East Palo Alto Residents Ask: "Am I a Suspect?"

http://www.epa.net/launch/news/localnws/item?item_id=646475 For video of November 9 *March on Palo Alto*

Last night the Palo Alto City Council unanimously passed a resolution condemning racial profiling. In doing so they acknowledged the damage caused after Police Chief Lynne Johnson's controversial comments on Oct. 30. In a televised interview about a recent crime spike in Palo Alto, she said that she ordered her officers to question African-Americans they see around town to find out who they are.

Despite the city's resolution, more than a dozen residents of Palo Alto and East Palo Alto continued to call for Johnson's resignation at the council meeting. Several black speakers said they routinely get stopped by the Palo Alto police when they drive through the city. Palo Alto Council members John Barton and Pat Burt acknowledged hearing complaints from black co-workers who said police have trailed them on occasion for apparently no reason. Both council members expressed regret at not taking personal action to address this issue heretofore.

Two young men, one Latino and one African American, have created a T-shirt to draw attention to this injustice.
As they stood together at the microphone at the rally in front of Palo Alto City Hall on November 9, one of them described his personal experience with racial profiling. He spoke positively of the united presence of African Americans, Latinos, whites and Pacific Islanders at the rally and called for an end to racial profiling everywhere.