#2998: Grieving Mom Faints at Funeral (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:nozier@tradewind.net

Original Publication Date: 03/26/2000 
 Grieving Mom  Faints at Funeral 
By AUSTIN FENNER and DAVE SALTONSTALL_____Daily News Staff Writers

 Moments after kissing her son's coffin goodbye, the mother of Patrick
Dorismond fainted during an emotional funeral Mass, which ended
yesterday in bitter clashes between police and protesters outside the
church. More than 500 mourners packed Holy Cross Church in Flatbush,
Brooklyn, to pay their last respects to the 26-year-old father of two,
killed 10 days ago during a scuffle  with undercover city cops.       
With a simple white cloth covering his brown mahogany coffin,          
Dorismond was eulogized in word and song, in English and creole,       
during a service laced with references to the controversy    
surrounding his death.                                                  
The Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School grad was killed after an  
undercover cop asked if he knew where to buy drugs, a question with with
Dorismond — who was unarmed and waiting for a cab — apparently took
offense. Police say that  Dorismond was shot after he lunged for one of
the officer's  guns. "What can be said that has not been said in the
last few days?" asked Msgr. Rollin Darbouze, pastor of the church.   
"If Patrick had a message for young people," Darbouze added,"he would
say, 'Because you are young and black, avoid being on streetcorners too
long, because you will be considered a drug dealer, and you will be
killed. Spare your  life. Life is precious. It is a gift from God.'"   
The most wrenching moment of the service came when  Dorismond's mother,
Marie, stood and kissed her son's coffin  and then gently rested her
head on the coffin's side to say her  final farewell. As she was
returning to her seat, she trembled and suddenly fainted. Several men,
including the Rev. Al Sharpton, quickly formed a circle around her to
keep her from falling to the ground.  A group of family and friends then
lifted the grieving mother into the air, almost shoulder high, and
carried her from the church through a side door. Those inside the church
included City Controller Alan Hevesi, Bronx Borough President Fernando
Ferrer, Manhattan  Borough President Virginia Fields, and Assemblyman
Ruben Diaz Jr. (D-Bronx), as well as many members of the city's      
Haitian community. Mayor Giuliani, who was heavily criticized outside
the church, did not attend. "Whenever a situation involves a person who
may have been  involved in a crime, the mayor does not get involved with
the family or attend the funeral," said Matt Higgins, a spokesman for
Giuliani.