Protesters gathered at the corner of 64th Street and 22nd Ave., carrying yellow placards reading "Stop Using Black Men as Target Practice," and "Free Haitian Refugees." "If we can't vote people in the positions to do the right thing then we have no other alternative than to protest," said [Lorraine Goddard], who held a sign that read "No Justice, No Transit Tax." "We demand that the police who have been guilty of killing our youth be prosecuted and put in jail," said Mel Reeves, an organizer with the coalition. "We also demand that they free the Haitian refugees who are being held in the Chrome detention center."
While six Haitian nations were arrested and charged with orchestrating the boat ride where 235 Haitians waded to a Florida shoreline, Rep Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and the Congressional Black Caucus on Oct 3, 2002 called on President Bush to intervene in the crisis. Rather than processing the Haitians and granting them political asylum, immigration officials said the 235 will be detained for months.
