#644: Haitian-American narrowly survives police torture (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: LThomas521@aol.com

Down with Trujilloism!

The Justice for Max Antoine Committee will hold a march and rally at 12:00 
noon, Saturday, October 16, 1999 at Irvington Police Station, 1 Civic Plaza, 
Irvington, NJ. There will also be a picket line at 8:00 AM on Monday, October 
18, in front of the Essex County Court House, 50 Market St., Newark. We 
request the removal from office of all those who took part directly in the 
brutal attack against Max! We call for community control of the police in 
Irvington.

Max Antoine is a Haitian-American who was brutally beaten on June 2, 1996 by 
Irvington NJ police officers. Max had committed no crime, he was merely 
overheard telling someone to write down the officers' badge numbers and 
complain because they were conducting an illegal search. After the beating, 
Max was held in jail without medical attention for his life-threatening 
injuries for two days. When he begged for medical attention, he was told to 
"Shut up and die like a man." The beating left Max blind in one eye, deaf in 
one ear, and paralyzed. He has lost bladder, bowel, and sexual function. One 
of Max's two children, who was 2 years old at the time, witnessed the 
beating. 

How has the local and state government responded to this atrocity? The 
officers who beat Max remain on active duty, drawing pay, without even a 
reprimand. The state of New Jersey has brought no charges against them. 
Instead, they are bringing criminal charges against Max! They are accusing 
him of "resisting arrest" and of supposedly faking his injuries. If 
convicted, he could go to jail. In the meantime, he has been left totally 
disabled and with medical bills in excess of $650,000. Before the beating, 
Max was a paralegal and notary public who ran a multiservice business. Now he 
and his wife and children live in poverty on public assistance.

For more information, contact the Justice for Max Antoine Committee, PO Box 
330, Rochelle Park, NJ 07662; 201-487-3748; fax, 201-883-1531; e-mail: 
justice4max@njcopwatch.org

Or visit:

www.counterpunch.org/antoine.html

or 

www.njcopwatch.org