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Race a Factor in Denver Police Shooting?

Aired July 07, 2003 - 14:31   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Denver, an African-American teen who is mentally disabled is shot and killed by police. Now local civil rights activists are questioning whether race played a factor in his death. They're calling for an independent probe.
Reporter Paul Johnson with affiliate KUSA has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL JOHNSON, KUSA REPORTER (voice-over): However you might explain the course of events that led up to the shooting of a black boy by a reportedly white police officer, the perception here is the worst possible one: that police are quicker to use deadly force if the suspect is black.

GERALD MUHAMMAD, NATION OF ISLAM: This has been going on in Denver for quite a while now, the murders of young black men. And, frankly, we're tired of that.

JOHNSON: Among their accusations, that, while Paul Childs was wielding a knife, they say he wasn't close enough to any possible victims to harm anyone.

ALVERTIS SIMMONS, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: He never went right or left in lunging at anyone. He never said anything about, "I'm going to kill" anybody. So we're saying, then, what was the urgency of shooting him?

DET. JOHN WHITE, DENVER POLICE DEPARTMENT: This young man was armed with a knife. The officer who responded to the scene felt threatened. And he took action that was appropriate in his mind.

JOHNSON: Whatever the police investigation into the shooting turns up, these activists want to know why a negotiator didn't try and talk the mentally challenged boy into dropping the knife or why a less-than-lethal weapon, like a taser, wasn't used?

MUHAMMAD: Let's get some kind of solution to this problem when white police come into the black community facing our youth.

JOHNSON: At the very least, there is a gap of understanding here which shows that, in 2003, race still matters a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our damn kids are not violent.

JOHNSON: In Denver, Paul Johnson, 9 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired July 7, 2003 - 14:31   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Denver, an African-American teen who is mentally disabled is shot and killed by police. Now local civil rights activists are questioning whether race played a factor in his death. They're calling for an independent probe.
Reporter Paul Johnson with affiliate KUSA has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL JOHNSON, KUSA REPORTER (voice-over): However you might explain the course of events that led up to the shooting of a black boy by a reportedly white police officer, the perception here is the worst possible one: that police are quicker to use deadly force if the suspect is black.

GERALD MUHAMMAD, NATION OF ISLAM: This has been going on in Denver for quite a while now, the murders of young black men. And, frankly, we're tired of that.

JOHNSON: Among their accusations, that, while Paul Childs was wielding a knife, they say he wasn't close enough to any possible victims to harm anyone.

ALVERTIS SIMMONS, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: He never went right or left in lunging at anyone. He never said anything about, "I'm going to kill" anybody. So we're saying, then, what was the urgency of shooting him?

DET. JOHN WHITE, DENVER POLICE DEPARTMENT: This young man was armed with a knife. The officer who responded to the scene felt threatened. And he took action that was appropriate in his mind.

JOHNSON: Whatever the police investigation into the shooting turns up, these activists want to know why a negotiator didn't try and talk the mentally challenged boy into dropping the knife or why a less-than-lethal weapon, like a taser, wasn't used?

MUHAMMAD: Let's get some kind of solution to this problem when white police come into the black community facing our youth.

JOHNSON: At the very least, there is a gap of understanding here which shows that, in 2003, race still matters a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Our damn kids are not violent.

JOHNSON: In Denver, Paul Johnson, 9 News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com