Washington, DC—On Tuesday, April 9, 2013 at 3:04 am, a pig from District 7 shot and killed 34-year-old Cleman Richard Sweptson Jr. on the 2500 block of Sheridan Road in Southeast Washington, DC.
According to his family, Cleman was sitting on the stoop of his mother's apartment building when police came and told him to move along. He then got on his bike to leave, and the next thing they heard was gunshots. His mother says Cleman did not own a gun.
To add insult to injury, the police did not allow his mother or father to view their son’s body in person, but were callously and disrespectfully only shown a picture to identify him.
Video footage from cameras near the scene of the murder has not been released to the public, nor has the name of the offending officer been released.
The mainstream media has barely covered this story.
Many in the area feel the police are attempting a cover up.
InPDUM organizes for African community self-determination
The International People’s Democratic Uhuru Movement (InPDUM) DC branch called for a demonstration on Tuesday, April 23 to support the family of Cleman Richard Sweptson Jr. and the entire African community.
The people came out and showed open defiance to the hostile Metropolitan Police Department as heartbreaking testimonies were given of vicious beatings and shootings of Africans in DC over the years.
The people were eager to not let this resistance cease, vowing to form alliances to end the attacks on the African community.
This demonstration was supported by the Black is Back Coalition, as well as by the family, community and Comrades from DC and Baltimore.
InPDUM demands that real justice be served in the Court for Black Justice and Reparations, which will take place here in DC and in cities across the world.
The first community meeting for the Court for Black Justice and Reparations in Washington, DC will be held on Friday May 3rd at 7:30 pm, 1329 Stevens Rd SE in the Barry Farm neighborhood.
We are calling on all allies, victims or witnesses of police brutality and murder to come out and let their voices be heard as we organize to put the pigs on trial, to end harassment and police containment, and to replace colonialist brutality with community control of policing.
According to the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement’s “Operation Ghetto Storm” report, every 28 hours an African is murdered by the State or private security following State protocols, in an extrajudicial execution.
With police containment on just about every corner in the African community in Southeast DC and every city we are located, continued harassment, profiling and raids are the regular routine of State terrorism.
We know that these are the tactics of colonialism and imperialism—no different than what is used on Iraqis, Afghanis, Palestinians and all oppressed people around the world.
The DC government has waged war on working class and poor people. This is seen in the housing crisis, the closing of schools and cutting other needed services, while increasing the amount of police in the African community.
These are not policies unique to DC, however. There is little surprise that one out of every eight prisoners in the world would be an African male in the United States!
Justice for Cleman Sweptson Jr. and the entire African community!
Forward to the Court for Black Justice and Reparations!
