TAMPA, FL–The federal government in the form of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) held a press conference in East Tampa, on the morning of Thursday October 29, 2015.
Regina Lombardo, a lead agent with the ATF, announced the agency’s partnership with the Tampa police department to increase the enticement to snitch from $3000 to $15,000 in four 2015 Tampa murder cases.
The Tampa Tribune called the partnership a move “to end the prevailing attitude of ‘don’t snitch’.”
Reports state that nearly 30 people have been murdered in Tampa, in 2015—Lyfe Lazarus Coleman, the son of LIFE Malcolm, Spear managing editor, was the first.
Young Lyfe was shot in the front yard of his father’s home just after midnight, on January 5, 2015. He died at a local hospital a few hours later.
The ATF invited family members of the four murder victims to appear at the press conference. LIFE refused to attend.
The Tampa Bay Times reported that LIFE did not show up because he is “cynical.”
LIFE’s own words, printed below, reveal more.
“There are two main reasons I did not attend.
“One, I recognize that the State—whether in the form of local police and federal agents—is the enemy of the African working class.
“Secondly, I recognize that murders and other tragedies persist in our community precisely because the State intervenes in our affairs not because we don’t snitch.
“The State, despite having millions of dollars, a multitude of people, sophisticated surveillance—and snitches in our community—at their disposal have not solved the problems of the African community.
“We can solve our own problems and solve them more expediently, if the State stayed out of our affairs.”
Black Power, to the African Community!
