It’s All Things Considered on 90.3, I’m Tony Ganzer.
Closing arguments are expected this week in the trial of Cleveland patrolman Michael Brelo, with a verdict soon after. Brelo is charged with voluntary manslaughter. He’s accused of firing the final shots in a barrage of 137 bullets which killed two unarmed people following a car chase in 2012.
Mayor Frank Jackson today said in a letter that as the Brelo trials wraps up, city officials and community and faith-based leaders are focused on how best to create a sense of safety, trust and confidence within the community, while empowering police to enforce the law and maintain order. Jackson acknowledged recent violence in Baltimore in his call for peace and order.
Earlier today members of outreach group, Cleveland’s Peacemakers Alliance, met to discuss how their members would try to send that call for peace out to the streets. Former NFL player Reggie Rucker heads the alliance.
RUCKER: [Phone]“We’re just trying to stay out ahead of whatever comes as a result of the Brelo trial. We need to make sure we’re using all of the trust, all of the street cred, all of the relationships that we had, both from the gang side, and also just from the neighborhood side, that we’re able to mobilize in this community at the drop of the hat to keep this city safe, that this city doesn’t burn, and that people’s lives are protected.”
Rucker says his team is also reaching out to the faith community, the churches, and Nation of Islam, asking for black men to step forward to prevent what he calls ‘outsiders’ from stirring up trouble.
Hank Davis is a so-called ‘zone commander’ of the Peacemakers Alliance.
DAVIS: [Phone] “That’s our goal: to let people know that they can peacefully assemble, but this is 2015 we’re not going to gain anything by burning our city down.”
GANZER: “So far, some of the past protests we’ve seen have been pretty peaceful. Do you think you’re succeeding at teaching people it’s okay to get together?”
DAVIS: “I think the biggest problem is the outside agitators. A lot of times if there’s any issue in the city when it comes to protesting, it’s not from the citizens of Cleveland. It’s from the outsiders that are coming in and provoking and agitating the situation. At the end of the day they leave and go back to where they’ve come from.”
GANZER: “Is there anything else you think people should keep in mind as we get closer to this trial, but also looking forward—we do have the Department of Justice looking at Cleveland police—a lot of issues coming together here.”
DAVIS: “What’s the next step to make sure we never get to this situation again? We have to look at rebuilding from the bottom up. We need to look at how did we get here? What was the reason and then attack that.”
Davis says just like a weed in a garden, you have to identify whatever problem there is between police and the community, and pull it out by the root.
The trial of Cleveland police officer Michael Brelo is expected to end Thursday.
