Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / Oct. 4, 2001, edition 1 / Page 2
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Officer breaks silence after acquittal Stephen Roach shot and killed an unarmed black man in April, sparking riots in Cincinnati ?OftCIHS ? &tmd up I I'hoio h) Mike Simons/(iclt> Images A protester holds up a sign in a Cincinnati City Council meeting in reaction to the not guilty ver dict of Cincinnati Police Officer Stephen Roach Sept. 26. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS CINCINNATI - A white Cincinnati police officer acquitted in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man doesn.'t know if his life will ever be what it once was: nor mal. "Normal?" Stephen Roach said in an interview with The Cincinnati Enquirer pub lished Saturday. "What would that be like?" Roach was acquitted Sept. 26 by a Hamilton County judge of misdemeanor charges of negligent homicide and obstruct ing official business. Roach shot Timothy Thomas, 19, on April 7, after chasing him into a dark alley. Thomas was wanted on 14 misdemeanor warrants. The shooting touched off three nights of rioting in which dozens of people were injured and more than 800 arrested in the city's worst racial unrest since the Rev. Mar tin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in 1968. "I still can't believe all that has happened in the city in the last six months because of something that took just seconds to occur in that alley," Roach told the newspaper in his first interview since the verdict. Roach. 27. did not talk much about the shooting because he is being sued for wrong ful death by Thomas' mother, Angela Leisure, and the city is doing its own investigation. He did say the trial had a "just" ending. "What went on in that alley was a nightmare for everybody," Roach said as he sat 6n a sofa in the home he shares with his wife, Erin. Roach said he and his wife have not returned t6 their normal routines since the shooting. "We put a lot of stuff on hold," he said. "We were thinking about building a new house. We haven't talked about having kids for a long time. "The only time we've mentioned kids is when we say how lucky we were we didn't have kids when this thing happened," he said. "Through it all, Erin showed so much strength. She kept the whole family together - her folks, my parents, us. She put everything into perspective. She kept telling me that no matter what happened, we had each other." Roach said that after the shooting, he and his wife were afraid to leave their home. He said the public has been supportive and he has received many anonymous donations to his $56,000 legal defense fund. Last Thursday morning, after work, he and his wife went to breakfast at a downtown restaurant. No one interrupted their meal, but they could not leave without being spotted. "An African-American gentleman stopped me on the street. He said. 'I just want to say thanks.' "He said he really appreciated what I said after court that day." In a statement after the trial. Roach read an apology to Thomas' mother. "The man said: '1 know it's a tough time. You're not going to be able to say much. There's not much you can say. But, you did the right thing.'" Roach has not returned to his beat. His police powers are suspended while he works in the city's impound lot. Roach's job is to inspect cars, enter data into a computer and wait for an owner to show up. "Some have said, 'Oh. you're Officer Roach,"' he said. "And they may have had bad thoughts about me. But they've never said any thing." Roach eventually hopes to return to police work, but not yet. "I still have problems dealing with this thing," Roach said. "It's going to take time. It wouldn't be right to come back, for me, for the Cincinnati police, for the city." Roach has an unpublished telephone num ber and could not be reached for additional comment. Clinton: blacks should make 'right compromises' Former president tells CBC to take caution with anti-terrorism laws BY HAZEL TRICE EDNEY NNPA CORRESPONDEN1 WASHINGTON - Former President Bill Clinton says blacks should be prepared to "make the right compromises" on proposed anti-terrorist laws because threats on civil rights by terrorists are far worse. "This terrorist attack basi cally wants to create a world that is the exact opposite of everything that black people have worked for since the end of slavery because they (terror ists) believe that they have the truth " Clinton told NNPA in an interview after he received an achievement award during the annual dinner at the Congres sional Black Caucus Legislative conference last Saturday night. "What I think we should do is support responsible military and law enforcement options that are consistent with preserv ing our civil liberties. We can make the right compromises," he said. "Twenty-five years ago, there were people who said metal detectors at airports were actually an infringement upon our civil liberties. They said there's going to be a prob lem. Now we do it as a matter of course." Clinton said the outlandish oppression of women and non Muslims in some Middle East ern countries should show all Americans the anti-civil and anti-human rights mentalities of some who warp Islamic beliefs and should be a reminder to African Americans that "we've been down this road before." In response to a question about whether he had been communicating with President Bush, Clinton