Proest to Kofi Adu-Brempong Shooting
Source: http://www.alligator.org/news/local/article_59b04dc6-46a6-11df-9ce9-001cc4c03286.html
Posted: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 12:05 am
Updated: 11:03 pm, Mon Apr 12, 2010.
CAROLYN TILLO, Alligator Staff Writer
Kwame Appiah Boateng, a civil rights activist and Ghana native who lives in California, is organizing a march to the White House this summer to present a petition protesting excessive use of police force on American college campuses.
Boateng said he hopes to present the petition to President Barack Obama or White House staff on July 4, and he wants millions of people to join the cause.
“I wish all students across America will participate and student leaders will come and speak,” Boateng said.
The peaceful march will focus around the White House lawn, he said.
The march was spurred not only by the March 2 shooting of Kofi Adu-Brempong but also by shootings in states, including New York and California.
Boateng, who heard about the March 2 shooting of Adu-Brempong through a Ghanaian news site, said he is encouraging UF students to take the lead in organizing the protest.
“Unfortunately, this is a tragedy, but the UF students should exploit it for the public good in the end,” Boateng said.
Although the plans for the march are not finalized, Dave Schneider, one of the organizers of the UF shooting protest, said he thinks representatives from UF will go to Washington, D.C., to speak during the protest.
Schneider said Adu-Brempong’s shooting is a stark example of police brutality and injustice.
“And I think that by getting UF students up there, we’re taking a very bold stance that this doesn’t happen again,” Schneider said.
UF President Bernie Machen met with the UF protesters last week, and UF spokesman Steve Orlando said he hopes negotiations will continue to move forward.
“Anybody who has an opinion to express should express it,” Orlando said.
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