart “botched the griev
ance process through months of inaction
and by possibly violating the officers’
rights.”
He also questioned the relationship
See Police officer on A3
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The new pro-lifers
Photos by Kevin Walker
Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton talk to an unidentified woman after the death penalty sym
posium at Wake Forests Thompson fingered Cotton for raping her in 1986. DNA tests later proved
he was innocent.
Death penalty opponents air gripes with criminal justice system
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
When Alfred Rivera speaks
out about the death penalty
and the inequities in the crimi
nal justice system, he speaks
with personal, hands-on
knowledge about both topics.
Convicted of first-degree
murder and sentenced to die in
a Forsyth County courtroom
more than year ago, Rivera
spoke as a free man Sunday
evening at a death penalty
symposium held at Wake For
est University School of Law.
“I was not a choir boy,”
Rivera told a crowd of mostly
lawyers and law students. “I
did bad things, but I didn’t kill
anyone.”
Rivera was described as
“one of the fortunate few” by
the symposium’s moderator.
Rivera’s attorneys were able to
get his death sentence reversed
by the N.C. Supreme Court on
an appeal. He was retried and
found not guilty.
Rivera believes that many
of those on death row and in
prisons today are just like him,
serving time for crimes they
had no hand in. They are vic
tims of overzealous prosecu
tors and a crime weary public
that sees punishment as a plus.
“When certain people walk
into a courtroom, we are
already branded a certain type
of person or a certain class of
person....We are not given a
chance,” Rivera said.
The symposium was spon
sored by a number of universi
ty organizations, including the
Association Against the Death
Penalty and the Black Law
Students Association. The
event was scheduled so close to
yesterday’s presidential debate
in order to garner as much
attention as possible, one orga
nizer.said.
“With this being an election
year, we want to bring the
death penalty into the public
eye,” said Alex Maclenahan, a
second-year law student at
Wake and president of the
Association Against the Death
Penalty.
Although the death penalty
issue has taken a back seat to
many other issues in the presi
dential race, one presidential
See Death penalty on A10
Million Family March
will live up to name,
several organizers say
BY T. KEVIN WALKER
THE CHRONICLE
Mikal Muhammad
The Nation of Islam is expecting the Million
Family. March to live up to its name. The
national director of Monday’s much-anticipat
ed event said 1 million or more families will be
there for a day of atonement and unity.
“We have gotten field reports that thousands
of buses have been chartered. Some people have
even chartered planes. Families are mobilizing,”
said Min. Benjamin Muhammad during a tele
phone news conference last week.
The Million Family March will take place on
the five-year anniversary of the Million Man
March, an event where the size of the crowd was estimated in the
hundreds of thousands by government officials, although the
Nation of Islam contends that more than a million men attended
the rally.
“God knows that we had more than a million last time,”
Muhammad said.
He said the Nation will use its on head coun
ters and helicopters at Monday’s march so that
it can counter inaccurate counts that may be
given by other sources.
At the time of the news conference late last
week, Muhammad said many of the details of
the march were still being ironed out. He did
say that a long list of political icons had already
signed on to speak at the march, including Mar
tin Luther King III, president of the Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, and Dorothy
Height, former president of the National Coun
cil of Negro 'Women. Other elected officials
from across the nation also are expected at the
event. But the two men seeking the nation’s highest elected office
are not scheduled to make appearances, Muhammad said.
Muhammad said Vice President A1 Gore and Texas Gov. George
W. Bush will be allowed to address the crowd only if they endorse
the national agenda of the Million Family March, which calls for
everything from less gun violence to efforts to eradicate poverty. As
of last week, neither campaign had made an effort to take part in
the event, Muhammad said.
Well-known entertainers have signed on to support the march,
and some will even be on hand to provide entertainment on the
three sound stages that will be erected around the National Mall.
5eeMFM on AlO
. Benjamin Muhammad
City puts on the ‘Presidential Debate Show’
BY CHERIS HODGES
THE CHRONICLE
Photo by Black Star Photos
A/ Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush pose after the
Boston.
With the first two presidential debates
out of the way, both camps are claiming
victories.
According to Ron Klain, senior adviser
for A1 Gore and Joe Lieberman, Gore is
winning the debates.
“He is the candidate with ‘real plans for
real people.’ Whether the issue is tax cuts,
or education, or health care, tonight’s
debate showed that the (George W.) Bush
plan benefits the few, while A1 Gore’s plan
is focused on working and middle class
families,” he said.
Wednesday’s debate was held after the
Chronicle’s press time. But in the days lead
ing up to the event, polls had Bush slightly
ahead of Gore.
Gore prepared for the Wake Forest
debate in Florida, while Bush flew into the
Tar Heel state the day before the face-off
The governor’s plane arrived at Piedmont
International Airport a little before 4 p.m.
Tuesday. Bush made no public appearances
before the debate.
Gore’s wife. Tipper, made an appear
ance in Greensboro yesterday afternoon.
First she attended a private luncheon, then
she made an appearance at the Evangel
Christian Center.
Gore arrived in Winston-Salem at 2:30
p.m. He landed at the Smith Reynolds air
port.
The first debate between Gore and Bush
was judged pretty evenly. According to a
poll released after the Oct. 3 debate, the
candidates were in a dead heat. Now, the
Texas governor leads the vice president by
eight points in the latest CNN/USA Today
poll.
According to Gore spokesperson Ellen
Mellody, the vice president plans to stick to
the issues in the last debate as he did in the
first two.
“Every time A1 Gore talks about the
issues people like him more,” she said.
The main issues the Gore camp has
identified as important to the American
people are health care, education and tar
geted tax cuts.
“The issues are what is important,”
Mellody said. Gore plans to stay away from
character attacks in his run for the White
House.
However, Bush has opened talks about
the vice president’s credibility. Gore came
under fire after the first debate for what
some in the press call embellishing. The
Bush camp said in statements and on their
web site that Gore will say anything to get
elected.
At press time, a spokesperson for the
Bush campaign could not be reached for
further comment.
After the debate at Wait Chapel was
over, both parties held rallies in the city.
Hundreds of Gore supporters headed out
to the Coliseum Annex. Gore arrived at the
event at 11:45 p.m.
The GOP and Bush supporters held a
separate rally in the cattle barn at the Dixie
Classic Fairgrounds. Bush arrived at the
FOR SUBSCRIPTIONS CALL (336) 722-8624
See Debate on A3
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