said. "I got a let ter from him the other day." But he declined to say what the let ter said. "We'll talk," he said of his plans in relation to Bush. Clinton's encouragement of African Americans to make civil rights compromises is directly opposed to a coalition r.f rights organiza tions, including the Ameri can Civil Liberties Union, which have decried many of the proposals in a legislative anti-terrorism package Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have sent before Con gress. Ashcroft is encouraging a vote on the package this week, although civil rights representa tives have encouraged Congress not to rush. "We already live in a sur veillance society," said Laura Murphy, director of the Wash ington, D.C., office of the ACLU, which has asked mem bers of Congress to study the proposal well before voting, "We shouldn't rush through this process because the conse quences will last the rest of our lives," she said. "There is a cooperative spir it, but that does not mean that the president can get passed anything that he wants," said Rep. Robert C. Bobby Scott (D Va.), a member of the Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee. The proposed new laws include the ability to wiretap > any phone used by a suspect, including landline phones and cell phones. It is a proposal most civil rights representatives have said is palatable. But other proposed legisla tion, such as unlimited detain ment of aliens without judg ment. is being strongly chal lenged. i Scott File Photo As president, Clinton addresses the CBC. He also spoke to the group over the v/eekend at its annual meeting. Students respond to attacks SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE Moved by the Sept. 11 ter rorist attacks on the United States, a group of Wake Forest University students has begun organizing a series of events that explores issues raised by the attack. The series, or theme year, is called "The Year of Unity and Hope: Pro Humani tate at Work." Expected to run throughout the academic year, the series began Sept. 26 with an 8 p.m. forum called "Understanding September I I." Wake Forest faculty mem bers, including Charles "Hank" Kennedy and Charles Kimball, spoke at the forum. They gave short presentations on their areas of expertise fol lowed by a question-aftd answer session. Kennedy, a professor of political science, is an expert on Pakistan and the Arab Israeli conflict. Kimball, chair of the religion department, is an expert on Islam and religion and politics in the Middle East. Both have provided analysis of the United States' "War on Ter rorism" for the media. Wake Forest senior Jay Cridlin is the co-chair of the event series committee, which was created during a university retreat for student leaders. Cridlin. editor of Wake For est's student newspaper, the Old Gold and Black, said the committee was formed in response to students' need to understand the political situa tion and to assist in the relief efforts. "The political situation is so complex, and a lot of people still don't understand why all this is happening, and what could happen from here," Cridlin said. "There's a great need for information, and for opportunities to do something with the knowledge and under standing we hope to gain." University administrators are working with the students ? to plan the theme year. "We were very pleased to see that students were com pelled enough to explore this topic that they wanted to take responsibility for organizing the theme year and events," said Ken Zick. vice president of student life and instruction al resources at Wake Forest. "The student leaders will also act as a coordinating com mittee for student-run initia tives for service to help with the relief effort like blood drives." Wake Forest has previously celebrated theme years, includ ing "The Year of Ethics and Honor" and "The Year of the Arts." No single theme had been chosen for this year. With approval from the university, the students are planning sev eral events tied to the theme, "The Year of Unity and Hope: Pro Humanitate at Work." "Pro Humanitate" is the Wake For est motto. It means. "For the good'of humanity." Events will include a fund raiser organized by the univer sity's Volunteer Service Corps to raise money for the Septem ber 11 Fund, which benefits victims in New York, Washing ton and Pennsylvania. The stu dent committee will also invite prominent speakers to campus. I l The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston Salem, NC 27101. Periodicals Postage paid at Win ston-Salem, N.C. Annual subscription price is $30*72. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636 Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636 INDEX OPINION A6 SPORTS B1 RELIGION B4 CLASSIFIEDS .B8 HEALTH C3 ENTERTAINMENT C7 CALENDAR C9 j?? REGGAE 5iMRSTARS mm DAY 18PM iiiiii THE in suNoaaaooi su 4UlAITTtt wmnH'tMxtLMX. _ JAzatea 'Terrace . ' ' : Mousing 'Jor i \JulI> Now Leas in a ? T1 i> Comfort and convenience await you at AzaUa Terrace, one of Wmston-SoCem's neuest apartment communities for older adults. 4 Certain a#e andmcome ^uaUfuations appfy. Kmlal Aisutatue u aiatCaSCr For iniormaiuwi umi^i < ???Mm Mtiu((nrnl ( orporatKia 336-765-0424 (TDD* I *m-?35-2*2? kirsfy cmc-m eimMmtkm Bv K???bwl> Pari I LL C Spnmrirrd H> TV ti<Hiving Whnrm of Vk indon-Saktn and Jk Son* HJt (IHOlSIM.Oftl*TUN1 T> f
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