The
Student Coalition Against Racial Profiling, a student-led group, asks
that charges be dropped and advocates an end to profiling by the NYPD
of Latino and African American youth.

In
response to the arrest of nearly 40 students in the Bushwick community
of Brooklyn en route to the wake of a deceased friend, City Councilman
Charles Barron, members of the newly-formed Student Coalition Against
Racial Profiling (SCARP), and concerned community members will meet
with District Attorney Charles Hynes to ask that all charges against
the students be dropped. The Coalition further requests a public
apology, and that Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Kelly commit
to dialoging with the Bushwick community to end police misconduct and
racial profiling.

Councilman
Charles Barron and the SCARP members will hold a press conference after
meeting with the District Attorney. "We are calling for District
Attorney Charles Hynes to drop the charges," said Councilman Barron."These
young people were unable to mourn their friend’s death because of
ongoing police harassment in our communities. We must demand that all
the charges be dropped."

The
community insists that this is only the latest example of the targeting
of youth of color by the NYPD.

Local teacher Tabari Bomani stated,
"This is one of the worst cases of police racially profiling innocent
people in recent years and the media has largely ignored the true
story. We can’t allow this to be pushed under the rug."

Oona Chatterjee,
Co-Director of Make the Road by Walking, a community organization
supporting the student founders of SCARP and those who were arrested,
said, "it has amazed me how quickly the powers that be have rushed to
condemn these young people.From Police
Commissioner Ray Kelly’s public statements to the editorial pages of
the Daily News, responsible adults have jumped to pronounce these young
people guilty, with no concrete proof.Our
organization believes that these young people are owed much more
respect than that. When the NYPD makes a mistake, it should admit that
mistake."

Press
conference organizers highlight data gathered by the New York Civil
Liberties Union — in 2006, over 94% of stop and frisks by the 83rd
precinct and 90% of stop and frisks citywide resulted in no summons
issuance or arrest."This is how our community’s young people experience the police.They are stopped regularly, and often without reason," said Chatterjee.

WHEN:   3:00 PM, TODAY, Tuesday, June 19, 2007

WHERE:   350 Jay Street, Brooklyn (in front of the office of District Attorney Charles Hynes)

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