[“SPEAKING TRUTH TO EMPOWER”]
Krickovich and LaCerra–curbside justice?
Photo: Facebook Screenshot
A Florida sheriff’s deputy still has his job several days after video surfaced showing his violent head-bashing beat-down of an unresistant Black 15-year-old male from a local high school.
Friday, the local mayor requested his immediate firing. Why is he still working?
This incident is one of many which underscores the enduring problem of police violence against Black people. Congress has been silently absent in addressing this deadly issue of racial policing. Where are Black America’s political leaders? Why are their tongues muted on this topic?
Why does the American Congress give us grandstanding lectures about the “rule of law,” while they allow those tasked with upholding it to continually break it against Black people?
Broward County Sheriffs’ Deputy Christopher Krickovich still has his job although Broward Mayor Mark Bogen called for him to be “fired immediately,” after viewing the unprovoked attack on a 15-year-old Black boy, called Lucca. A viral video of the incident shows Krickovich, and Sgt. Greg LaCerra repeatedly punching Lucca—after he was thrown, face down, to the ground.
Lucca was later spuriously charged with resisting arrest by these deplorable deputies. The only “resisting” was Lucca’s attempt to protect his head—from being slammed into the concrete street. This police assault by Krickovich and LaCerra gives meaning to the term “curbside justice.”
This criminal assault, by these two officers, occurred near Lucca’s high school in Tamarac, Florida, on April 18. Reportedly, police received a 911 call, around 3:00 p.m. saying there was a fight at a local McDonald’s hangout for nearby high schoolers. Apparently, not long after arriving, police arrested a teen for supposedly trespassing. As police were arresting this teen, Lucca tried to secure a phone that had fallen from the teen’s pocket. Was Lucca possibly his friend?
It is around this point that the video starts rolling and we soon see Lucca being pepper-sprayed, followed by the violent takedown. At no time is Lucca resisting. The video shows his head being bashed into the pavement.
The video clearly shows an unjustified attack. Both Krickovich and LaCerra should be fired.
Mayor Bogen realized Krickovich’s slamming of the teen’s head was unlawful and extreme. “The behavior of these Broward Sheriff’s Office deputies was outrageous and unacceptable,” Bogen said in a statement Friday. “The officer who jumped on the student, punched the student and banged his head to the ground should be fired immediately.”
So, why is Krickovich still working in the Broward County Sheriff’s Office?
According to Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony they need to launch a “thorough investigation,” which “may take some time but we will be transparent, and if folks need to be held accountable, it shall be done.” The video makes it clear they do need to be held to account. The
Broward Sheriff’s Office acts as if the video isn’t clear enough, as is. What do they expect to find that will justify the unprovoked assault we saw perpetrated on video by Krickovick and LaCerra? Will they be telling us Lucca wasn’t a saint, therefore the assault was proper? Nothing that may’ve happened before justifies the brutality we see from these “peace officers.”
Deputy Krickovich’s claims in the police report is full of laughable lies. Here is part of his tale.
“While I was dealing with the male on the ground, I observed his phone slide to the right of me and then behind me. I observed a teen wearing a red tank top reach down and attempt to grab the male student’s phone,” Krickovich says. Krickovich then claims this teen “took an aggressive stance” toward Sgt. LaCerra, and “bladed his body and began clenching his fists.” Krickovich said this made him fear for his safety so he “quickly jumped on the male with the red tank top.”
What does “bladed his body” mean? Are they saying Lucca turned his body in an offensive position so he could then be stomped by two police thugs? The video tells us Krickovich is lying when he says Lucca “began clenching his fists.”
Fair-minded honest people know this video shows yet another gratuitous attack on a Black person by police. Over 40, 000 people, who saw this video, signed a petition calling for Krickovick’s firing. Parkland shooting survivor, David Hogg, pitched into to help Lucca’s legal defense.
Why is Lucca the one being subjected to legal jeopardy—and not Krickovich and LaCerra?
NBA superstar LeBron James, currently with the Los Angeles Lakers, who played four years for the Miami Heat, tweeted “So wrong!! Hurts me to my soul!! To think that could be my sons. Scary time man.” Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, in response to James’s tweet, said “What the hell is wrong with our country? This is insane yet routine. So demoralizing.”
Both of these NBA professionals express the current frustration regarding racial policing. LeBron’s comment of “that could be my sons,” echoes the fears of fathers, mothers, and families, across Black America. It’s reminiscent of President Obama’s comment “If I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon” Martin, who was unjustly killed by wannabe cop George Zimmerman, on February 26, 2012, in Sandford, Florida.
Steve Kerr’s comments are also spot on.
“What the hell is wrong with our country?” Where are our political leaders? Why do they remain silent while Black blood is continually spilled on American streets by people who are supposedly there “to protect and serve?” Of course, American policing never intended “to protect and serve” Black Americans—since we were always labeled the “criminal menaces to [American] society.”
The 2020 Presidential Election season has already begun. Many pressing problems must be addressed: healthcare, affordable college education, unemployment and housing problems. The current squatter in the White House must be given an eviction letter. However, it should bother Black Americans that most of these Democratic Party presidential candidates say little, if anything, about fixing the inherent institutional racism in policing. Police unions—who cover-up, co-sign, and encourage criminal cop culture—have most politicians fearful. Politicians want the endorsements of police unions. Black lives become sacrificial in the electoral chess game. Because we are political pawns, we’re also target practice for killer-cops.
How many dead Black bodies will it take to make these professional politicians act?
Several weeks ago, the Black Star News, emailed most of the Democratic presidential candidates and asked them their solutions for fixing racial policing. To date, the only candidate who responded was Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, who sent us a copy of her September 27, 2015 speech at the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate.
In her speech, Senator Warren noted “violence against African-Americans has not disappeared. Consider law enforcement. The vast majority of police officers sign up so they can protect their communities. They are part of an honorable profession that takes risks every day to keep us safe. We know that. But we also know—and say—the names of those whose lives have been treated with callous indifference. Sandra Bland. Freddie Gray. Michael Brown.”
Warren also talked about the “mass disfranchisement through a criminal justice system that disproportionately incarcerates Black citizens.” We applaud Senator Warren’ honesty. Why aren’t Black Americans hearing from the others?
Every politician—especially, Democrats—seeking the vote of African-Americans, in the 2020 Presidential Elections, must be forced to reckon with the deadly question of racial policing.
Black America must force them to do so.
