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The Tale of Two Cities

by Posted by Mike Rhodes (MikeRhodes [at] Comcast.net)
Community activists are demanding justice in the Lilly Mae Harmon Homicide case. They are outraged that the Fresno Police Department did not investigate her death and made the family pay for a private investigator to look into the homicide. Reverend Floyd D Harris, Jr, National President of the National Network in Action, a Civil and Human Rights Organization, said Lilly Mae Harmon’s family was discriminated against because they are poor people of color.
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This is the statement, released prior to the Press Conference on Monday, December 17, announcing that a Federal Lawsuit will be filed against the City of Fresno. The press conference was held in front of City Hall.

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Reverend Floyd D Harris, Jr, National President of (NNIA) a Civil and Human Rights Organization, has monitored the Mrs Lilly Mae Harmon Homicide case for the past 3 years. This will be a public notice, Filing of A Federal Law Suit filed against the City of Fresno by Betty Harmon.

The City of Fresno and its Police Department have clearly demonstrated that people of color do not share in the same equal protections under the law. Based upon the attitudes concerning investigating crimes against people of color, it has become clear that Fresno is actually two cities. One is black; the other is white. They are totally separate and unequal. However, we cannot allow fifty years of progress to slide backwards when it comes to justice and equality toward people of color.

Betty Harmon is a community member who lost her mother under tragic and suspicious circumstances. When she took her concerns to the Fresno Police Department, she found that their motto to "protect and serve" had limitations. Not only did she have to hire a private investigator to track down and prosecute her case, but she had to pay out of her own pockets for services that taxpayers delegate to the police. The people of color in Fresno demand justice and equal protection under California law and the Constitution of the United States.

If we allow the police and city officials to turn their heads and ignore social harms towards citizens of color (as they did in the case of the late Lilly Mae Harmon);if we allow the trend to continue that people of color must hire their own private investigators to achieve social justice, (as they did to Betty Harmon); We allow a standard to be set in this community that people of color must pay for their own autopsy in order to qualify for police investigative intervention; then we bring back an era where people of color do not matter. No hope; No voice; No vote; No power.

http://justiceforlillymaeharmon.org/

Contact Information:
Rev. Floyd D Harris, Jr
Ph 559-803-0286, website: http://www.nancal.org

For background information about this story, see:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2007/06/16/18427916.php
§Betty Harmon
by Posted by Mike Rhodes
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Betty Harmon (center) is demanding justice in the case of her mother’s death.
§Why No Police Investigation?
by Posted by Mike Rhodes
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Supporters marched, sang, and supported the Harmon’s call for justice.
§3.17 minute video
by Posted by Mike Rhodes
Copy the code below to embed this movie into a web page:
Reverend Floyd D Harris, Jr is speaking about the Lilly Mae Harmon Homicide case. This is from the 12-17-07 Press Conference held in front of Fresno City Hall. All photos and video by Mike Rhodes
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