Racial tensions over allegations of police brutality again reverberated through a courtroom Wednesday during a hearing for Jeremiah Mearday, who is facing charges of resisting arrest and assault but says two Chicago police officers beat him up unprovoked.
When a court clerk called Mearday’s name in his criminal case, about 125 white Chicago police officers–including top representatives from the Fraternal Order of Police–stood in unison.
Their actions sent Mearday’s black supporters to their feet, and they shot their fists into the air in a symbol of unity.
A court bailiff twice had to tell the audience to sit down.
The defiant responses symbolize just how politicized and polarized Mearday’s case has become. Though there was no physical confrontation, representatives on both sides of the racially divided courtroom made inflammatory statements.
“They like to talk to the ignorant masses,” one white police officer quipped to reporters interviewing Chicago Police Officer Patricia Hill, who, as head of the African-American Police League, appeared at the hearing to support Mearday.
Responded Hill: “What you see (blacks on one side, whites on another) is what it is. And anyone who tells you differently is not telling the truth. This is a case where these white police officers are standing against a group of black citizens.”
The 18-year-old Mearday was in court on charges of resisting arrest and assault in connection with his Sept. 26 encounter with police. Mearday says he was brutalized by two officers, who now face dismissal from the force.
On Wednesday, Criminal Court Judge William Woods held Mearday’s case over until next month to give both sides an opportunity to collect more evidence.
Mearday, flanked by his mother, father and sister, did not comment.
But the white Chicago police officers and Mearday supporters, most of whom were African-American, had plenty to say. Both blamed the opposing side for creating the highly charged atmosphere that has developed, and both indicated they would not back down.
“We stood and responded only because of their consistent negative response,” said Rev. Paul Jakes, who has spearheaded the anti-police brutality movement. “They are trying to intimidate Jeremiah Mearday and we will not allow it.”
Chicago Police Officer Bob Lohman, organizer of the police protest, said the officers were there only to offer moral support for fellow officers.
“We are here to let the city know we are not going to be pushed around,” Lohman said. “We have to preserve our rights to do our jobs without the threat of getting fired at every turn.”
Mearday says he was walking with friends when Officers James Comito and Matthew Thiel confronted him with guns drawn. When he asked why their guns were out, they responded by beating him, he says.
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Comito and Thiel say Mearday started the physical confrontation by swinging at them while they asked questions. The officers are suspended without pay and recently faced Police Board hearings to determine if they should be fired.