COMMUNITY OUTRAGE AGAINST NYPD POLICE BRUTALITY! pt.1

This is a press release on the Smif N Wessun police incident from http://monumental5.bucktownusa.com/

Coalition of Supporters for The Monumental 5 To Announce Updates at Press Conference: Tuesday, July 5 at 12:00 pm (New York City Hall)

New York, New York – Concerned community members, hip hop artists, local activists, grassroots organizers, and elected officials will gather at the steps of New York City Hall to do three things: To show support for those who were beaten, maced, and arrested by New York City police officers (NYPD) at an album release party for Pete Rock, Tek and General Steele (of the hip hop group Smif N Wessun); to publicly outcry yet another instance of police brutality; and to issue a call­to­action to the community­


at­large. Though the individuals who were beaten and arrested last Tuesday, now collectively known as The Monumental 5, have been released until a more in­depth investigation can be launched, the calls demanding justice have grown over the past week, all fueled by the police brutality video footage that has gone viral on the Internet (http://bit.ly/Monumental5).



The press conference will take place Tuesday, July 5, 2011 at noon at City Hall (located at City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan between Broadway, Park Row, and Chambers Street). The Monumental 5 are Louis Pena, Gabriel Diaz, Cynthia Rosa, James W. Ayala, and Jade Everett. Confirmed participants for Tuesday’s press conference include: Pete Rock; General Steele; Shara McHayle (one of the victims of police brutality who is also an entertainment industry professional and the wife of Pete Rock); Lisa “Cynical” Smith (one of the party’s organizers); activist and writer Kevin Powell; activist

Lumumba Bandele from the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement and Senior Community Engagement

Advocate for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; NYC Council Member Charles Barron; and Kenneth Montgomery, the attorney representing The Monumental 5.



Powell offered this statement: “Pete Rock and Smif N Wessun are not only pioneers and legends in the global, multibillion dollar hiphop music industry with extensive resumes and followers across the planet, but they are also very engaged in their communities locally. Indeed, I have personally worked with Pete and Steele of Smif N Wessun and know their commitment to community, family, and positive, proactive

events. That is what makes this over­the­top police violence following their joint CD release party so outrageous and unjust. We say enough of treating every single hiphop gathering in New York like a crime waiting to happen, and we say enough to the NYPD’s use of excessive, inhumane force, especially when it comes to young people and people of color in New York.”