Brooklyn
students expressed outrage over the arrest of 32 teens last May at a rally held
outside police headquarters Saturday.
Charges have been dropped against 22 of the teens
charged with disorderly conduct on their way to a Coney
Island wake last May. While most of the teens will walk away with
clean records, four are still left facing trials.
Protestors at the rally say if one of the teens
was innocent, then they all are.
The arrests were made prior to a memorial for
shooting victim Donnell McFarland. Police had said they received numerous
complaints about possibly gang activity. They also said the teens were taking
up the entire sidewalk and walking on top of parked cars.
The teens, however, claim they were victims of
racial bias. They told News 12 Brooklyn last year that they just wanted to
remember a friend and that they had passes releasing them from school.
Rally organizers* expressed hope that dialogue with
police can be improved. The students say they feel like they are continually
targeted because they are young minorities in a low-income area.